And Then There Were None

by Agatha Christie

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

FIC F Chr

Publication

St. Martin's Paperbacks

Pages

275

Description

Ten strangers, each with a dark secret, are gathered together on an isolated island by a mysterious host. One by one, they die, and before the weekend is out, there will be none.

Collection

Barcode

2216

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1939-11-06

Physical description

275 p.; 6.75 inches

ISBN

0312979479 / 9780312979478

Media reviews

It is the most baffling mystery that Agatha Christie has ever written, and if any other writer has ever surpassed it for sheer puzzlement the name escapes our memory. We are referring, of course, to mysteries that have logical explanations, as this one has. It is a tall story, to be sure, but it
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could have happened.
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1 more
The mystery is foolproof. The solution is fair. It all fits together at the end.

User reviews

LibraryThing member BeckyJG
More than forty years I've been reading, yet I'd never read an Agatha Christie mystery until just this month. "They're too innocent," I thought to myself (when I bothered to think about it at all). Too naive, I naively believed. What could a traditional mystery give to me that I couldn't get--and
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with more gristle, gore, sex, and rough language--from a thousand more contemporary sources?

Originality of thought, for one thing. Purity of execution and elegance of style. Crystalline characters written with swift, spare strokes of the pen and plot devices that, although they have long since become hoary and cliched, because of Christie's mastery read as fresh as the day she invented them.

Last year when I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I was blown away by what I perceived to be a modern twist on the traditional locked room mystery. It was set on an island, and during the commission of the crime there was no way on or off the island. Not only that, but none of the characters was particularly sympathetic and pretty much any of them could have done it. How embarrassed was I to discover that Agatha Christie did it in 1939 in And Then There Were None? And better.

Sure, Raymond Chandler, offended to have been compared to her on at least one occasion decried her work as contrived, overly mannered, unrealistic. So? It's fun. It's well-written. It's clever. And, when you get right down to it, the dirty little truths of human nature as revealed by Dame Agatha are just as hard-hitting and incisive as those revealed by Chandler...and might even be a bit more shocking, when hidden deep within the psyche of a spinster school teacher, a judge, a doctor...
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LibraryThing member ncgraham
Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian
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boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law,
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
On got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

A great yarn, this. And a ripping title, too (And Then There Were None, that is, not Ten Little Indians … or the more offensive variant). This is only my second Christie novel, but it left a far bigger impression than the sappy but fun The Secret Adversary, although on reflection it could use a little of that book’s lightheartedness in a few spots. Still, if your idea of a mystery novel is a splendid mind-game with an overwhelming sense of menace, it doesn’t get much better than this.

As in any good mystery, the plot is both simple and complex. The basic set-up is this: ten individuals, all of them strangers and none with pasts free from scandal, are invited by a mysterious Mr. Owen to spend their summer holidays at his house on Indian Island. There, they a mysterious gramophone record accuses them all of various forms of murder, and soon the guests begin dying. There’s not much more one can say—I fear, indeed, that I’ve said too much all ready—but the plot isn’t that difficult to follow, or even predict in some instances. If you keep track of where you are in the poem, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what’s about to happen. The only questions that one is left to ponder are who’s going next, who’s doin’ it (as opposed to whodunit), and why—and believe me, that is enough to keep one occupied.

I’ve heard Christie praised for the psychological vividness of her work, and I can see that at work here a little more than I did in The Secret Adversary. Now, just giving one’s characters checkered pasts of the kind one finds in this novel does not necessarily make it psychologically complex. However, she does accomplish that by using the characters to raise several keen questions, the most interesting (to me) revolving around the nature of guilt. Is a criminal ridden with remorse any less evil than one who is shameless? Or are all delinquents alike?

As a one-time mystery read, this is completely gripping, and faultless aside from the fact that it all seems a little too tidy. I wonder, though, whether it would bear any revisiting; other mystery novels that I have read have characters I’ve come to love, and which could easily draw me back even after I know all the answers. This one doesn’t. I think Christie knew this, too, for when she adapted the story for the stage, she heightened the romance and made the ending more upbeat. In plays, you see, returning patrons add to ticket sales; with books, the author gets paid once for the initial sale: it doesn’t matter if the buyer reads it more than once.

