and then there were none new york times book review

And Then There Were None

By agatha christie.

'And Then There Were None' is a deceptively simple read, yet it ranks beyond the archetype of a regular mystery novel. Here are reasons to love this mystery masterpiece.

Article written by Israel Njoku

Degree in M.C.M with focus on Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

‘ And Then There Were None ‘ by Agatha Christie has remained a favorite among many generations of mystery readers. However, among critics, the reception is mixed but mostly positive. Here is a breakdown of the elements that make the novel the celebrated piece that it is.

Agatha Christie’s ‘ And Then There Were None ‘ narrates the story of ten strangers who are brought together from several walks of life to an island where they are all killed in mostly mysterious circumstances. It turns out that these characters had all at one point or the other in their lives, committed murder but got away without being punished for it in any way at all.

The manner of their deaths is patterned around the nursery rhyme, ‘Ten Little Indians.’ Also, when they arrive on the Indian Island, there are ten soldier figurines on the dining table whose number keep reducing to match the number of people who have died at any moment in time.

The story of ‘And Then There Were None’ significantly advances Agatha Christie’s reputation as a pioneering and influential mystery writer. The novel’s ingenious plotting, impactful endings, and complex characterization showcase Christie’s talent and earned her the title “Queen of Mystery.” Its enduring global appeal, cultural significance, and exploration of timeless themes further solidify her status as one of the most celebrated authors in literary history.

Plot Twists

The plot twists in Agatha Christie’s, ‘ And Then There Were None’ is widely acclaimed and considered some of the best in the mystery genre. Christie’s gradual unraveling of the mystery, suspenseful tension, and unexpected revelations keep readers engaged and guessing throughout the story. The twists have multiple layers and present moral dilemmas, adding depth and intellectual stimulation to the narrative. The iconic ending, in particular, leaves a lasting impact on readers

Great Characterization

One key strategy that Christie employs in the presentation of her characters is long internal monologues. In this way, she gives the reader an insight into the personality of the character. She also employs a variety of techniques to enact the ominous and suspenseful mood that subsists throughout the story. For example, when the old man who is on board the same train as Blore tells him that a storm is coming and that it is judgment day, that already foreshadows the subsequent events which are going to happen shortly afterward. There is also a buildup of psychological suspense even before the deaths begin to happen. Christie can achieve this through that voice recording which accused the characters of murders that they had one way or another been associated with earlier in their lives. This triggers guilt feelings in the characters, thereby setting the mood for the deaths to seem inevitable and justified.

The author did a splendid job with the characters she created . They are part of what helps sustain the mystery of the plot through to the end. Christie took the time to differentiate and develop each character with just the appropriate amount of detail, personality depth, and complexity. That is part of how even the characters themselves become wary of each other. There is no room for taking anyone at face value. Because there is always more to each one of them than meets the eye. The same attitude is what the reader is forced to adopt throughout until the full resolution of the story.

The novel had sometimes been criticized as an unfair mystery story, the idea being that in a standard mystery sequence, a crime is committed, then a detective emerges to solve the crime, and the reader follows along as the detective makes his discoveries. In other words, by following the excursion of the detective who is attempting to solve the crime, the reader expects to be able to put things together and tell with a considerable degree of certainty who the villain is. Agatha Christie breaks this familiar pattern and keeps the reader guessing all through to the end. And even so, the reader does not find out for sure who the killer is until the Epilogue and by a written confession of the killer himself. This means that technically the crime is not even solved, or it is solved, but the criminal and the detective are rolled up in the same character by the name of Wargrave. In this way, Agatha Christie renders the story doubly mysterious.

The novel, nevertheless, does assert a certain moral order. The actions of Wargrave do not go entirely unpunished. By taking it upon himself to kill these other people on the pretext of being an agent of justice, he in turn makes himself a murderer. This means that even according to his own standards of justice, he cannot afford to go unpunished. In this way, the author manages to reassert the code of classic detective stories whereby every crime goes with a certain punishment, and nobody gets away with any infraction, no matter how insignificant or secret.

'And Then There Were None' Review

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Book Cover

Book Title: And Then There Were None

Book Description: The best-selling mystery novel of all time written by Agatha Christie

Book Author: Agatha Christie

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Collins Crime Club

Date published: November 6, 1939

ISBN: 0-00-231835-0

Number Of Pages: 256

Lasting Impact on a Reader

'And Then There Were None' Review

If ever there was any doubt as to the renown of Agatha Christie as ‘The Queen of Crime’, she rids every iota of that doubt with the brilliance and creativity she displayed in ‘ And Then There Were None’. The novel engages the mind and imagination of readers so much that readers find themselves wondering about the supernatural. After taking readers down a maze of suspense and plot twists, the reader is rewarded with an ending so reasonable and logical that it cannot be faulted. Agatha Christie is indeed the author to read for all lovers of mystery.

Characters with Depth
Artistic Quality
logical Resolution
Graphic Details
Too Many Deaths

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About Israel Njoku

Israel loves to delve into rigorous analysis of themes with broader implications. As a passionate book lover and reviewer, Israel aims to contribute meaningful insights into broader discussions.

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AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

by Agatha Christie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 21, 1939

This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick, expertly handled.

Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1939

ISBN: 0062073478

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1939

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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SEEN & HEARD

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

by C.J. Box ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2015

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be...

Box takes another break from his highly successful Joe Pickett series ( Stone Cold , 2014, etc.) for a stand-alone about a police detective, a developmentally delayed boy, and a package everyone in North Dakota wants to grab.

Cassandra Dewell can’t leave Montana’s Lewis and Clark County fast enough for her new job as chief investigator for Jon Kirkbride, sheriff of Bakken County. She leaves behind no memories worth keeping: her husband is dead, her boss has made no bones about disliking her, and she’s looking forward to new responsibilities and the higher salary underwritten by North Dakota’s sudden oil boom. But Bakken County has its own issues. For one thing, it’s cold—a whole lot colder than the coldest weather Cassie’s ever imagined. For another, the job she turns out to have been hired for—leading an investigation her new boss doesn’t feel he can entrust to his own force—makes her queasy. The biggest problem, though, is one she doesn’t know about until it slaps her in the face. A fatal car accident that was anything but accidental has jarred loose a stash of methamphetamines and cash that’s become the center of a battle between the Sons of Freedom, Bakken County’s traditional drug sellers, and MS-13, the Salvadorian upstarts who are muscling in on their territory. It’s a setup that leaves scant room for law enforcement officers or for Kyle Westergaard, the 12-year-old paperboy damaged since birth by fetal alcohol syndrome, who’s walked away from the wreck with a prize all too many people would kill for.

Pub Date: July 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-312-58321-7

Publisher: Minotaur

Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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by C.J. Box

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Book Reviews on...

And then there were none, by agatha christie, recommendations from our site.

“I loved Agatha Christie when I was a teenager, and she is one of the reasons I became a mystery thriller writer. I still think that her books have a lot in them that a teenager would enjoy today. I think this is my favourite book of hers. It has the tightest plotting of all of them, and it’s very clever.” Read more...

The Best Thrillers for Teens

Kathryn Foxfield , Children's Author

“I have chosen what I think is a masterpiece. Now, there are always the snooties, and there always will be, particularly in this country. There are snobs who don’t like authors who dare to tell stories and don’t like success. Agatha Christie was a brilliant storyteller. She didn’t sell millions of books by mistake. But the best one is And Then There Were None . But for those who have wondered where to start with Agatha Christie, this and The ABC Murders are frankly the two best she’s ever done, and if I had to pick just one, I would pick And Then There Were None. “ Read more...

The Best Detective Fiction

Jeffrey Archer , Novelist

Other books by Agatha Christie

The mysterious affair at styles (1921) by agatha christie, mrs. mcginty's dead (1952) by agatha christie, a hallowe'en party/a haunting in venice (1969) by agatha christie, murder in mesopotamia (1936) by agatha christie, appointment with death (1938) by agatha christie, hercule poirot's christmas (1938) by agatha christie, our most recommended books, on liberty by john stuart mill, war and peace by leo tolstoy, middlemarch by george eliot, nineteen eighty-four by george orwell, the odyssey by homer and translated by emily wilson, the confessions by augustine (translated by maria boulding).

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Book review: “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie

It was their first night on the small Soldier Island, and the group of eight guests had just dined on an excellent supper, served by Rogers the butler and prepared by his wife Ethel. Their host U.N. Owen was not expected until the next day.

This is early in Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel And Then There Were None , one of the best mystery books ever written.

They were satisfied with themselves and with life. The hands of the clock pointed to twenty minutes after nine. There was a silence — a comfortable replete silence. Into that silence came The Voice. Without warning, inhuman, penetrating… “ Ladies and gentlemen! Silence please !” Everyone was startled. They looked round — at each other, at the walls. Who was speaking? The Voice went on — a high clear voice: “ You are charged with the following indictments…”

What followed were single-sentence accusations of murder against each of the people present — Dr. Edward Armstrong, elderly spinster Emily Brent, former policeman William Blore, former nanny Vera Claythorne, soldier of fortune Philip Lombard, retired Gen. John Macarthur, socialite Anthony Marston, Judge Lawrence Wargrave and the Rogers couple.

