Analysis of Alteration of Conventions of Detective Fictions in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Conventions of detective fiction make the predictability of such literature open and
credible for their audiences. However, contravening the tenets of this genre even envelops a
better ramification of the contextual interludes of the text. The literary aesthetics of this genre is
reinforced by the advent employed by the author to keep the storyline active and equally
suspenseful for the audience. The latter effect allows the reader to read in between the lines
without ceasing. The text The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie embodies almost a
perfect criminal investigative case study. Analytically, detective fiction is predominantly based
on the conventions that include a plot enticed as a perfect crime, often involving a character is
wrongly accused whom increasingly incriminating evidence point to, the clumsy police
intelligence, introspective and systematically observant investigator, and perplexing outcome of
the case. Therefore, the rationale for defying the listed conventions is also discussed in this
paper. The ways that focus on trends such as prolonged investigations from an external expert,
unscrupulous investigational styles, and cultural values that center on the universal justice
system make the author support flouting the said conventions in the selected text.
Ways in Which the Author, Agatha Christie, Alters Conventions of Detective Film
Social-cultural attributes of detective films like the need for justice make the author of the
selected text defy the convention of this genre of a perfect crime. The concept of an ideal crime
is deliberately missed out on the circumstances in the text The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. For

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ideal crime fiction, the perpetrator of the crime often outsmarts everyone, and in most cases, the
crime goes unresolved (Wadhwa 32). Therefore, all the mysteriousness of a case is configured to
prove how difficult and challenging the case can be. Contrastively, this narrative of a perfect
crime is limited by the fact the social-cultural nature of justice leads the case to a conclusive end.
Towards the end of the text, it is discovered that Dr. James Shepperd, who helps in solving the
case, is also the prime suspect and conclusive extortionist of the late Mrs. Ferrars and Roger
Ackroyd (Wadhwa 26). In a confessed statement, the doctor says, "When I saw the dagger lying
on the silver table, it occurred to me at once how much better it would be to use a weapon that
couldn’t be traced to me" (Christie 194). The excerpt marks the conclusion of a prolonged nine-
day investigation. It is not precisely the perfect crime in finding determination at the end.
Therefore, providing a denouement such as the one concluded meets another criterion for
classifying the text as detective film but not under perfect crime feature.
The author of the text, Agatha Christie, alters the convention of wrongfully accusing
suspects instead of accusing a single suspect. She drives up the curiosity and level of suspense
for the readers who crave truth. The universal tenet of accusing a single individual is overlooked
as characters such as Ralph Paton, Flora, Elizabeth Russell, Parker, Geoffrey Raymond, and Dr.
Shepperd become prime suspects for the murder of Roger Ackroyd (Christie 154). Flouting this
convention builds a rapport among the readers hence delineating the text as one of the leading
epics societal trends of crime posit that everyone could be guilty until proven innocent (Wadhwa
28). The trends of justice systems in developing countries similar to village settings in which the
textbases have a conception that for many accused crime perpetrators, the absolute closeness
towards truth is acknowledging that anyone associated with the victim is a suspect until they are
freed for not being partisan to the case conclusion (Wadhwa 37). Therefore, the assertion posited

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herein is that growing crime rates in the village of King's Abbot have many crime victims dying
from unnatural causes. The trends also seem to have the murders being orchestrated by a high-
profile perpetrator such as the doctor.
The author uses a first-person narrative point of view to create a rhetorical instrument for
which changing the scope of investigating the crimes committed in the text could appear odd or
non-customary to the essential elements of crime fiction. To connect with the intricacy of the
readers, using first-person narration makes the readers be in the shoes of the characters (Rolls 2).
It also moves away from the pr