Still, whether or not I ever pick it up again, I’m very glad I read it. I don’t say this of many books, but And Then There Were None is an experience all its own.
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LibraryThing member davidabrams
Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is the ultimate locked room mystery. Or, in this case, “locked island” mystery. Once the cast of suspects and victims is assembled on Indian Island, no one else gets on or off.

Furthermore, Christie tantalizes us by winnowing down the list of suspects
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with each murder—all the way down to where we’re left with just two souls on the bare, windswept island off England’s Devon coast and we must guess which one of them is behind all the deaths.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get around to reading Agatha’s 1939 book (which, by all accounts, is her best-selling novel). There are plenty of other Christies in the canon which I know I need to read, but And Then There Were None was definitely at the top of the list.

It’s a tricky, intricate novel that—more than any other mystery book I’ve read—puts us in the role of not only reader but detective. Unlike the Poirot or Marple novels where Christie’s detectives have an “aha!” moment of blinding realization which they invariably keep to themselves, And Then There Were None lays it all out on the table for us. Before the final chapter (which contains the Big Reveal), you can sit back, review all the evidence—re-read the entire book if necessary—and come to your own conclusion. Chances are very good you’ll be wrong…as was I.

Yes, I was blind-sided by the end of And Then There Were None. But who doesn’t enjoy being duped, bamboozled and astonished at their own ignorance every now and then, right?

In her autobiography, Agatha said she wrote the book “after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I had made of it.” As well she should be.

Ten people converge on Indian Island at the invitation of a certain U.N. Owen—a person everyone thinks they know but who, as it turns out, is equally mysterious even to the servants hired to run the house on the island. As the characters settle in for their stay in the house—which “had certainly been built by a millionaire and was said to be absolutely the last word in luxury”—most of them blithely try to swallow their feelings of unease. Maybe this is all just a big practical joke on the part of an acquaintance they all happen to share. Maybe there’s really no reason to feel like a goose just walked over their grave.

Then again, maybe it’s the island itself which is giving off a bad vibe: “Smelly sort of rock covered with gulls—stood about a mile from the coast. It had got its name from its resemblance to a man’s head—an American Indian profile.” Another character, approaching by boat, shivers and says it looks “sinister.”

Sinister, indeed. Soon, the ten guests will find that they’ve been duped into gathering on Indian Island for the purpose of a murder game. One by one, they start succumbing to violent deaths—choking, poison, hacked up with an axe, pushed off a cliff, and so forth. Several people in the party do a meticulous search of the island and the house, and eventually come to the conclusion there is no one else hiding on the island. The murderer is in their midst.

Paranoia spreads like a germ among the dwindling guests

“One of us….One of us….One of us.…” Three words, endlessly repeated, dinning themselves hour after hour into receptive brains. Five people—five frightened people. Five people who watched each other, who now hardly troubled to hide their state of nervous tension. There was little pretense now—no formal veneer of conversation. They were five enemies linked together by a mutual instinct of self-preservation. And all of them, suddenly, looked less like human beings. They were reverting to more bestial types.

Is this U.N. Owens’ game—turn these strangers into animals and let the laws of nature take over? Or is the mysterious murderer moving among them, serving out justice in a bizarre, complex fashion?

The mind clicks and whirs with each turning page in this book. As we get closer to the end and the cast of characters grows smaller and smaller, the mystery deepens even further. This is a real tribute to Agatha’s skill as a master plotter—there is never a lag in the action, and never a moment where we feel like we’re ahead of the game. To everyone except the know-it-all reader, there will be no “obvious killer.” Only in the final chapter do we learn the true deviousness of how the crimes were committed, and how Agatha managed to pull off yet another shocker.
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LibraryThing member atimco
Still that inimitable sense of impending doom. Still that inevitable dread. Nearly ten years later, And Then There Were None still impresses me with its distinct feeling of terror, guilt, and punishment. Originally published under the title Ten Little Indians, this short mystery delivers an
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immersive and intense experience right up to the last word.