And Christie’s story is off and running.

One of them

The Voice, it turns out, came from a gramophone record that, on written instructions he had received, Rogers put on the machine moments before, knowing nothing of its contents.

It quickly becomes clear that similar arm’s-length subterfuges have been employed — by U.N. Owen or, as someone observes, Unknown — to get each of the ten people onto the isolated island. The large modern home is fully stocked with food, but there is no boat or other way to get back to the mainland. A motorboat that’s supposed to visit every day doesn’t appear the next morning, and a storm rises, making future visits impossible for the time being.

Most, but not all, of the ten deny having anything to do with murder although, as time goes on, the real facts of each of their cases do come out.

Fear of exposure, however, takes a back seat to fear of death. Within moments of the Voice’s accusation, one of the ten refreshes his drink and promptly dies of poisoning. This is awkwardly put down to a suicide, but that doesn’t last.

Another of the ten is found dead in the morning, and the remaining eight come to the realization that they are being stalked. Even worse — after searching the house and the small island from top to bottom — they come to recognize that the killer can only be one of them.

Picked up by a trawler

And Then There Were None has been ranked often as one of the great mysteries of all time, and it works so well because Christie takes the genre and turns it on its head.

Ten years before the novel was published, Ronald Knox, a Catholic priest and an author of such books, promulgated the ten rules of detective fiction.

The first is this: “The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.” Well, Christie violates that rule during the first few pages when she enters the thoughts of each of the people heading to Soldier Island.

Then, she breaks basically all of the rest of the rules because she does away with the detective completely.

Well, not exactly completely. In an epilogue, Scotland Yard investigators are called to the island when it’s found to be littered with ten dead bodies. They, however, aren’t able to figure out what happened.

Only when a message in a bottle (!!!) is picked up by a trawler does the reader get the full story of what happened.

And Then There Were None is a fully satisfying mystery, shrewdly complex and convolutely simple.

There is one caveat, however.

A key plot element is a children’s rhyme that, in the American edition I read, begins: “Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.” With each new verse, another solider boy dies until the last one hangs himself— “and then there were none.”

Another version of the rhyme is about Ten Little Indians.

But, in the novel that Christie originally published, the rhyme was one, dating from 1869, that starts: “Ten little niggers…,” and the island where the action takes place is Nigger Island, and the title of the novel, as published in the United Kingdom, is Ten Little Niggers .

In 1939, Americans were far from enlightened when it came to racial tolerance. Even so, the U.S. publishers of Christie’s book balked at her title as offensive, and it was changed to And Then There Were None . In the U.K., it remained Ten Little Niggers in every edition until the mid-1980s when it was changed to Ten Little Indians .

The book is a great mystery. But its publishing history is an example of the depth of racism in Western culture.

Patrick T. Reardon

Written by : Patrick T. Reardon

For more than three decades Patrick T. Reardon was an urban affairs writer, a feature writer, a columnist, and an editor for the Chicago Tribune. In 2000 he was one of a team of 50 staff members who won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. Now a freelance writer and poet, he has contributed chapters to several books and is the author of Faith Stripped to Its Essence. His website is https://patricktreardon.com/.

I have just recently learnt that the book name and some content of the book were changed. I love Agatha’s books and think that this one is one of the best which created a genre for many more thriller books and movies. Though I love reading, recently I started to watch summaries of the books prior to reading. Do you do this? For example, this video is about “And then there were none” https://youtu.be/YYpMFpZsH70

Thanks, Tanya, for your comment. This book is, I agree, one of her best. It is an indication of how things used to be that she used a racist title originally. As for looking at book summaries before reading — I avoid that. I want to encounter the book fresh. Pat

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Ten Little Suspects, One Ingenious Killer

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Mystery Thriller
First Publication: 1939
Language: English
Setting: Devon, England (United Kingdom)
Characters: Justice Lawrence John Wargrave, Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, Philip Lombard, General John Gordon Macarthur, Dr Edward George Armstrong, Anthony James Marston, William Henry Blore, Mr Thomas Rogers, Mrs Ethel Rogers, Emily Caroline Brent, Isaac Morris, Fred Narracott

Upon being welcomed to Soldier Island, the eight suspiciously assembled guests of the mysterious millionaire U.N. Owen are greeted by a haunting nursery rhyme playing on an eerie gramophone: “Ten little soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine…”

So begins one of Agatha Christie’s most celebrated and ingeniously devised mystery novels, “And Then There Were None.” Published in 1939, this exceptional work stands out even among the prolific Queen of Mystery’s exemplary oeuvre. At once a tightly constructed puzzle crafted by a master plotter and a deliciously sinister study of guilt and justice, it’s a reading experience that remains engrossingly suspenseful from its chilling opening until its jaw-dropping final revelation.

The Diabolical Premise

The novel’s brilliantly simple setup instantly immerses you in an aura of steadily mounting dread. Each of the 10 visitors has been lured to Soldier Island under false pretenses, only to be accused of committing a past murder and going unpunished by their mysterious host. With chilling matter-of-factness, their alleged crimes are detailed over dinner – ranging from driving a young man to suicide to being responsible for the tragic death of an elderly woman. The guests all protest their innocence, only to awake the next day to find one among their number has turned up dead in precisely the manner described in the nursery rhyme’s opening verse.

So begins a harrowing sequence of “accidents,” steadily picking off each of the stranded guests one-by-one. Helpless on the remote island with no hope of summoning assistance from the mainland, the dwindling party is gripped by paranoia as they attempt to uncover which among them is the architect of their diabolical predicament before it’s too late. With each shocking death mirroring the rhyme’s progression, the remaining guests become increasingly desperate, forced to grapple with their own guilt, buried secrets, and whether any of them bears responsibility for this brutal game of moral reckoning.

Haunting Atmosphere & Unrelenting Tension

From its very first pages, “And Then There Were None” steadily tightens a brooding grip of fear, mistrust, and claustrophobic isolation upon the reader. The novel’s setting—a creepy island manor house cut off from the world by the churning tides – renders the stranded guests’ plights all the more hopelessly fraught. There are no avenues for escape or outside help to be sought, leaving them to turn upon one another as the only rational source for the increasingly frenzied onslaught of slayings stalking them.

Christie makes inspired use of the island’s bleak and forbidding landscape to reflect the disquieting darkness descending upon the dwindling party. The dense, shrouding fog, the craggy shores beset by crashing waves, the unseen coves and inlets always lurking just off the property’s grounds—every aspect of the setting drips with chilling menace and ominous portents of more violence to come. When combined with the increasingly unhinged mental states of the characters as their numbers dwindle, the omnipresent sense of dread becomes overbearing, suffocating the reader in its vice-like grip.

A Supreme Study of Moral Judgement and Guilt

While “And Then There Were None” is first and foremost an electrifying work of detective fiction that keeps you frantically theorizing until the final pages, it’s also an uncompromising examination of morality and the corrosive impacts of guilt upon the human psyche. Much like her celebrated Hercule Poirot mysteries, Christie here utilizes an ingenious framework to explore the darker realms of humanity through a sequence of devious killings.

Yet this novel delves into moral ambiguity on an even more profound level than her classics. One by one, the characters must come to terms with their own past transgressions detailed at the fateful opening dinner, many of which were committed through negligence or being an unwitting participant rather than direct malice. As the noose of fatality continues to tighten around each victim, they are forced to critically examine how guilt over these past sins may have unconsciously led them onto the island under false pretenses – as condemned prisoners being judged and executed in turn.

In this way, “And Then There Were None” adopts the trappings of a classic murder mystery to construct a riveting philosophical examination of justice, redemption, and how even the most unassuming individual can perpetuate evil through inaction or self-deception. It posits sobering questions about whether any morally flawed human , once made aware of their culpability in some past atrocity, can ever achieve transcendence and lasting atonement. For the tormented souls on Soldier Island, their final gasping confrontation with their own personal demons serves as a viscerally unforgiving reckoning that will stick with you long after the novel’s shocking conclusion.

An Audacious Narrative Feat

Beyond the deeper psychological themes, what makes “And Then There Were None” such an enduringly gripping read is Agatha Christie’s astonishing command of plotting , characterization, and that indefinable gift all great mystery writers possess for perception and misdirection. From the outset, she deftly introduces ten distinctly established personalities—from the cantankerous old sticklers to the secretive young lovers—who each become fully realized, complicated figures over the course of the story. Each harbors their own motivations and inscrutable shadings that make them equally likely and unlikely as being the culprit.

As the ingenious scenario progressively unsettles and fractures each remaining character, Christie’s carefully planted seeds of perception and clues leading you toward the truth become all the more masterfully concealed through a patina of rising paranoia and panic. Like the best cinematic thrillers that upend expectations through sleight of hand as much visual trickery, Christie completely rewires your sense of certainty just when you think you’ve figured out the perpetrator or their modus operandi. Her ability to consistently subvert presumptions and keep you guessing until the final shattering reveal is a true testament to the dexterity of her ingenuity and spirit.

