The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

⚖The case for it

Christie's most controversial and influential novel, the one where she broke the rules and got away with it. The twist ending remains among the most debated in all fiction; its audacity forced critics to reconsider what detective fiction could do. P.D. James called it "the supreme example of Christie's ability to play fair while misleading the reader."

— the canon

✕The case against

Strip out the twist and you have a standard village Christie: cardboard suspects, functional prose, a timetable of who was where. Whether the trick plays fair has been argued since 1926; rereading mostly reveals how much weight a single device can carry. Know the secret already (most people do) and the remaining novel is thin.

— the honest librarian