The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Since the pandemic started, the wait times for library ebooks have skyrocketed. In the meantime, Agatha Christie books are great fillers.

1) “Our hobbies and recreations can be summed up in the one word, ‘gossip.'”

This story takes place in the quintessential English village, where everyone tells everyone everything.

2) “Miss Russell’s account of vague pains was so unconvincing that with a woman of less integrity of character I should have suspected a trumped-up tale.”

I didn’t know “trump” had this poetic meaning.

3) “‘Just nine o’clock. I heard it chime the hour as I was turning out of the gate.'” – James Sheppard

One of the more intriguing aspects of old mysteries is the lack of technology and digital surveillance.

4) “King’s Abbot is a mere village, but its station happens to be an important junction. Most of the big expresses stop there, and trains are shunted, re-sorted, and made up.”

For some reason, this sentence triggered memories of my rainy day trip to Wales.

5) “‘Fiddlesticks! No more bad knee than you and I.'” – Caroline

Fiddlesticks! Another Fiddlesticks.

6) “‘Each one of you has something to hide.'” – Poirot

Good summary of every Agatha Christie book I’ve read.

7) “‘I thought, doctor, that you might put it to M. Poirot – explain it, you know – because it’s so difficult for a foreigner to see our point of view. And you don’t know – nobody could know – what I’ve had to contend with.'” – Mrs. Ackroyd

Mrs. Karen Ackroyd.

8) “For some five minutes there was complete silence, owing to the fact that there is tremendous secret competition amongst us as to who can build their wall quickest.”

Yes, the unspoken rule of Mahjong is that slow wall-building is shameful. But five minutes? Y’all are slow.

9) “I had read of there being such a thing as The Perfect Winning – going Mah Jong on one’s original hand. I had never hoped to hold the hand myself.”

One day, I too will get a Tin Wu.

10) “‘He’s got a bee in his bonnet about the man Kent, but who knows – there may be something useful behind it.'” – Inspector Raglan

“Bee in your bonnet” and “Bob’s your uncle” are my favorite British idioms.

I found this one a bit lackluster compared to And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express – until the very end.