The Murder of Roger Ackroyd characters

Appears from the start

The general practitioner of King's Abbot, a quiet Home Counties village, and the narrator of the story. A bachelor in middle life, he keeps house with his sister, attends most of the households in the district, and is trusted with their private troubles as doctors usually are. He is dry, observant, and mildly amused by village society, and he sets down the events of the case as a written record.

Appears from the start

Dr Sheppard's unmarried elder sister, who keeps his house and considers the affairs of King's Abbot her proper study. She gathers information through servants, tradespeople, and an unerring instinct for where to be, and reaches conclusions by leaps that her brother finds infuriating and frequently correct. She is the most efficient news service in the village.

Appears from the start

A wealthy widow of King's Abbot whose husband died about a year before the story opens, in circumstances that set the village talking. She dies in her sleep of an overdose of a sleeping draught, and the district is divided over whether it was accident or suicide. In her last months she had been withdrawn and unwell.

First appears in chapter 2

The principal man of the neighbourhood, a wealthy manufacturer who has settled at Fernly Park and taken up the manner of a country squire. Widowed, hearty, and generous, he supports a household of dependants and was expected to marry Mrs Ferrars. He is a straightforward man, uneasy with concealment, and something has been preying on his mind.

First appears in chapter 2

Roger Ackroyd's stepson, a good-looking and charming young man with expensive habits and a poor record of paying for them. He depends on his stepfather's money, has quarrelled with him over it more than once, and is generally understood in the village to be engaged to Flora Ackroyd. He is staying at the local inn rather than at Fernly.

First appears in chapter 2

Roger Ackroyd's niece, a fair, self-possessed young woman who lives at Fernly with her mother on her uncle's charity. She is practical about what dependence costs and clear-eyed about her own position, and she is publicly engaged to Ralph Paton.

First appears in chapter 4

Roger Ackroyd's widowed sister-in-law and Flora's mother, who lives at Fernly on his money while resenting the terms. Vague, effusive, and perpetually short of cash, she is much given to hints and to conversations that circle their subject for a long time before arriving.

First appears in chapter 4

A friend of Roger Ackroyd and a well-known big-game hunter, staying at Fernly. Tanned, taciturn, and awkward in company, he says almost nothing and notices a good deal. His silences are frequently mistaken for dullness.

First appears in chapter 4

Roger Ackroyd's private secretary, a cheerful and capable young man who handles his employer's correspondence and business papers and is at ease in the household. He is on good terms with everyone at Fernly.

First appears in chapter 4

The butler at Fernly Park, smooth, soft-footed, and correct to a fault. He has a habit of being close to doors, and an interest in his employer's private conversations that goes beyond the requirements of service.

First appears in chapter 3

The housekeeper at Fernly Park, tall, handsome, and rigidly composed, disliked by the younger servants for her severity. She calls at Dr Sheppard's surgery on a pretext and steers the conversation towards drugs and the treatment of addiction, which he finds curious.

First appears in chapter 5

A parlourmaid at Fernly Park, better spoken and better educated than her position would suggest. She gives notice shortly before the murder after a private interview with her employer, and is reticent about her reasons.

First appears in chapter 7

A retired detective who has taken the cottage next door to Dr Sheppard under an assumed name, meaning to grow vegetable marrows and be left alone. Small, egg-headed, and elaborately moustached, with an exact and slightly theatrical manner, he is a Belgian whose reputation in criminal cases is European, and who has ordered the world to suit himself. Flora Ackroyd's appeal brings him out of retirement.

First appears in chapter 8

The police inspector from the neighbouring town who takes charge of the murder investigation. Brisk, thorough in a conventional way, and confident that the obvious answer is the right one, he assembles his case with energy and does not welcome complications.

First appears in chapter 18

A shabby, restless stranger with a rough manner who is seen near the gates of Fernly on the night of the murder. He proves to have a police record and a drug habit, and to have been born in the district, and he refuses at first to explain what brought him back.