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A character in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Dr James Sheppard

The village doctor who tells the story, dined with Ackroyd on the night he died, and writes it all down for Poirot.

What they want

To be the reasonable man in the room, and to be believed as one.

The book

The Murder of Roger AckroydAgatha Christie, 1926

A village doctor tells the story of his neighbour's murder, and tells it honestly. That is the trick.

View the book

At a glance

In the book
The narrator; the doctor of King's Abbot
Household
Lives with his sister Caroline
Where he appears
Every chapter

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Sheppard is the doctor in King's Abbot and the book's narrator. He is a bachelor in middle age, living with his sister, and he presents himself as the quiet, sensible half of the household. He attended Mrs Ferrars, dined at Fernly Park on the night of the murder, and was the first doctor at the body. Poirot takes him on as an assistant, and he keeps a written account of the case.

He is dry, observant, and modest about himself. He reports other people's words at length and his own thoughts briefly. He dabbles in mechanical hobbies in a workshop at home. What he wants, in his own account, is to see Poirot at work and to record it fairly.

How Dr James Sheppard Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • The first pageHe introduces himself against his sister: she talks, he does not. The contrast is the book's first clue.
  • The workshopA room at home where he tinkers with mechanical things, mentioned lightly and more than once.
  • The dinnerAlone with Ackroyd in the study after the meal, he hears the whole story of Mrs Ferrars and sees the letter arrive.
  • The gateLeaving at ten to nine, he meets a stranger asking the way to Fernly and notes the man's voice.
  • The WatsonPoirot calls him his friend Hastings' replacement and asks for his written account, which Poirot reads and praises.
  • The asidesShort, dry remarks about Caroline, Poirot's vanity and village life, which keep the reader on his side.

Dr James Sheppard quotes

Lines spoken by or about Dr James Sheppard, each verified verbatim against the text and located in the book.

The letter had been brought in at twenty minutes to nine. It was just on ten minutes to nine when I left him, the letter still unread.
— Dr James Sheppard (narration) · Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Chapter 4
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Sheppard is the murderer. He blackmailed Mrs Ferrars over her husband's death, and her letter to Ackroyd named him. He stabbed Ackroyd before leaving the study at ten to nine, left a dictaphone to play Ackroyd's voice at half past nine, and arranged the telephone call that brought him back to remove it. His narrative never lies; it leaves out. The last chapter is his confession, written the night Poirot gives him, before he takes veronal.

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