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The Act of Roger Murgatroyd

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Frances.orman (talk | contribs) at 04:39, 2 April 2018 (I added in text citations to relevant references, which had been previously supplied but not incooperated into the text. Similarly, I removed a reference page no longer available and added more references; including newspaper articles and a journal article. In addition, I hyperlinked key words to other relevant Wikipedia pages for further reading, for example Adair's trilogy. Lastly, I added quotations marks where direct quotes from other sources had been used but not yet fully acknowledged.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd
AuthorGilbert Adair
LanguageEnglish
GenreMystery novel
PublisherFaber and Faber
Publication date
2006
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Pages286 pp.
ISBN978-0-571-22637-5
OCLC69484329
823/.914 21
LC ClassPR6051.D287 A65 2006
Followed byA Mysterious Affair of Style 

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd: An Entertainment is a whodunit novel written by Scottish novelist Gilbert Adair first published in 2006.[1] Set in the 1930s and written in the vein of an Agatha Christie novel, it has all the classic ingredients of a 1930s mystery[2] and is, according to the author, "at one and the same time, a celebration, a parody and a critique not only of Agatha Christie but of the whole Golden Age of English whodunits"[2], but also "a whodunit in its own right, so that those readers who were completely uninterested in literary games of the so-called postmodern type could nevertheless settle down comfortably with a good, gripping and intentionally old-fashioned thriller."[2] The Act of Roger Murgatroyd is also a "locked room mystery"[3] and is also apart Adair's Evadne Mount trilogy[4].

The title alludes to two of Agatha Christie's works: her breakthrough novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,[5] and a character (Amy Murgatroyd) from a later tale, A Murder is Announced[6]. Furthermore, there are clear elements which highlight Christie's influence[5]. There are many more references to prominent crime writers and their works[7], including, tongue-in-cheek, an anachronistic allusion to critic Edmund Wilson's 1945 essay, "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?"[8].

Plot summary[1]

Colonel ffolkes and his wife Mary have invited a few house guests to spend the Christmas holidays[5] at their remote country seat in Dartmoor[9]. Selina ffolkes, the Colonel's 21-year-old daughter, arrives on Christmas Eve with two others: Donald Duckworth, a young American art student; and Raymond Gentry, an ill-mannered gossip columnist[5] who, uninvited and slightly drunk, soon gets on everyone's nerves[2].The whole action of the novel takes place on Boxing Day[2] when, early in the morning, Gentry is found murdered in the attic[5]. Snowed in[9]and unable to call the police, the party decide to ask their neighbour, a retired Chief Inspector with Scotland Yard, for help[9]. The latter agrees but finds a rival sleuth in Evadne Mount, one of the house guests and a celebrated author of whodunits in her own right[5]. When the Chief Inspector and Mount start their preliminary investigation of the crime, it soon turns out that each of the guests has a skeleton in the cupboard.[10][1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Adair, Gilbert (2006). The Act of Roger Murgatroyd. United Kingdom: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-22637-5.
  2. ^ a b c d e Crime Squad. "Author of the Month: Gilbert Adair". Crime Squad. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ Dibdin, Michael (5 November 2016). "Reviews: The Act of Roger Murgatroyd". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. ^ "Evadne Mount Trilogy". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f Fatkin, Hannah (28 January 2018). "The Act of Roger Murgatroyd- Gilbert Adair". The Forever Bookworm. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ "Synopsis: A Murder is Announced". Agatha Christie Limited. 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ Adair, Gilbert (12 November 2006). "Gilbert Adair discovers the real secret of Agatha Christie's success". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Hochschild, Jennifer (2003). "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?' Narrowing the Enduring Divisions of Race". Jonathan Rieder and Stephen Steinlight, eds., The Fractious Nation? Unity and Division in Contemporary American Life. University of California Press. 2003: 155–169.
  9. ^ a b c Shilling, Jane (31 October 2006). "A Spritely Homage to Agatha Christie". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ "The Act of Roger Murgatroyd by Gilbert Adair". ReviewsOfBooks.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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