With “And Then There Were None,” Christie delivered what is arguably the most iconic and audacious work of crime fiction ever devised. Modern imitators aplenty have attempted to replicate its exacting formula, but few have ever come anywhere close to capturing its atmosphere of steadily mounting claustrophobic doom or delivering its primal catharsis of moral comeuppance and hard-earned justice. More than eighty years since its initial publication, this transcendent mystery remains just as potent, shocking, and capable of burrow-ing in your subconscious and lingering in your imagination long after its final gut-punch revelation.

Agatha Christie’s Monumental Achievement

What’s so astonishing about “And Then There Were None” is that despite being rooted in Dame Agatha’s trademarked mastery of golden age literary puzzle construction, it simultaneously skirts the boundaries between genres to become something else entirely – a nightmarish psychological study, a brooding gothic thriller , a merciless morality play. Through its serpentine unpacking of abhorrent crimes and the complicit humanity that enables evil, it touches upon the same rawly existential nerves that lend gravity to the greatest modern horror novels and films.

For all of its primal menace and morbid thrills, however, “And Then There Were None” ultimately revels in pure narrative ingenuity and audacious sleight of hand. The sheer genius of its central premise and execution of that nefarious framing nursery rhyme and inescapable setup are so perfectly executed that any crime fiction fanatic can’t help but be awed by Christie’s talent for devising and resolving such an immaculately intricate murder puzzle. Her handling of the rising tensions and sheer claustrophobia enveloping the dwindling cast of characters is so precisely sustained that you’ll find yourself squirming from the building suspense as you tear through the pages.

Ultimately, “And Then There Were None” stands as one of those rare works that transcends its genre to become a timeless pop cultural milestone and unimpeachable classic. It’s the sort of universally acclaimed, lightning-in-a-bottle masterpiece of craft that all great artists spend entire careers striving to produce just once. Yet Dame Agatha managed this miraculous feat multiple times, attaining her deserved renown as one of the founding giants of not just mystery literature, but the entire suspense fiction form. While her beloved Hercule Poirot tales are justly revered as superior examples of the classic whodunnit, this ingenious “And Then There Were None” stands as her defining, most quintessential work that all fans, new or old, simply must experience. It truly is Agatha at her most ingeniously devious, cunningly audacious, and breathlessly suspenseful—in other words, the Dame at the very peak of her peerless powers.

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And then there were none.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 3 Reviews
Kids Say 38 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Masterful murder mystery takes dark view of justice.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Not all of the murders in And then There Were None result from violence. A coupl

Poisonous drugs are used to commit murder (cyanide, chloral hydrate). Dr. Armstr

The racially bigoted title and language that appaeared in the original edition o

One character recalls a past affair with a married man, and she remembers his ar

Any Positive Content?

And Then There Were None takes place on an island off the coast of England durin

This mystery novel takes a jaded view of justice and human nature, but some migh

All of the main characters in And Then There Were None are guilty of bringing ab

Violence & Scariness

Not all of the murders in And then There Were None result from violence. A couple of characters are poisoned and go somewhat peacefully. However, most are dispensed with by violent means. The book includes murder committed by drowning, bludgeoning, shooting, and dropping a heavy object on a man's head from a second-story window. The reader doesn't "witness" the murders; they're discovered after the fact, but the results are described in some detail.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Poisonous drugs are used to commit murder (cyanide, chloral hydrate). Dr. Armstrong prescribes sedatives to inhabitants of the island to calm them down. The guests also drink whiskey and brandy. Isaac Morris is described as a "dope" dealer who sells illegal drugs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

The racially bigoted title and language that appaeared in the original edition of the novel have been changed, but any investigation into the history of this 1930s mystery will uncover that the original title was Ten Little Niggers. In addition, the rhyme that forms a framework for the murder mystery, which appears in modern editions as "Ten Little Soldiers" originally contained the plural of the N-word rather than "Soldiers" and used the N-word throughout the rhyme. That archaic and offensive language was changed early on in editions published in the United States (to Ten Little Indians) and later in the UK, as well. In the 1980s, both the UK and U.S. editions became known by the current title. But the book still contains characters who refer to African "natives" as inferior beings and who refer to the character Isaac Morris as a "little Jew."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One character recalls a past affair with a married man, and she remembers his arms around her.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Educational Value

And Then There Were None takes place on an island off the coast of England during the 1930s. Readers will get a feel for modes of transportation and communication in that place and time. They'll also learn a little about medicines/anaesthetics that were used (from a character who's a doctor) and about the British legal system at that time (from a character who's a judge).

Positive Messages

This mystery novel takes a jaded view of justice and human nature, but some might say that the book teaches that the harshest judgment comes from your own conscience.

Positive Role Models

All of the main characters in And Then There Were None are guilty of bringing about another's death, whether by neglect or by murder.

Parents need to know that in prolific British mystery novelist Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None , 10 guests visit Soldier Island and a murderer uses a nursery rhyme as a framework to plan and execute the visitors' deaths, one by one, in various ways, including by shooting, drowning, bludgeoning, poisoning, and hanging. The text contains derogatory references to African "natives" and a couple of anti-Semitic remarks. The book was written for adults, but teens can learn a lot about the mystery genre from this master.

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

Parents say (3)
Kids say (38)

Based on 3 parent reviews

It's becoming a soon-to-be banned book!

What's the story.

In Agatha Christie's murder mystery AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, 10 guests are invited for a stay on Soldier Island, off the coast of England, by someone named U.N. Owen. Each of the guest bedrooms, and the dining room, contains a framed copy of a nursery rhyme, \"Ten Little Soldiers,\" in which each of 10 soldiers dies, one by one; this rhyme turns out to be the framework for U.N. Owen's murderous plans. It soon becomes clear that all of the island \"guests\" were duped in different ways into coming to the island, and that whoever tricked them wants justice for past crimes that the guests committed.

Is It Any Good?

And Then There Were None is a grim but riveting mystery. Characters are first introduced just so that readers can distinguish them, but as the book progresses and readers get further inside their minds and their fears, the suspense builds. One of the darkest aspects of the novel is the fact there's no "good guy" here -- all of the characters appear equally guilty in more ways than one. This is an exciting book -- however grisly -- that is to be enjoyed for its page-turning plot and Christie's masterful construction around the spooky nursery rhyme.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Agatha Christie's influence as a popular mystery writer. How this 1939 murder mystery compare with more modern mysteries you've read?

Once you've finished reading this novel, do you think there were any clues that should have told you earlier who the murderer is?

Explore more of Agatha Christie's plots by reading some of her Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple mysteries, or by watching the TV adaptations on PBS or Netflix.

Book Details

Author : Agatha Christie
Genre : Mystery
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date : November 6, 1939
Number of pages : 320
Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated : June 10, 2015

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'And Then There Were None' Book Review, Summary & Analysis

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I have received many requests to review the book 'And Then There Were None' written by Agatha Christie'. In response, I'm offering my expert Reviews, Summary, and Analysis in this article.

So, when I suggest this book, it's because I've read a lot and want to share the best ones with you. I'm all about making your reading experience awesome. Trust in a guide deeply immersed in the literary books and stories. I love books just like you do!

Elegant table setting with candelabra, flowers, and yellow figurines on a platter.

'And Then There Were None' is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie.

In the novel, ten people, who have previously been complicit in the deaths of others but have escaped notice or punishment, are tricked into coming onto an island.

Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling, inexorably, and sometimes grotesquely.

Some people are so bold as to reveal the true evil in the first sentence of the first chapter and page of the novel!!!

After reading the last confession, it feels like clearing away the fog of the case and picking up the scattered clues piece by piece. to return to the perfect murder case.

In fact, I always feel worried when reading my grandma’s mystery novels. Because I am very afraid of memorizing the complicated names of characters in novels, which makes me want to die!

Secondly, I don’t know whether my grandma writes slowly and slowly, which makes me lose my mind when I read it.

What I have to reveal is that not only was I stupid like the police who cleaned up the mess, but I didn't guess the real murder until all ten people were killed.

What's even more ridiculous is that before I read the confession, I thought I was smart enough to conclude that the murderer was Fred, the kayaker.

What did grandma think?! What did you think?! Not only was the applause so wonderful that I almost cried!

Book: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Author: Agatha Christie
Original title: Ten Little Niggers
Cover artist: Stephen Bellman
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Mysterycrimepsychological thriller
Publisher: Collins Crime Club
Publication date: 6 November 1939
Preceded by: Murder Is Easy
Followed by: Sad Cypress
Website: And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Get it from Amazon

About the Author: Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is known as the queen of detective novels. Her books have sold more than 1 billion copies in English and have been translated into more than 100 languages, with sales of more than 1 billion copies. She wrote 80 detective novels and short story collections, 19 screenplays, and 6 novels published under the pseudonym Mary West McCourt. The number of works is second only to Shakespeare.

Agatha Christie's first novel, "The Mysterious Case at Styles Park," was written at the end of World War I, during which she served as a volunteer ambulance crew. In this novel, she created a cute little Belgian detective Hercule Pogge, who became the most popular detective image among readers after Sherlock Holmes.

In 1926, Agatha Christie wrote her famous work "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (also translated as "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"). In 1952, her most famous play "The Mousetrap" was put on the stage and has been performed continuously since then for a long time, setting an unprecedented record in the history of world drama.

