The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) is one of Agatha Christie's most famous detective novels. In a quiet English village, a wealthy widow dies, and the very next evening the village's richest man is found dead in his locked study. The story is told by Dr James Sheppard, the local doctor, who helps a retired Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who has moved in next door to grow vegetables. The novel is often listed among the best crime novels ever written.《羅傑·艾克洛命案》（1926）是阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂最著名的偵探小說之一。在一個寧靜的英國村莊裡，一位富有的寡婦過世了，隔天晚上，村裡最有錢的人被發現死在上了鎖的書房裡。故事由當地的醫生詹姆斯·薛波德敘述，他協助一位退休的比利時偵探赫丘勒·白羅辦案；白羅剛搬到他家隔壁，打算種菜過日子。這部小說常常被列為史上最好的犯罪小說之一。

Structure: the original 1926 edition has twenty-seven chapters, told by Dr Sheppard in the first person. These notes cover one chapter per lesson, grouped into five parts. Part 5 (Chapters 25 to 27) contains the solution, so try to form your own theory before you read it.結構：1926 年原版共二十七章，由薛波德醫生以第一人稱敘述。這份筆記一章一課，分成五部。第五部（第 25 到 27 章）是謎底，所以讀之前先試著提出你自己的推論。

Keep a notebook as you read. Write down times, places and who says what. Mark which facts are confirmed by more than one person and which depend on a single witness. Note small objects and odd remarks: in a Christie novel, almost nothing is mentioned by accident.邊讀邊做筆記。寫下時間、地點和誰說了什麼。標出哪些事實有不只一個人證實，哪些只靠一個證人。記下小物品和奇怪的話：在克莉絲蒂的小說裡，幾乎沒有什麼是隨便提到的。

The novel includes murder, blackmail, a past poisoning, a death by overdose and drug addiction. As is usual in classic detective fiction, these are described briefly and without graphic detail; the focus is on the puzzle.這本小說包含謀殺、勒索、過去的一起毒殺案、一起用藥過量致死的事件，以及毒癮。和一般的古典偵探小說一樣，這些內容都只簡短帶過，沒有血腥的細節；重點在於解謎。

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) was born in Torquay, in the south-west of England. During the First World War she worked in a hospital pharmacy, where she learned about medicines and poisons. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), introduced Hercule Poirot. She wrote 66 detective novels and many short stories and plays, and she is one of the best-selling novelists of all time. She was made a Dame in 1971.阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂（1890–1976）生於英格蘭西南部的托基。第一次世界大戰期間，她在醫院的藥房工作，在那裡學到了許多關於藥物和毒物的知識。她的第一部小說《史岱爾莊謀殺案》（1920）讓赫丘勒·白羅首次登場。她寫了 66 部偵探小說，以及許多短篇故事和劇本，是史上最暢銷的小說家之一。1971 年她獲封為女爵士。

Christie's other famous novels include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The ABC Murders (1936), Death on the Nile (1937) and And Then There Were None (1939). She also created the elderly detective Miss Marple, who first appears in The Murder at the Vicarage (1930). Her play The Mousetrap has run in London since 1952.克莉絲蒂其他著名的小說包括《東方快車謀殺案》（1934）、《ABC 謀殺案》（1936）、《尼羅河謀殺案》（1937）和《一個都不留》（1939）。她也創造了老太太偵探瑪波小姐，她首次出現在《牧師公館謀殺案》（1930）。她的舞台劇《捕鼠器》從 1952 年起就在倫敦持續上演。