Books Like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Anthony Berkeley

Berkeley plays with the reader's expectations as cleverly as the Ackroyd book does, presenting several rival solutions to one death before the final reversal. Fans of its deliberate misdirection will enjoy the same sense of a puzzle built to be argued over.

Ellery Queen

Queen lays out every clue for the reader and challenges them to solve the case before the detective does. Like Ackroyd, it is a classic whodunit where logic and careful reading of the evidence matter more than action.

Gaston LeRoux

A locked-room crime with a seemingly impossible solution, told with the tidy ingenuity that makes Ackroyd so satisfying. Readers who enjoy working out how a puzzle was done will find plenty to chew on.

Richard Osman

A retirement community becomes the setting for a murder investigation, much as the quiet village in Ackroyd draws in an unexpected detective. Its warm humour and sharp, older sleuths echo the cosy but clever tone of Christie's novel.

Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is a thoughtful, character-led detective novel with a careful, observant investigator, much like Poirot's methodical approach. Its interest in human motives and the aftermath of violence will appeal to readers who valued the psychology in Ackroyd.

Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl hinges on a narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted, and on a late turn that reframes everything before it. Readers who enjoyed Ackroyd's clever handling of the narrator's point of view will appreciate its similar sleight of hand.

Paula Hawkins

Hawkins uses fragmented, unreliable testimony to build suspense around a disappearance, with each new detail shifting what the reader believes. It shares Ackroyd's appeal of piecing together a puzzle from partial and misleading accounts.

Ruth Ware

Ware's novel keeps its protagonist's memory and judgement under question as the mystery unfolds in an isolated setting. Like Ackroyd, it rewards readers who enjoy doubting the story they are being told.

Wilkie Collins

Often cited as one of the first English detective novels, it is told through many narrators and rewards careful reading of each account. Readers who enjoyed the layered testimony and clue-hunting in Ackroyd will find its structure familiar and rewarding.

Raymond Chandler

Chandler's hard-boiled detective story is driven by a sharp, observant voice and a tangled web of secrets and blackmail. Readers who liked the blackmail and hidden motives in Ackroyd will find a darker, more atmospheric version of the same tension.

Arthur Conan Doyle

A classic English mystery where a brilliant detective reasons from small observations to a surprising truth, much as Poirot does in Ackroyd. Its country setting and atmosphere of hidden danger suit readers who enjoy the golden age of crime.