In 1971, Agatha Christie was knighted by the Queen of England. In 1975, Ingrid Bergman won her third Oscar for the film "Murder on the Orient Express" based on Agatha's novel of the same name. Agatha's hundreds of millions of admirers include prominent figures including Queen Elizabeth II and French President Charles de Gaulle.

In 1976, she bid farewell to the people who loved her at the age of 85.

Book Summary

After reading many of my grandma's books, I finally bought this famous book "No Survival". I heard that it is Grandma's masterpiece, but after reading it, I can only say that I am a little disappointed, not for anything else, but for those who are either serious or minor. I looked through the book reviews briefly, but I didn’t see much that could resolve the logic bug.

1. It is written in the book that 'the order of death on the island was carefully arranged by me after careful consideration', which means that the judge has already decided who will die first and who will die later, but there is a problem here.

The second deceased, Mrs. Rogers, was caused by taking an overdose of Trisulfone mixed with alcohol, but how did the judge determine that she would have fainted after listening to the accusation on the record? If she had not fainted, she might not have drank. How the judge killed her and made sure she died a second time and died just like in that poem.

2. Similar to the bug above, how did the judge know that the third deceased general would be alone at the beach? If he was not alone but stayed with someone, he would not be able to commit the murder described in the poem...

3. This is a bug that everyone is confused about. How could the doctor be so gullible in the judge’s plan? No one noticed that the judge was pretending to be dead. No one could tell the difference between a bullet hole and a small piece of red mud.

Even if they didn't get closer to observing, didn't they notice it at all when they moved the body? After the judge faked his death, the doctor if he was not particularly stupid, would have thought that if the judge was not the real murderer, then the real murderer would be panicked and exposed after discovering that the judge was killed poetically, but there was no reaction from anyone. Unlike others, wouldn't the doctor have imagined that he had been deceived by the judge?

4. How did the judge know that Vera would definitely go back to her room to wash her face? Assuming that Vera did not go back to the room at all, but went to the kitchen to wash his face, or stayed with everyone until going to bed at night and then went upstairs to the room with everyone, his plan to lure everyone away would have failed, then he There is no way to fake death. If he had not faked his death, the subsequent murders would not have been completed smoothly.

5. When only Vera and Lombard were left, Vera asked him "How did the Stone Bear's trick work?" Why did he answer "It was magic".

Since he was not the murderer, why didn't he question Vera? , or why he didn't think that when Vera questioned him since neither of them was the murderer, someone was faking their death.

But from an emotional point of view, this is not a too serious bug. After all, not dying in that situation is half crazy, and you may not know what you are saying.

The last thing I want to say is that the reason why I feel disappointed is that for a mystery novel, no matter how fascinating the plot is and how well the atmosphere is rendered, if it lacks the most basic logic, it is not a proper novel.

As Grandma herself said: The stories in the book are difficult to write, the plots cannot be too absurd, and the murderers cannot be too obvious. "And Then There Were None" feels like an extraordinary inspiration, but it is a pity to abandon it, and it is too difficult to write.

The plot is so intricate that Grandma herself cannot bring it back. There is also the description of the character's psychology. After knowing the murderer, and looking back at the psychology of everyone before, you will find that the judge's psychology is very unreasonable.

Grandma does not have this kind of unreasonableness in her other novels. Reasonable psychological description. There is a sense of deliberate effort to prevent people from guessing the murderer, which is completely below her standards.

Of course, for such a story, Grandma did a very good job. After all, "And Then There Were None" is not like her usual style.

This subject matter may be a bit difficult for her, but the idea and main structure of the story are indeed Superb, the grasp of the atmosphere and environment is also first-rate, which can be regarded as making up for the flaws in logic and reasoning. As the recommendation says: Create a new model

Book Review

There are only ten people on the desert island, and one of them is the murderer. But they died one after another, and And Then There Were None.

So who is the murderer? Was he the last person to die? If not, how can he or she continue to carry out his or her murderous plan after death? Why did he (she) kill people, and why did he/she label himself/herself as dead?

　　In "And Then There Were None," Agatha Christie clearly pushed herself into a creative danger. Faced with this situation, detective novel authors have two choices.

One is to use genius ideas to justify themselves, and the other is to talk nonsense using inferior means such as "psychological suspense" and "fantasy" - ever since "The Da Vinci Code" became popular, "suspense writers" who pretend to be fake are popping up all the time. There are simply too many such stories to fool people.

　　"And Then There Were None" was published two years later than "Tragedy on the Nile" and has a completely different style. "Tragedy on the Nile" is keen on solving mysteries.

After laying a complicated web, Detective Poirot uses careful reasoning to unravel the cocoon. "No Survival" is more willing to create a thriller atmosphere.

　　"Ten little soldiers, went out to eat. One was choked to death, and nine were left. Nine little soldiers stayed up late. One overslept, and eight were left. Eight little soldiers left for Devon. One There are seven people left to stay..."

This old British nursery rhyme has become a thread throughout the novel. The ten victims died one after another as described in the ballad, giving it the color of a prophecy. It makes the text of this novel chill. There always seems to be a gibbering child's voice beside your ears, gently chanting this song.

There is a hint of death in the careless tone as if a bloodthirsty expression suddenly appears on the innocent face, which makes people feel... Feeling invisible fear in the extreme contrast.

　　From sunny and sunny to misty and foggy, the island has turned from a resort into a hell on earth. This British novel will easily remind you of the British weather: rainy and cold. The sea in the dark night has hidden its majestic side, peering coldly at everything on the island.

When the seaside becomes one of the murder scenes, the waves receding from the beach leave a trace of melancholy, making people worry about the kiss of death coming again.

The confusion on the Nile disturbs the readers' intelligence, while the confusion in "No Survivor" disturbs people's heartstrings.

　　Christie seems convinced that human nature is inherently evil. We are most familiar with her three stories: "Death on the Nile", "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Crime in the Sun".

In these murders, nearly everyone present at the scene has a motive. As Christie eliminates each suspect, he mocks their dark side.

　　"And Then There Were None" is no exception. The murderer placed a recording on the gramophone in advance and announced their crimes one by one after everyone arrived on the island.

It turns out that every person who goes to the island hides a secret: an officer deliberately sends his subordinates to a dangerous place to vent his personal anger; a drunk doctor performs an operation while the patient dies; a girl deliberately creates an accident to help her lover obtain an inheritance... All were charged and the island became a place of judgment.

　　In a desperate situation, some people are calm because they have been unable to bear the pain caused by guilt for many years; some are disapproving because they have never complained about their sins; some are panicked, and some are sad. But no matter what, from the nobles to the bottom, everyone on the island has taken off the disguise of identity and revealed their truest side in the face of the cruelest reality. The longing for life is the thought of some people, and the longing for relief is what everyone hopes for difficulty or moral relief.

　　If there is Poirot's humor is a spice in the "Poirot Trilogy", then "And Then There Were None" is full of depressive pathos from beginning to end. Christie's taunts became less and less frequent, replaced by harsh criticism. At the same time, she also became more ruthless - that nursery rhyme was tantamount to a verdict.

She sent these prisoners waiting for death to the execution ground, first letting them see the black hole of the gun muzzle, then covering their hoods, and then putting the muzzle of the gun on them. their foreheads. The agony of waiting brought an unbearable heaviness. Perhaps, when you read this book late at night, you will hear their gasps for breath.

　　"Who killed them?" This mystery continues to puzzle everyone until the end of the novel. Finally, a mysterious confession solves the mystery.

What is truly astonishing is not the perpetrator's undetectable means of committing the crime, but his or her identity and motives. The sorrow of human nature cannot be suppressed in the final confession.

The desert island in the sea is like the lost human heart, which becomes helpless in the reflection of sins and mistakes. Civilization is deserted on the small island, and everything in the moral exile is in depression, with no survivors. The novel becomes profound at this time.

When later generations of readers repeatedly lament Christie's "dazzling" writing skills, it seems that they should not ignore the lamentations revealed in her writing.

Book Analysis

"And Then There Were None": People who talk about justice are the most terrifying

When I was watching Detective Conan as a child, there was often a plot like this: Conan Edogawa, Ran Mouri, Kogoro Mouri, and a group of people were invited by the garden to come to a mountain villa; there was a snowstorm that night, and the only suspension bridge leading to the outside world was cut off, and the villa lost contact with the outside world. After a scream, Conan must find the murderer among the guests in the villa...

Although "And Then There Were None" takes place on an uninhabited island rather than Blizzard Manor, the above is the Blizzard Manor model pioneered by Agatha Christie.

Since its publication in 1939, "None Survived" has produced endless variations in later generations, from classical reasoning to Japanese novels.

Countless writers have contributed their own wisdom under Christie's framework; however, from today's perspective, Looking back at this originator, it is difficult to classify it as a mystery novel: there is no obvious logic, chain of evidence, and not even a detective appears...

However, today, eighty years later, "And Then There Were None" still attracts many readers without being shackled by repeated patterns.

When the BBC miniseries remake of "And Then There Were None" was aired in 2015, it ranked first among readers.

The runner-up in Christmas ratings has sparked a lot of discussion among movie fans around the world, and shows no signs of being "outdated".

It can be seen that there must be something "eternal" in "No Survival" - for example, the terrifying human heart and the terrifying human nature.