I remember that first time reading it; it was my introduction both to Agatha Christie and the genre of murder mystery. I was housesitting (thankfully, not by myself!) and swallowed the book in one evening. Then I went to bed and dreamt about it all night, it was that consuming. I had rarely read anything so gripping and grimly fascinating.

As a classic of the genre, this story's plot is well known. Ten strangers are brought together for a luxurious vacation on Indian Island. None of them quite knows the host, but various inducements—carefully calculated for each person—outweigh their apprehensions. After dinner the first evening, a recording is played that accuses each person of committing a very specific murder or murders that were never punished. One man's reckless driving killed two children (he got off with a fine). A doctor operated while intoxicated and killed the woman under his hands (he was not discovered). A governess deliberately allowed her charge to swim out too far and be drowned (so her lover would inherit the fortune instead of the boy). One man caused the deaths of twenty-one natives somewhere in the bush. One woman's cruelty caused her pregnant, unwed servant to kill herself. And there are several others, all deaths that were more than accidental but somehow never punished. The purpose of Indian Island is to give these murderers their due, outside the reach of the law.

The horrid fascination of the story comes into play with the realization that the ten strangers are alone on the island... and one of them is the murderer, slowly picking off his victims according to the old rhyme about the ten little Indians. The terror closes in as the number of Indian figurines on the table (originally ten, to correspond with the number of guests) continues to decrease as each murderer meets his demise. It makes you think about the nature of justice, if these "executions" were justified by the fact that the crimes were indeed committed or if execution is only just in the hands of the state. Hard to say.

Of course, the plot is very farfetched and depends heavily on circumstances happening just right to allow each person to die in the fated way. It is all very improbable—but that doesn't take away any of the entertainment value. I won't give away the ending, widely known though it is. If you're new to the genre or to Christie, I can't think of a better place to start than this novel. Just make sure you have a good chunk of time to read it, because once you're in that world, you will want to stay until the resolution.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Ten strangers stranded on a deserted island, each one hiding a dark secret. Could you possibly have a better set up for a mystery? I think not. And Then There Were None was my very first Agatha Christie novel. I was only 11 or so when I read it for the first time, which made the murder and mayhem
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all the more exciting. The set up is similar to CLUE (the movie), but so much better. It's impossible to put down and at only 200 pages it's easy to read in one sitting.

This excellent mystery has remained one of my all time favorites because it has it all. There is a devious mastermind who remains unknown until the end. There are uncovered dark pasts and delicious suspicions. Christie deftly weaves the back stories together and sucks you in so completely that you can't help wonder if you're next.

Sidenote: When I was in London I saw the stage version and though the show was fantastic, I was so disappointed that they changed the ending. Apparently (I found out later) Christie herself changed it for the play, but I still thought the book's finale was much better.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Even decades after first reading it, I could recall parts of this book distinctively to mind, that's how strong an impression it made after I'd completely forgotten plots and characters of dozens, maybe even hundreds of mystery books, even others by Agatha Christie. It would be a close thing, but
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if I could recommend only one Agatha Christie book to introduce a reader to her works, it would be this novel.

For one this is one of Christie's rare one-offs. She wrote over 80 novels; 33 novels with private detective Hercule Poirot, and 12 with her amateur spinster detective Miss Marple, and a few with a married couple as detectives, Tommy and Tupence. But And Then There Were None, first published in 1939, is a stand-alone (although to be honest, the same is really true of her series, they're episodic, not arcs. Miss Marple stays an elderly lady for decades.) I think partly because this story isn't filtered through the point of view of a detective or sidekick, the characters in this book feel somehow a bit deeper, a bit more fleshed out than usual for a Christie, especially Vera Claythorne, the most important female character in this book.

