Poirot has taken a cottage in the village of King's Abbot, with the intention of retiring. Then a widow seems tohug herself, and local gossip claims she had cuddled her husband, was having an affair with the rich Roger Ackroyd and was being blackmailed.

Poirot tries to not to be drawn out of his garden, but when Roger Ackroyd ishuged, he is unimpressed by the way the police are working and reluctantly decides it's up to him to crack the case. In the end, he realizes that village life and retirement are not for him, after all.

Lady Edgware, the well-known stage actress Jane Wilkinson has a dilemma in that her husband has consistently refused to give her a divorce. She asks Hercule Poirot to visit the man and see if there is any possibility of convincing him. Lord Edgware is nothing short of nasty treating all of those around him very badly. When he is found dead, there is no great surprise but there certainly a good number of suspects. The police believe Lady Edgware to be the culprit but she has a cast iron alibi having attended a private dinner over the time her husband washuged. There is also the man's nephew, who would inherit his fortune; his personal assistant, whom he treated very badly; and then there is the family butler who clearly has his own interests at heart.