1. Horrifying Heart: The Hidden Life of the Middle Class

None of the nine victims in the novel are very kind. The dandy kid killed two children without any repentance; the Puritan old woman scorned the "not conservative enough" young women and drove the pregnant maid out of the house, causing the maid to die; the governess fell in love with herself The student's cousin said that he had no money to marry her, so she encouraged the student to swim in the sea and pretended that he was too late to save the student so that the cousin could inherit a large inheritance after the student drowned - she saw through the appearance of what she had done. Brother naturally left her.

The law could not make these people pay the price, so the seriously ill judge took action: "I hate that innocent people or creatures have suffered or died because of what I did. I have always felt deeply that justice should prevail against everything."

The judge thought Before he died of illness, he cast his light into the corners where the law could not shine and invited nine guilty people to the isolated island, organized a mysterious "Last Supper", eliminated them one by one, and then committed suicide. end.

However, even those who were not guilty enough to die - such as the general who sent his subordinates to the battlefield because he discovered that he was having an affair with his wife - were brutally killed. The judge is like the serial killer in "Seven Deadly Sins".

To satisfy his desire to kill, he must forcibly gather ten sins to correspond to the "Ten Little Blacks" nursery rhyme. He is the most "just", but also the most bloodthirsty, cruel, and crazy.

The judge in the British drama version is a gentleman

Christie used a lot of hallucinations, nightmares, and bad memories to present the characters' trance-like mental state.

The judge who boarded the operating table after being drunk and accidentally killed a young patient often dreamed of the young patient's bloody face; after the murder, the old woman who had been indifferent to the death of the maid also panicked and wrote down in her diary, the murderer was the maid she kicked out back then.

Ten "sinners" are living around us: they are gentle, diligent, and motivated, and may have a decent social status, but under the peaceful life there is hidden raging malice. After the malice is released, they are tortured by endless guilt. A single thought, There is no recovery.

The murderous island has become the salvation of some victims: Even if the one who judges me is the devil, I no longer have to bear the guilt...

2. Horrifying Human Nature: The Fable Behind Blizzard Villa

The horrifying human hearts are intertwined, and amplified by the massacre on the isolated island, they become horrifying human nature.

They are suspicious of each other, they are terrified, and they go from being well-dressed to returning to the animal state, achieving the true fable of "And Then There Were None": stripping away modern civilization layer by layer.

"And Then There Were None" Book Review, Summary & Analysis

The first thing to be eliminated is class. Even though the housekeeper and his wife killed their hostess, they were always respectful to the guests who came to the island; the housekeeper's wife became the first victim, but after that, the housekeeper still concentrated on boiling water, chopping wood, and preparing dinner for the guests. , causing him to be alone and become the prey of the murderous judge.

After the butler was killed, the guests who lost the service of servants had no choice but to eat canned food and wait for the end in carnival and revelry - class was gone and everyone was equal.

Then the law disappeared. The judge carefully planned a ritualistic death for himself. He died like a great judge but with the mark of Cain on his forehead.

According to the Bible, Cain killed his brother Abel because he was jealous that he was more favored by God.

This was the first crime of murder in the human world. This mark means that he also does not believe that what he is doing is in the name of justice.

In the end, when the other eight people were dead, the female teacher and the mercenary walked out of the villa, walked toward nature, and faced the sea.

Using this as a starting point, they convinced each other that the other was the murderer, and started a life-and-death struggle: If you don't kill me, I will. Kill you, just like the animal state; the last shot fired by the female teacher at the mercenary marks the end of civilization.

3. The social scene in "And Then There Were None"

"There Are No Survivors", like other works of Agatha Christie, is essentially refined middle-class taste.

The protagonists are a group of deviant middle-class and aristocratic people - that is, a group of over-disciplined people who have been depressed by guilt for a long time.

This depression is conveyed to readers through countless nightmares and hallucinations, and through the big screen, The extremely crazy "deviant" feast of the massacre is released.

The British drama "And Then There Were None"

After the release, the reader's mood will also be a little subtle. Some characters in the book are always at large, and their deaths should be worthy of applause. But compared to this, a world without law is spine-chilling.

What is even more shocking is that there is no evidence for everyone's guilt. , all collected by the judge himself, and it is up to the judge's personal judgment to decide who should be on his death list.

Such a brutal trial makes people worry about whether the mistakes they have made will have to be repaid similarly.

The novel also has the ambition to construct a social panorama: each character is burdened with social conflicts that have not been resolved until eighty years later.

The arrogant Puritan old woman who always carries the Bible and the pregnant maid who was kicked out of her home is a set of disputes about women's work, women's independence, and sexual liberation; the mercenary who killed 21 black people in Africa was killed without a trace.

It is undoubtedly a symbol of racism; the doctor believes that only the judge belongs to the same class as himself, and he is sure that the judge will not be the murderer.

He wants to form an alliance with the judge, but he falls into the judge's trap and becomes a victim of class prejudice...

"And Then There Were None" is naturally unable to solve the above problems. However, its thrilling atmosphere is essentially derived from a sense of powerlessness, and it is an inverted sense of powerlessness - the upper class versus the lower class, the colonizer versus the colonized, the doctor versus the patient, the healthy versus the sick, the powerful.

For those who are suppressed, everyone is anxious about being backlashed by power, anxious about going to hell and suffering retribution.

Civilization creates civilization, and civilization also creates inequality. Guilt and powerlessness are integrated in Blizzard Villa.

The ten sinners rely on civilization but are afraid of civilization, go deep into civilization, and want to break through civilization.

The glory of civilization is stained with the blood of civilization. , we are small and fragile in civilization, this is "And Then There Were None".

Reading Notes

After reading this, I only have one thought: it turns out that Granny Agatha is the originator of werewolf killing. His work " No Survivors " is an epic work that records the violent killing of four gods and five people by a single wolf.

First of all, Judge Wargrave is the only murderer, that is, the wolf. He became the police chief due to his respected status and has been guiding other people's thoughts for the rest of the time.

Armstrong was obviously a witch, and the antidote was deceived, and the poison accidentally killed Brent, the colonel's daughter. (On the surface, he was stung by a bee, but the actual cause of death was the doctor’s medicine)

The gun-carrying gangster Lombard was the hunter, but unfortunately, his gun was snatched away and he was killed.

The old General MacArthur was a prophet and accurately predicted that everyone would die on the island.

Blore is a guard. He is strong and always protects others.

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were lovers. Unfortunately, God had a bug. When one of them died, the other did not die.

Vera, Brent, Marston, and Couple are all people.

Two villages (Marston and Mrs. Rogers ) were stabbed to death in the first two nights, but the prophet found nothing. On the third night, they were stabbed to death as soon as they jumped.

On the fourth night, villager Rogers was stabbed.

The witch poisoned a village to death on the fifth night. On the sixth day, the werewolf bit himself to trick the antidote and successfully obtained the witch's silver water.

On the seventh day, the werewolf angrily slashed the witch, on the eighth day, he killed the guards, on the ninth day, he bit the hunter to death, and finally, he used psychological tactics to kill the last civilian.

In the end, the werewolf committed suicide to pay tribute to the struggling villagers.

Grandma will be able to fool everyone when she plays Werewolf.

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Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I’m too new to Agatha Christie to have an opinion on her “best” story, but I prefer And Then There Were None to Murder on the Orient Express . The former is a standalone mystery that doesn’t require previous knowledge of Poirot or Miss Marple which makes it immediately accessible to a new reader. I wasn’t left to wonder if I was missing something by starting in the middle with an established character. [Note: This book was previously titled Ten Little Indians and set on Indian Island. Later editions, like mine, are titled And Then There Were None and set on Soldier Island.]

Despite the name change, the story is the same: Ten strangers are lured to an island and picked off one at a time. If you want more info, then read the book. I’m providing no more plot information than is already suggested by the title.

The tone is more ominous than Murder on the Orient Express without Poirot’s calm and thoughtful demeanor to frame the investigation. And Then There Were None features a group of increasingly paranoid people trying to work out why they were sent invitations to the island. They’re all shady, which means they all believe they’re in particular danger; further, no one wants to divulge their past because they don’t know whom to trust. It’s a great setup that doesn’t go in for cheap mood setters. For example, you might imagine that these people have been lured to a big, creaky house in the middle of nowhere, but that’s not the case:

If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and panelled walls, there might have been an eerie feeling. But this house was the essence of modernity. There were no dark corners—no possible sliding panels—it was flooded with electric light—everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed. It had no atmosphere about it. (68)

My favorite complaint among the low-star reviews is that the cast is too large. The entire premise is that a large group of people is rapidly becoming a small group. It may be overwhelming when you encounter the initial wall of characters and backstories, but the confusion is temporary. With so many details flying around, an impatient reader might be tempted to work out commonalities or potential motives for the impending murders. Don’t be impatient. As the cast shrinks, character details are recapped or recast in light of the changing situation. As I read, I was surprised by my ability to remember who was who and who had which backstory. Christie’s control over the story is masterful. She’s able to refresh the reader’s memory, tease, and drop red herrings in a single pass.