I have to admit though, the reason this will always stay fresh in my mind is that it has one of those patented jaw-dropping, Sixth Sense Christie twists that make you want to go back and read it from the beginning to see how she did that and makes this the epitome of a mystery novel and one of those like Mystery of the Orient Express and Murder of Roger Ackroyd you think of as these incredible little puzzle boxes, well-paced, suspenseful and memorable.
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LibraryThing member Mrsbaty
Can anything be said about this book that hasn't already been said a thousand times? It's a classic and it's been given every accolade possible for a mystery novel. It set standards that are almost impossible for other mystery writers to reach. But those kinds of comments can make it seem stuffy
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and inaccessible. The exact opposite would be true. It's extremely readable, pulls you into it's world immediately and is hugely satisfying in it's conclusion.

In case anyone has somehow missed the plot of this book, it's set on a island off the coast of Devon. 10 strangers are invited or hired to be there and when they arrive, their mysterious host in nowhere to be found. Weather prevents them from returning to the mainland and one by one they are murdered until there is no one left. Since everyone is dead, who can possibly be the murderer?

This was my first introduction to Agatha Christie. I read it when I was in 5th grade. I bought it through the Scholastic Book program and it is still on my shelf to this day 40 years later. It's the scariest Agatha Christie and it left me scared to walk down the hall in my house when I first read it. I remember my mom calling me to supper when I was in the middle of reading this book and running down the hall to get to the dinner table because I was so spooked by what I had been reading. I've read it at least 10 times since then and I still find myself looking over my shoulder when I do even though I know whodunnit!

Whether you're a mystery lover or just a lover of good writing, you have to give this one a try. In my world, it truly is the standard by which all other mysteries are judged.
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LibraryThing member readafew
I don't if if this would be considered one of Agatha Christie's best works but I certainly rate is as MY favorite one. There are a few hints to what is going on, but overall pretty good. This is the only Christie book that actually got my heart rate up being a little scared. Excellent book.

The
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books starts out with us meeting 10 individuals, all having been invited to an island get-a-way Indian Island. An Island recently purchased with a bit of hush-hush so the papers were full of it. 10 people were invited who did not know one another and were shipped out to the island to await the late arrival of the not-quite-known host, Mr. Owen. After the first uneasy night and 2 apparent suicides people were starting to get a little anxious. Other clues were also around to arouse suspicions. Who? Why?
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Agatha Christie was not merely prolific in her output., She was also constantly trying to innovate, taking the whodunit to new levels. With 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' she had introduced a new twist (seen as cheating by some aficionados of the genre) With this novel (one of a very select group of
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novels that have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide), she experimented again, with similarly dazzling success.

Eight guests find themselves invited to a house party on Soldier Island, a small islet just off the Cornish Coast, where they are welcomed by Mr and Mrs Rogers, the butler and his wife. As they all start to chat to each other, however, it turns out that none of them are quite sure why they have been invited. They compare their stories and find that most of them seem to have been summoned my a Mr or Mrs U N Owen. Further questioning reveals that Mr and Mrs Rogers had been hired through an agency and had never met the owners, either. After dinner on the first evening, a strange announcement is made, making a series of allegations against everyone in the party. And then they start dying, one by one, in increasingly sinister circumstances.

It is probably about forty years since I first read this novel, and while I could remember quite clearly who the perpetrator was, I was just as spellbound by it. I am fairly sure that I wouldn't have been able to guess who the murderer was, though the clues are certainly all there. As a young boy I read my way through Agatha Christie's works, one after another, taking them all at face value, unaware of any social comment or her lambasting of conventions. The satire is certainly there, though Christie never lets it get in the way of her plots.
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LibraryThing member Lukerik
Thought I’d best tackle this while on lockdown. It’s not the sort of thing you want to get caught reading on the bus, is it?

The novel is about judgment and prejudice. It’s a critique of British colonialism. No spoilers. Everything I have to say you’ll find in the first fifty pages. And
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please excuse the foul language I’m about to use.

Ten hypocrites (the ten little n*gg*rs of the title) are summoned to N*gg*r Island off the Devonshire coast. So just along from the Isle of Wight, then. The island is so called from its resemblance to a black man’s head. Each of them is guilty of some act that might be characterised as murder, manslaughter, or, at best, some sort of reckless endangerment. None of them has been found guilty in a court of law, nor could they be. Each of them justifies their own actions.

