The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Poirot has retired to the sleepy English village of King's Abbot to cultivate his garden, but even here murder soon rears its head. Following the apparent suicide of a local widow, rumours run wild to the effect that she had murdered her first husband, that she was having an affair with Roger Ackroyd (a rich business man who lives in the village) and that she was being blackmailed. Poirot remains aloof from all this, but when his neighbour Ackroyd too is killed he is drawn into the hunt for a clever murderer. The suspects include Roger Ackroyd's greedy sister-in-law, his chauffeur, his secretary, and his adopted son, Ralph - who quickly disappears from the scene. When he finds out who the killer is, the whole experience is enough to persuade Poirot to pack up and return to London.