Only one aspect of this book gives me pause: The mystery is explained in the epilogue. I detest epilogues. They typically contain unnecessary information/closure, or details that belonged in the story itself but couldn’t be included for whatever reason. The epilogue here verges on the latter flaw. A few scenes are obfuscated so the reader won’t catch on, thus necessitating the epilogue. It’s one thing for characters to fib and deceive, but when an author does it… There’s a line here that Christie flirts with, but ultimately the book gets a pass because it’s so well constructed in every other respect. It’s like having a puzzle box in which each part slides and fits appropriately, except that one piece has a bit of hardened glue that makes the fit suboptimal, and you can’t remove it.

By the time I reached the end, I was so curious to know every detail of the mystery that reading an epilogue was an acceptable cost.

Overall: 4.9

Translation: Read it.

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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie book review

Agatha Christie is widely considered the greatest crime writer to ever do it. Not only did she end up writing an incredibly large number of them, but some of the “cliches” and “tropes” that we experience in crime today were literally formed by her. This last point is no more true than the incredibly popular story of And Then There Were None. Oh and when I say popular, apparently only about five other books have ever sold more than this one book which is impressive for a woman who penned 75 books, 66 of which were full-length detective novels.

Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product.

There’s something to be said for a fiction novel selling over 100,000,000 copies but what’s more of a testament to the book is that you could have nearly anybody (over a certain age of course) try and explain the plot of And Then There Were None and they’d understand the plot.

Or at least once you’d told them, they’d say “oh yeah, i’ve heard that.” In fact, after finishing the novel, I watched the 2015 BBC adaptation with my partner and she kept saying everything felt “cliche” and I had to explain that’s because Christie literally invented the cliches.

Anyway, on to my review. This is my first Agatha Christie novel. I know, shocking, considering I’m 29 years old, have reviewed over 250 books here on my blog and have been consistently talking books now for nearly four years across social media channels!

Let’s get into this then… my review of the best-selling mystery novel of all time.

And Then There Were None plot – 4.5/5

Now, for those of you who’ve never heard of the plot of And Then There Were None , a group of people are invited to an island by a mysterious couple who have told them they will meet them at the large house they’re due to meet in.

One by one, each of the ten guests is killed by mysterious means. What we find out is that there’s a little poem about ten little solider boys and how they each die and that this is in fact how each of the guests ends up dying too. That’s the basic premise.

What’s clever about the way this is written is that we never witness any of the initial murders – as is the case with any good murder novel. What this then causes is not only the reader to constantly be trying to work out who it is and what motive they might have but also how, despite no one else being on the island, everybody ends up dead and the killer is never truly found out until the very very end.

The suspense in And Then There None was fantastic. It starts out slower but once they work out that in fact the killer must be one of their own group, it becomes a fascinating game of nobody trusting anybody and tensions heightening with each passing moment where somebody could be killed.

And Then There Were None characters – 4.5/5

When your whole story is based around the group of same people, you need to make sure that those people have identifiable personalities and that you enjoy reading about them. Well, do not worry with And Then There Were None , Christie has written some iconic characters.

Each character obviously has a name but a huge part of the plot is around each of their occupations and why this could mean that they’re the killer. This creates an interesting dynamic between them as you make assumptions on people based on what they do for a living.

The interactions between the characters is also fascinating due to their class and gender too. During the time this book was written women were obviously treated differently to how they are today and so often there being women main characters is brought into contention as to why they couldn’t possibly have commited certain murders. Being of different classes is also suggested with the idea that ebing of a lower class may mean you’re more likely to commit murder. And so on and so on.

And Then There Were None final rating – 4.5/5

And Then There Were None is one of the greatest crime novels of all time for a reason. Christie manages to perfectly balance suspense with the constant want to find out what’s going to happen next. With some clearly defined characters, a cosy setting and a story that will continue to keep you on your toes, And Then There Were None is a classic for a reason. If you’re one of the last four people in the world to not have read the And Then There None yet, then I can guarantee you, you’ll have a great time reading it.

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And Then There Were None Mass Market Paperback – March 29, 2011

"If you’re one of the few who haven’t experienced the genius of Agatha Christie, this novel is a stellar starting point." — DAVID BALDACCI, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

An exclusive authorized edition of the most famous and beloved stories from the Queen of Mystery.

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…

Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

"Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction both for readers and for writers. . . . Just one book is never enough." — VAL MCDERMID, Internationally Bestselling Author

Print length 300 pages
Language English
Lexile measure 570L
Dimensions 6.75 x 4.06 x 1 inches
Publisher William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date March 29, 2011
ISBN-10 0062073486
ISBN-13 978-0062073488
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

“The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.” — New York Times

“One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day.” — Time magazine

“One of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies.” — The Observer (UK)

“There is no cheating; the reader is just bamboozled in a straightforward way from first to last….The most colossal achievement of a colossal career. The book must rank with Mrs. Christie’s previous best―on the top notch of detection.” — New Statesman (UK)

“The most astonishingly impudent, ingenious and altogether successful mystery story since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” — Daily Herald (UK)

“What Agatha Christie taught me was all about the delicate placement of the red herring. She was the ultimate genius behind ‘by indirections shall we find directions out.’ ” — Elizabeth George, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Lynley novels

From the Back Cover

One of the most famous and beloved mysteries from The Queen of Suspense—Agatha Christie—now a Lifetime TV movie.

"Ten . . ." Ten strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious "U. N. Owen."

"Nine . . ." At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guests is dead.

"Eight . . ." Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by a nursery rhyme counting down one by one . . . as one by one . . . they begin to die.

"Seven . . ." Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

About the Author

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (March 29, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062073486
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062073488
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16+ years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 570L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 4.06 x 1 inches
#4 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)
#42 in Classic Literature & Fiction
#122 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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About the author

Agatha christie.

Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie began writing during the First World War and wrote over 100 novels, plays and short story collections. She was still writing to great acclaim until her death, and her books have now sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. Yet Agatha Christie was always a very private person, and though Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became household names, the Queen of Crime was a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.

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Customers say

Customers find the beginning fast paced and clever. They also describe the plot as fascinating and intense. Customers also find the characters wonderful. Opinions are mixed on the depth of content, entertainment value, and writing style. Some find the details relevant and relevant, while others say the explanation is a letdown.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the plot interesting, surprising, and complex. They also say it's the quintessential locked room mystery with twists and turns in every chapter. Readers also say the book is thought-provoking and has an incredible amount of tension.

"This is a complex tale full of twists and turnsQuite good and readable! I wasn't a fan going into this book but am now!" Read more

"...The plot is fiendishly simple . Eight people are invited to remote Soldier Island for a party...." Read more

"...The answer to who carried out the murders is vague at best. The plot is creepy , and it is terrifying to think that you might be trapped on an island..." Read more

"This mystery book kept me reading everyday , I didn’t want to put it down. The end even shocked me, I never would have guess the end. It was awesome!" Read more

Customers find the book clever, tense, and fast-paced. They say it pulls them in immediately and keeps them hanging on every word.

"...It was a fairly easy read that did not take too long to get through, which helped the slow moving plot...." Read more

"...And Then There Were None” is a medium-fast paced book that has a high level of suspense...." Read more

"...and the story just flows very quickly without giving the reader a respite(!)...." Read more

"...At first, it was hard to keep track of who’s who. I recommend writing the characters down as introduced with brief detail." Read more

Customers find the characters in the book wonderful.

"...Christie uses clever writing technique to introduce a very large cast of characters quickly , and also establish just the vaguest trace of menace..." Read more

"...Couldn’t put it down! Characters jumped right off the page as well as the setting!" Read more

"...The only difficulty was the beginning where so many characters are introduced . At first, it was hard to keep track of who’s who...." Read more

" Lots of characters and possible motives . Couldn't put it down." Read more

Customers find the writing quality of the book very clever, well written, and dark. They also love the entire setup of the novel and say it follows logic but keeps them wondering.

"...in 1939, it is still relevant and engaging and fun and interesting and clever . Highly recommended to anyone and everyone." Read more

"...Such a great read, clever !" Read more

"...However, he's also brave, intelligent , and unflinchingly honest -- he owns up to his past actions almost gleefully, without a trace of remorse...." Read more

"...There were frequent breaks in the lines, unfinished or mixed up completely . The letters of words were scrambled and made no sense...." Read more

Customers find the content of the book thought-provoking, brilliant, and fun. They also say the premise is interesting and the author fulfilled it beautifully.

"This was one of her more thought provoking books that I have read. This was not the oh I know who did it book...." Read more

"...I'm so excited that I did. This was a great foray into her work ! Suspenseful and surprising with twists and turns in every chapter...." Read more

"Was good quality paperback. Easy read. Classic Agatha Christie book ." Read more

"Very clever and well written story. Also very dark. One of her best ." Read more

Customers are mixed about the writing style. Some find it very well written and honest, while others find it annoying, with numerous misspellings, and too wordy. They also mention that the dialogue is very dated and painful to try to decipher.

"This is a complex tale full of twists and turnsQuite good and readable ! I wasn't a fan going into this book but am now!" Read more

"...As an first mystery it's still good, but some parts are difficult to grasp especially if you are new to the genre." Read more

"...On top of all of this, I found the writing style annoying . It was full of short, choppy sentences that made it sound like a children's book...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the entertainment value of the book. Some mention it's engaging and well planned, while others say it'd be boring for low comprehending students.