You’ll notice there are references to British colonialism, Natal in particular, and of course there are those twenty-one dead East Africans. Each of the murders has some element comparable to colonialism or the colonialist psyche, whether it be victim-blaming, religious superiority, or dereliction of care-giving duty etc etc. The list goes on. By being brought to N*gg*r Island, the black man’s head, the characters are being summoned to the seat of judgment. By referring to them as n*gg*rs, Christie makes the point that they are no better than black people.

My understanding is that later British editions, and all US editions have censored not only the title but have edited the text to remove all uses of the N word. I do not generally approve of censorship, but in this case I can appreciate why it has been done. While, in it’s censored form, the novel loses all the meaning detailed above, it has obviously been written for the domestic English market of 1938. How well would it play abroad, or in Britain today, post-Empire. If I worked for Waterstone’s would I want to see a seven year old black girl ask her mother what that word meant mummy? Would I want my own children to ask why I was selling that book? Not that I have children, but you get the idea. And the use of the word is so frequent, sometimes more than half a dozen to a page, that even I, who will never face that insult in the street, found it deeply unpleasant. Christie’s whole approach to making her point is so crude and lacking in artistry that I question its continued publication in a popular novel. A conclusion obviously reached also by most other people.

So she’s no Ngũgĩ wa Thiogo. But while she may lack subtlety, finesse and literary sophistication, she still knows how to tell a good story. The writing is spare, efficient and business-like. She reminded me sometimes of Isaac Asimov who used the same pared-down approach not just in his science writing, but also in his fiction. I know some people don’t like that, but I always greatly appreciated it. I enjoyed the mystery, the solution to which I guessed wrongly, and enjoyed reading an historical artefact, despite the offensive language.
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LibraryThing member foolofatook
This was my first taste of Agatha Christie. I thought it was a really enjoyable murder mystery. It kept me guessing until the end (which I didn't see coming), and the characters were all well drawn out and interesting. Overall, I loved it and it makes me want to read more by her!
LibraryThing member sarah-e
So good! The mystery itself is genius - creepy, compelling, and confusing. I thought I had it figured out, and just when I was patting myself on the back... There's a reason Agatha Christie is called the Queen of Mystery.

In the end we are shown how we could have deduced it with clues in the
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reading, though there is always more to these mysteries than we are given on the page. I greatly appreciate genre fiction that weaves characterization in so deftly, and here it is done to enhance the traditional aspects of a mystery. The guilt (or lack of), confusion, and terror each character silently faces as they look around at their fellow would-be victims and wonders which has set out to kill them... it's a masterfully executed book.

Read it. Go in with no expectations, don't read a synopsis, just start at the first page and get sucked straight in, and you will likely enjoy it as much as I did.
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LibraryThing member Renz0808
Ten strangers receive an invitation to come to Indian Island off the coast of Devon. None of these people have any real idea who owns the island and the locals find the situation very mysterious. These ten people soon discover they have been invited to this island under false pretenses and each is
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accused of something awful they have done in the past. Suddenly these ten people begin to fall prey to murder and a very mysterious madman pits each one against the other in a game of cat and mouse and ultimate survival.

Agatha Christie has been given the worthy title of the Queen of Crime and her novel, plays and short stories have captured readers for years. She is one of my favorite mystery writers and I always enjoy her books. And Then There Were None is a wonderful psychological thriller that captured my attention from the first page. The way the characters interact with each other is fascinating and how each one begins to suspect all the others is also very interesting. What happens to these people and how they try to make sense of what is going on around them is wonderful. The mood of the book is creepy from the first page and I always find that the book keeps you guessing until the end about how things are carried out the way they are.

I believe Agatha Christie paved the way for other mystery writers and began a mystery writing industry that created an environment of gripping and intense storylines and unique studies of human behavior, perverse justice, and social interactions. I could reread her books over and over again and find new and different ways that she makes her books unique and exciting for readers.
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LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is one of the greatest murder mysteries ever written. Putting aside the various updates of racially offensive wording within the pages (including the original title), this story remains a timeless classic.

