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Quick answer: If you loved The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, try And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The A.B.C. Murders, Endless Night, The Sittaford Mystery and Magpie Murders. Each one is a clever, twisty detective story with a famous reveal or a narrator you shouldn't trust.
Agatha Christie's 1926 novel is set in the English village of King's Abbot, where the wealthy Roger Ackroyd is stabbed in his study shortly after learning who blackmailed a widow. Hercule Poirot, who has retired to the village to grow marrows, comes out of retirement to solve it, with the local doctor James Sheppard narrating. Its ending shocked readers and changed crime fiction. These books share its puzzles and its brilliant twists.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Detective | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| And Then There Were None | Agatha Christie | No detective | readers who want Christie's other masterpiece |
| Murder on the Orient Express | Agatha Christie | Poirot | readers who want another famous twist |
| The A.B.C. Murders | Agatha Christie | Poirot | readers who like serial puzzles |
| Endless Night | Agatha Christie | No detective | readers who like unreliable narrators |
| The Sittaford Mystery | Agatha Christie | No detective | readers who like village mysteries |
| Magpie Murders | Anthony Horowitz | Atticus Pünd | readers who like clever homages |
| The Moonstone | Wilkie Collins | Sergeant Cuff | readers who want an early classic |
| Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | No detective | readers who like modern unreliable narrators |
| The Talented Mr. Ripley | Patricia Highsmith | No detective | readers who like killers as narrators |
| The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle | Stuart Turton | Time loop | readers who like puzzles |
| Gaudy Night | Dorothy L. Sayers | Harriet Vane | readers who like Golden Age mysteries |
| The Thursday Murder Club | Richard Osman | Retirees | readers who want cozy fun |
| The Word Is Murder | Anthony Horowitz | Hawthorne | readers who like playful narrators |
| The Daughter of Time | Josephine Tey | Alan Grant | readers who like history mysteries |
| The Poisoned Chocolates Case | Anthony Berkeley | Club of detectives | readers who like multiple solutions |
1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten strangers on an island are killed one by one.
Best for: readers who want Christie's other masterpiece.
2. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Poirot solves a murder on a snowbound train.
Best for: readers who want another famous twist.
3. The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
A killer taunts Poirot in alphabetical order.
Best for: readers who like serial puzzles.
4. Endless Night by Agatha Christie
A young man's dream house hides a sinister truth.
Best for: readers who like unreliable narrators.
5. The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
A séance predicts a murder in a snowbound village.
Best for: readers who like village mysteries.
6. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
A mystery manuscript hides clues to a real death.
Best for: readers who like clever homages.
7. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
A stolen diamond leads to a mystery told by many narrators.
Best for: readers who want an early classic.
8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
A wife's disappearance hides dark secrets.
Best for: readers who like modern unreliable narrators.
9. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
A young man murders to take another's life.
Best for: readers who like killers as narrators.
10. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
A man relives one day to solve a murder.
Best for: readers who like puzzles.
11. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Poison pen letters at an Oxford college.
Best for: readers who like Golden Age mysteries.
12. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Four retirees investigate a murder.
Best for: readers who want cozy fun.
13. The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
Horowitz writes himself into the story.
Best for: readers who like playful narrators.
14. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
A bedridden detective investigates Richard III.
Best for: readers who like history mysteries.
15. The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Six amateur sleuths solve one case six ways.
Best for: readers who like multiple solutions.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
For more Christie at her best, read And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. If you loved the narrator twist, Endless Night and Gone Girl play similar tricks. Magpie Murders and The Word Is Murder are clever modern homages. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is perfect for readers who like solving along.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd about?
Poirot investigates the stabbing of a wealthy man in an English village.
Why is the ending famous?
Its twist about the narrator broke the rules of fair-play mysteries and shocked readers.
Who narrates the book?
Dr. James Sheppard, the village doctor.
Is it a Poirot novel?
Yes. It is the third Poirot novel.
When was it published?
In 1926.
Is it a good first Christie?
Yes, but avoid spoilers before reading.
What should I read next?
And Then There Were None.