"I loved this murder mystery. It’s an easy read but keeps you engaged and always wondering who will be next. A real page turner...." Read more

"...I agree that it is a difficult concept and would be hard to successfully pull off. Unfortunately, I don't believe Christie was successful." Read more

"...n’t be fooled by how it was written in 1939, it is still relevant and engaging and fun and interesting and clever...." Read more

"...It was a perfectly serviceable mystery, but I found it rather boring . I read to find out who did it, but once I knew I found I did not care at all...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the depth of content. Some find the book engrossing, educational, and relevant. They also mention that the characters are clear and often many levels deeper than they first appear. However, some find the explanation a bit out of the blue and tedious at the beginning. They feel the dialogue is dated and the characters lack depth.

"...Don’t be fooled by how it was written in 1939, it is still relevant and engaging and fun and interesting and clever...." Read more

"...would get back into reading and this book definitely helped fuel my interest in reading again ." Read more

"...The set-up is quite unnecessary and overly expositive and a single sentence introducing the actual confession, such as "The following was recovered..." Read more

"...The plot is ingenious and the characters are well drawn. The setting is perfect . The novel was and remains ideal for the stage...." Read more

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The Terror of Knowing

Review | and then there were none by agatha christie.

“Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again… and again…” ( Synopsis from the author’s website )

And Then There Were None is reportedly Agatha Christie’s best-selling novel and one of the best-selling novels of all-time in fact. It’s easy to see why. It sets up the premise of eight people being summoned to Soldier Island, an isolated island off the Devonshire coast, by a mysterious benefactor – none of these invitees know each other or, even, the person who has invited them to their home. What follows is a mystery as they try to get to know each other and work out who (or what) has summoned them to the island, and for what purpose. Very quickly, the reader is told that each of the inhabitants has committed murder for which they have went unpunished – And Then There Were None proves to be their trial and, ultimately, likely their deaths, as a killer begins to dispatch them, one by one, hauntingly following a macabre nursery rhyme.

“It had come about exactly in the way things happened in books.”

The characters themselves are, obviously, mostly despicable – and the ones who don’t seem despicable at first are the most suspicious of all. There’s something quite reassuring then about a character who makes no bones about the fact they’re probably considered morally grey; it’s the quiet, unassuming ones you always have to watch out for. That being said, I’m not entirely sure I actually “liked” any of the characters except, perhaps, for the killer whose psychology throughout the novel retrospectively turns out to be quite intriguing once they are revealed in the postscript at the very end of the story. The characters are hardly empathetic, and especially so once Christie reveals very early into the narrative that they’re all accused of being murderers, in one way or another. For me, from then on the appeal of the narrative isn’t necessarily in the relationships between the characters, it’s in watching their individual suspicions arise for each other – it’s a masterful study in paranoia and suspicion.

“There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed. It had no atmosphere about it. Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all. They exchanged good-nights on the upper landing. Each of them went into his or her own room, and each of them automatically, almost without conscious thought, locked the door”

Having only read Murder on the Orient Express previously, I’m something of a novice to Agatha Christie’s novels. However, her status as the queen of mystery is hardly understated, and it’s hard to have made it through life without having come across a Christie adaptation or at least something that references or parodies one of her mysteries in some way. As it happens, a couple of Christmases ago, I saw the BBC adaptation of And Then There Were None , which (unsurprisingly) kind of ruins the entire sheen of reading the novel. If you’ve seen the adaptation, you know the mystery and the killer, and that’s kind of… it. That’s not to say that the novel then becomes pointless, because I have to appreciate the craft behind it, but it does take most of the fun away from trying to guess how the story will unravel in the end.

“Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.”

In conclusion, Agatha Christie proves once again how adept she is at characterisation, plotting, and pacing to create a stifling atmosphere on the island that even the reader can feel seeping off the page. The level of fear and paranoia which overcome the inhabitants of the island is catching too, creating an unsettling reading experience that stays with you long after you close the final page of the book.

“There was something magical about an island—the mere word suggested fantasy. You lost touch with the world—an island was a world of its own. A world, perhaps, from which you might never return. ”

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Ghosts and roasts, the lighthouse library, and then there were none.

By Agatha Christie

"If you're one of the few who haven't experienced the genius of Agatha Christie, this novel is a stellar starting point." -- DAVID BALDACCI, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

An exclusive authorized edition of the most famous and beloved stories from the Queen of Mystery.

Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

"Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction both for readers and for writers. . . . Just one book is never enough." -- VAL MCDERMID, Internationally Bestselling Author

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Average rating: 7.67

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Book review blog / author interviews / all things bookish, review: and then there were none by agatha christie.

by Jen | Books on the 7:47
Posted on April 27, 2018 December 17, 2018

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens.

Opening sentence: “ Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.”

I am yet to read an Agatha Christie book that I didn’t like. Dame Agatha Christie was a true bloody genius. And Then There Were None is widely touted as one of her best and is a truly clever, captivating story. It’s a stand alone murder mystery, not featuring her signature detectives and as with many of her books, it centres around a simple premise; the skill of her storytelling is how expertly she executes the simple idea.

The book opens with this rhyme and it plays a key role in the killer’s plans:

Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier Boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier Boys travelling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Soldier Boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier Boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier Boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Soldier Boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Soldier Boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Interestingly, this version of the rhyme was not the one used when the book was published in 1939, the original rhyme and book had a racially sensitive title that was amended upon the book’s American release in 1940.

Set in a hot August in the 1930s, 10 people receive a request for their company on Soldier Island, a private island just off the coast of Devon owned by Mr. U.N. Owen. They don’t know it, but he gives them each a different reason for their invitation and has very specific reasons for wanting them there. When they get to Soldier Island, Mr. Owen is nowhere to be found and now the boat that dropped them off has left, they find themselves marooned on a remote island with a group of strangers. Over dinner, a gramophone recording informs them that they have all been called to the island to pay for crimes that they otherwise would have gotten away with. All 10 are accused of some kind of murder, and so the mysterious Mr Owen makes it his mission to give them a taste of their own medicine. But who is he? The group search the island and find no-one but the 10 in their party, so they come to the conclusion that the murderer must be among them… Then, in accordance with the rhyme, the murders begin…

I listened to this on audiobook, narrated by actor Dan Stevens , who was a delight to listen to. He did a wonderful job of altering his voice for each character and when there are so many in play and you don’t have a visual reference (or can’t skip back through pages to check who is who) the subtleties he used for each were essential. Otherwise it would have been tricky to keep track of everyone.

As you would expect from a Christie novel, the plot is perfectly paced, and you are left guessing right the way through. I won’t give any spoilers away, but I completely see how And Then There Were None got its reputation as one of the best murder mysteries you’ll read.

Rating: 5/5

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By Bosley Crowther

Nov. 1, 1945

The Roxy certainly picked the right day on which to open "And Then There Were None." Black cats and Hallowe'en goblins were precisely the attendants for this film, and one look at it should have sent them back to spooking with uplifted morale. For of all the bloodthirsty pictures that have come along in quite some time, this multiple murderous exhibit is given most refreshingly to drink.Based on an Agatha Christie story, which is a favorite with mystery-fiction fans, it is not a gore guzzler, however. It sips with delicacy and taste. Ten persons are isolated in a house on an island off the English coast. No one of them knows the others; each is there at the hest of an unknown host. And before they are comfortably settled, it becomes disturbingly clear that they are marked for annihilation, one by one, according to the pattern of a nursery rhyme. (You know the one—"Ten Little Indians"—an oddly savage jingle for tots.)Thus, while the score is quaintly tallied on a china centerpiece, the victims are clipped off like clockwork and no one apparently knows why or how. Needless to say, the confusion of the dwindling survivors mounts as each little Indian strangely crumbles. The consequent suspense may be presumed.Out of this lethal hocus-pocus, Rene Clair has produced an exciting film and has directed a splendid cast in it with humor and a light macabre touch. The temptation to the horrifying is intelligently dismissed; Mr. Clair and his script-writer, Dudley Nichols, have fetched their fun from fear and trembling, not from gore. And within the limited framework of this plainly theatrical plot, they have put a set of characters who display the clammy drollery of dread.Best and most active of the performers are Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald, who play an inebriate doctor and a judge, respectively. The suavity of these gentlemen and their calculating jockeying under strain make for the highest amusement and clarity in this film. Roland Young as a Cockney detective, Richard Haydn as a creaky butler and Judith Anderson as a mysterious lady are also exceptionally good. The rest of the cast is more than adequate. As for the murderer's performance—well, you must judge for yourself.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, screen play by Dudley Nichols, from the story of the same title by Agatha Christie; directed by Rene Clair and produced by him for Twentieth Century-Fox. At the Roxy.Judge Quincannon . . . . . Barry FitzgeraldDoctor Armstrong . . . . . Walter HustonPhilip Lombard . . . . . Louis HaywardBlore . . . . . Roland YoungVera Claythorne . . . . . June DuprezGeneral Mandrake . . . . . Sir C. Aubrey SmithEmily Brent . . . . . Judith AndersonPrince Nikki Starloff . . . . . Mischa AuerRogers . . . . . Richard HaydnMrs. Rogers . . . . . Queenie LeonardThe story of a marriage wrecked by a husband's blind jealousy, taken from the Pirandello play, "As Before, Better Than Before," has been refashioned for Universal by a trio of Hollywood-bred writers into an inevitable, and quite un-Pirandelloish, happy ending. "This Love of Ours," a tragic romantic drama, which opened yesterday at Loew's Criterion, is about as captivating as a funeral dirge, but it is exquisitely acted by Merle Oberon and Charles Korvin, once you accept the fact that their behavior is more juvenile than adult.But while the principals are expert in doing what the scenarists and Director William Dieterle required of them, the situation around which the film revolves is so obviously contrived that the dramatic interest is too tenuous to withstand searching inquiry. In relating the story of a woman maligned by a jealous husband, Mr. Dieterle methodically piles one cliché on top of another, including that device of establishing an ominous atmosphere by having the wind flurry the curtains in a darkened room.The idyllic marriage of Karin and Dr. Michel Tuzac is wrecked when the husband overhears some gossip in a Paris bakeshop about his wife's attentions to another man. Taking his young daughter he goes to America, becomes a famous and wealthy research scientist and eventually meets again the woman who has grown to hate him. Through an act on the estranged wife's part, which is more melodramatic than anything else, they are brought together and this raises the problem of how the now teen-age daughter, who venerates the memory of her supposedly deceased mother, is to be reunited with her mother. The latter is introduced by Dr. Tuzac as his second wife and the daughter selfishly regards her as an interloper.That's the situation folks, and it no doubt is just what the lavender-and-old-lace-handkerchief set has been waiting for. However, for those whose emotions are sturdier, the experience will be considerably less rewarding. The manner in which Susette (played very capably by Sue England) venerates the memory of her mother in a flower and vine covered garden shrine struck us as being a morbid manifestation rather than a beautiful expression of mother love, as the film contends. Claude Rains as a philosophizing café caricaturist is altogether delightful and contributes some mildly amusing moments to an otherwise doggedly tragic drama.