Ten guests are invited to a secluded island
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vacation home, all under false pretenses. When the island's mysterious host never appears and people begin dying one by one, the remaining guests realize they are caught in a sinister trap.

Once you begin reading you won't stop until you discover whodunit.
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LibraryThing member shellwitte
I originally read this book when I was in sixth grade, and at the time I followed along with what my mom always did when she'd start reading a book—she'd read the last chapter first. I'm not sure why she did that, though she's long since passed, so I can't ask. But this is the book that finally
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broke me of the habit. That's because, like most Agatha Christie novels, the entire plot and whodunit is revealed in the last chapter. Kinda kills the mystery when you know what's going to happen.

Fast Forward to a few weeks ago. I decided to read this again as I had completely forgotten the specifics over the years. So I figured that I'd finally have a chance to be surprised by Ms. Christie, which I was. Amazingly, though I sometimes watch various versions of her books on film or tv, I haven't seen a

She certainly loves to toss in a red herring to throw the whole thing off, and this one actually surprised me, though I love how twisted the killer is, in the end. *mini spoiler* I found the first person account of the murders at the end absolutely delicious; much more entertaining than how it was presented in the rest of the book. I think it was how she captured the villain's voice so well and gave the murderer such a complex yet realistic deviousness that I was enthralled.

Sadly, while I enjoyed the mystery, her writing style isn't something that pulls me in—except for that last chapter. So it gets four stars because her plots and mysteries far outshine most mystery writers today or possibly ever, but I just couldn't get into the writing itself as much as I'd hoped. Perhaps one of her Poirot or Miss Marple stories would be a better fit. Or I'm happy to enjoy her work in the numerous television or film renditions of her work.

*For those wondering what about her style I didn't connect with, it was the dialogue, and especially dialogue tags that killed me. Plus, the omniscient narrator had us hopping around eight or so different heads, which kills the intimacy readers usually get when it's just one or two characters that we're following closely. But it is the mystery for which Christie is known and what she excels at, so I'll give her a pass. ;)
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LibraryThing member victorianrose869
July 24, 1999
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie

Often said to be the best of Agatha Christie, and I concur.
Ten people, all strangers to one another, are summoned for various reasons to a modern island mansion, only to arrive and find that there is no host after all, and the summonses were
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false. A mysterious recorded voice informs them that each of them are being brought to justice for a past crime, crimes which no one (seemingly) knew about and for which they’d never paid. A couple who intentionally allowed their wealthy employer to die; a woman who planned the drowning of a young boy; a military man who sent the lover of his wife into a doomed battle; an old lady who banished a young pregnant servant girl from her household, who later killed herself….and the list goes on. There are ten little Indian figures on the dining table, and a nursery rhyme describing the vague demise of demise of “10 Little Indians”. Soon, the guests are murdered one by one, matching the description in the rhyme, and with one figurine disappearing after each death. In the end, ALL are dead, so who is the murderer? The answer is no less than brilliant.
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LibraryThing member BookAngel_a
I'm approx. halfway through reading the complete works of Agatha Christie, and so far I have to say this book has been the most different from the rest of her mysteries. It was spooky to me, and a bit harder to figure out. Usually I have some suspicion of who the real murderer is, but this one got
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me. I didn't have a clue. There's a twisted sense of justice being served in this book, of a human who is putting himself in the judgment seat of God. I don't necessarily approve of those actions, but the book did make me think. It was riveting - I finished it in one evening. Didn't think I would like it as much since Christie's famous Poirot or Marple were not in it, but I really enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member Rachel.RosaLee
This was the first book I've ever read by Agatha Christie and it sent me looking for other items crafted by such a talented woman. The way the story flowed was dynamic. I finished the book as soon as I picked it up.
LibraryThing member rsplenda477
Shame on me for not having read one of the all-time great mystery writers. My entire life, I've heard nothing but wonderful things about ALL of the books that Agatha Christie produced. I finally got a chance to read this classic after purchasing it from Barnes & Noble, and I must say, it does not
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disappoint!

