Whodunit? The votes are in for the best crime novel ever

Agatha Christie’s novel from the golden age of English crime is the best whodunit novel ever written according to a survey.

17:24 07 November 2013

A survey that was spearheaded by members of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) of professional novelists revealed that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the novel that was written by Agatha Christie and which has long been regarded as one of the cornerstones of crime fiction, is the best whodunit novel ever written. 

Christie, who died in 1976 was also voted best crime writer while the Sherlock Holmes novels were deemed the best series.

Alison Joseph, chair of the CWA, said: “The fact is, our genre continues to be so popular precisely because of its long and rich history, and our winners reflect that.

“The Holmes/Watson double act is unbeatable, which is why it has been borrowed, re-written and reworked by numerous authors for at least a century.”

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd tells the story Hercule Poirot, a diminutive Belgian detective who was tasked to investigate the murder of the titular hero. The story contains one of the most celebrated plot twists in the history of crime writing.