At Loew's CriterionTHIS LOVE OF OURS, screen play by Bruce Manning; John Klorer and Leonard Lee, based on the Luigi Pirandello play, "As Before, Better Than Before"; directed by William Dieterle; produced by Howard Benedict for Universal Pictures.Karin Tuzac . . . . . Merle OberonMichel Tuzac . . . . . Charles KorvinTargel . . . . . Claude RainsUncle Robert . . . . . Carl EsmondSusette Tuzac . . . . . Sue EnglandChadwick . . . . . Jess BarkerDr. Wilkerson . . . . . Harry DavenportDr. Lane . . . . . Ralph MorganDr. Dailey . . . . . Fritz LeiberTucker . . . . . Helen ThimigHousekeeper . . . . . Ferike BorosSusette (as a small child) . . . . . Joanie BellM. Flambertin . . . . . Andre CharlotMrs. Dailey . . . . . Barbara BatesAnna . . . . . Ann Codee

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"And then there was none" by Agatha Christie was so good

I was intrigued. I've never read Agatha Christie's work before.

(Actually, I started "The man in the brown suit", but I forgot about it and dropped it.)

This book though... I couldn't put it down. I was so on edge the whole time and not being able to find the solution was frustrating.

!spoilers from now on!

I suspected Wargrave at first, but as the book went on, I thought he was safe.

Specifically, I thought that he was going to kill them all and then die because of his sickness.

But after some chapters, he felt like a character the reader could trust. When I read the last pages, my jaw dropped.

Have you read it? What did you think about it?

Edit: The title is "were" not "was", but I didn't read it in English and forgot:))

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"And Then There Were None" Book Review
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COMMENTS

Review: 'And Then There Were None,' a Classic Murder Case Revived
March 11, 2016. "And Then There Were None" — the alternate name of the 1939 Agatha Christie novel "Ten Little _____" — stands out among her work for more than its startlingly racist ...
And Then There Were None Review: A Journey into Suspense
The story of 'And Then There Were None' significantly advances Agatha Christie's reputation as a pioneering and influential mystery writer. The novel's ingenious plotting, impactful endings, and complex characterization showcase Christie's talent and earned her the title "Queen of Mystery.". Its enduring global appeal, cultural ...
The Essential Agatha Christie
Read "And Then There Were None ... 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.
Book Review: "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
"And Then There Were None" is an Agatha Christie classic showcasing a closed mystery where anyone can be a suspect. Christie was born in Sept. 1890 in England. She grew up around stories and at age five she taught herself how to read. She continued to write throughout her life, publishing a total of at least 68 books and many short stories.
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick ...
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write. [2] It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little Niggers, [3] after an 1869 minstrel song that serves as a major plot element. [4] [5] The US edition was released in January 1940 with the ...
"And Then There Were None" Book Review
2. Book Length: A common occurrence when reading books considered to be a classic novel is that they can be drawn out and overly descriptive. "And Then There Were None" is nothing like that and, in my opinion, the perfect length for a simple murder mystery novel. Just shy of 240 pages, this book is easy to read, direct and easily keeps the ...
And Then There Were None
Recommendations from our site. "I loved Agatha Christie when I was a teenager, and she is one of the reasons I became a mystery thriller writer. I still think that her books have a lot in them that a teenager would enjoy today. I think this is my favourite book of hers. It has the tightest plotting of all of them, and it's very clever.".
Book review: "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
A caveat. And Then There Were None is a fully satisfying mystery, shrewdly complex and convolutely simple. There is one caveat, however. A key plot element is a children's rhyme that, in the American edition I read, begins: "Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.".
Review: "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
Overall, "And Then There Were None" is ideal for those wanting a clear-cut, old-timey murder mystery, but it is also conducive to deeper reflection of ideologies both the intrinsic and extrinsic to the story. An appropriate age group is harder to define; though easy enough to comprehend, some of the scenes are a bit graphic.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
From its very first pages, "And Then There Were None" steadily tightens a brooding grip of fear, mistrust, and claustrophobic isolation upon the reader. The novel's setting—a creepy island manor house cut off from the world by the churning tides - renders the stranded guests' plights all the more hopelessly fraught.
And Then There Were None Book Review
Our review: Parents say ( 3 ): Kids say ( 38 ): And Then There Were None is a grim but riveting mystery. Characters are first introduced just so that readers can distinguish them, but as the book progresses and readers get further inside their minds and their fears, the suspense builds. One of the darkest aspects of the novel is the fact there ...
'And Then There Were None' Book Review, Summary & Analysis
If there is Poirot's humor is a spice in the "Poirot Trilogy", then "And Then There Were None" is full of depressive pathos from beginning to end. Christie's taunts became less and less frequent, replaced by harsh criticism. At the same time, she also became more ruthless - that nursery rhyme was tantamount to a verdict.
Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
[Note: This book was previously titled Ten Little Indians and set on Indian Island. Later editions, like mine, are titled And Then There Were None and set on Soldier Island.] Despite the name change, the story is the same: Ten strangers are lured to an island and picked off one at a time. If you want more info, then read the book.
Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The plot was ingenious! And Then There Were None is a great mystery, but it's also a psychological thriller and a horror novel. It's not graphic or anything, just sooo creepy. We were supposed to read this in 7th grade for our horror unit, but it got taken off the syllabus. Guilt and justice are heavy themes of the book, but I can't get ...
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie book review
And Then There Were None final rating - 4.5/5. And Then There Were None is one of the greatest crime novels of all time for a reason. Christie manages to perfectly balance suspense with the constant want to find out what's going to happen next. With some clearly defined characters, a cosy setting and a story that will continue to keep you ...
Review: And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie. New York: Harper Collins, 2011 (first published 1939). Summary: Ten strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious U.N. Owen, accused by murder, and one by one are murdered following a rhyme found in each of their rooms, Ten Little Soldier Boys. This is an unusual work … Continue reading Review: And Then There Were None
Amazon.com: And Then There Were None: 9780062073488: Christie, Agatha
Amazon.com: And Then There Were None: 9780062073488: Christie, ... - Number 1 Mystery Book? Daily Product Reviews ... — DAVID BALDACCI, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author. An exclusive authorized edition of the most famous and beloved stories from the Queen of Mystery.
Review
Title: And Then There Were None (1939) Author: Agatha Christie Publisher/Edition: HarperCollins Read: 27th - 28th November 2018 Genre: classics; mystery Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars "Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the…
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts.
Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little Soldier Boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
And Then There Were None: Book Review
And Then There Were None is also given the title of the sixth best-selling title of all time. Christie is regarded as the best mystery novelist and in this novel, we see exactly why. She sets up a wonderful scene and teases the reader and making our imagination run wild. But this novel wasn't without its own drama.
SHE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'And Then There Were None ...
The Roxy certainly picked the right day on which to open "And Then There Were None." Black cats and Hallowe'en goblins were precisely the attendants for this film, and one look at it should have ...
"And then there was none" by Agatha Christie was so good : r/books
Agatha Christie's first title for And Then There Were None, a 1939 mystery book about a group being cut down one by one by a mysterious killer. Its first title referenced the N-word ("Ten Little N--") before changing the reference to "Indians." That's obviously incredibly offensive so it was changed again to "And Then There Were None" in 1985-6 ...

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