Christie cleverly constructs a murder mystery that rivals no other. Her simple, but compelling writing style makes everything easy to understand in the midst of a 10 person murder frenzy! The chapters are very short and concise, just like the lives of the 10 highly questionable characters. What makes the story so interesting is Christie's wonderful way of planting a surprise or shock at the end of each chapter. I can honestly say that every single chapter has a twist or turn that no reader can see coming. The only downfall in reading this work is that Christie seems to get caught up in the traditional sex roles of males and females of that time period. I tried to ignore or pass over them, but that is the only area where the book does not stand the test of time.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to any lover of literature. Christie truly is a master in the genre of mysteries, and I can't wait to consume more of her work.
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LibraryThing member raizel
The version I read has paragraph by Agatha Christie about the story; she wanted to create a mystery like this and was satisfied that she had done it so well and without cheating.

SPOILER: I liked the fact that there were two points near the end of the book with all the clues needed to figure out
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whodunit. The first before the epilogue, in which police come to the inaccessible island and discover ten dead bodies and conclude that they cannot solve the case and the second after the epilogue and before the manuscript in which the murderer explains the how and why of everything and even points out the three clues that the reader should have noticed.
Each person on the island is accused of murder, but I have my doubts. One woman fired a young woman because she was "in trouble" and the young woman committed suicide. While the employer's actions were not kind, I don't think they were criminal. Someone suggested that perhaps this example was Agatha Christie's way of showing that she was opposed to the death penalty! An adventurer admitted that he and his friends left their native guides to die but explained that natives don't mind dying the way that civilized people do. There is a Jewish man who helps arrange for the adventurer to be on the island, but there is an Italian-sounding man involved with him: I willing to believe that Ms. Christie is not prejudiced, but merely pointing out the prejudices of others.
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LibraryThing member utbw42
I really enjoyed this book, and I sit here wondering "Why haven't I read any Agatha Christie before now?". Someone (no spoilers) sets out to mete their own means of justice to those seemingly above the law by committing 10 perfect murders on the remote Soldier Island. I was guessing the whole book,
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and I admit I was no where close to who I thought it was. I'm amazed at how quickly Christie makes the reader attached to these characters. This is a book that anyone can enjoy.
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LibraryThing member Cecrow
Ten people are invited to vacation or work on an isolated island. Their host is no where to be found and, one by one, they are being murdered with no means of escape. It sounds like a horror novel but it's pure mystery. Who's the murderer and where can he be hiding? How can the people remaining
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best protect themselves, and what can they learn from each successive murder that will help them?

It's a rare novel I can be gripped by enough to read in a weekend, but this was one of them. I've read a lot of the author's work but always her Poirot stories, and it was a near-tragedy that I overlooked this one for so long until ... thank you LT for ranking this as her most popular work! As always with Agatha Christie, it did not go where I expected and I did not guess the culprit. Foiled again!
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LibraryThing member adpaton
This was one of the first Christie books I read - I was intrigued by my parents' discussing a stage version and dug the book out of their capacious shelves.

The book is a period piece and a true delight, albeit a trifle bleak. The young woman who seems to be a typical Christie heroine and the love
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interest, a typical Christie adventurer, are not what they seem.

She takes a group of her own stereotypes and proceeds to astound with them as this country weekend turns into something else entirely.

I have seen at least three film versions of this book, one of the most embarrassing of which was set in Africa, probably one of those highly subsidised by South Africa back in the apartheid days. The films have all suffered from attempting to have a 'happy ending' rather than remaining faithful to the original story.
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LibraryThing member beearedee
Wow. Is there anything else that needs to be said? Can I give this ten stars!?
LibraryThing member AlexTheHunn
A Christie classic. Although this does not involve Poirot, Marple or any of her stock detectives, this is one of her finest stories, well worth the short read.

Rating

(5715 ratings; 4.2)

Call number

FIC F Chr
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