#66 And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
In one of Agatha Christie's most iconic mysteries, ten very different individuals are called to stay at a mansion on Indian 
Island. When they sit down for dinner, a recording announces their greatest secrets, each one of them has committed a murder and gotten away with it. Then, one by one, they begin to die. With no way on or off the island and no one present but them, they come to two horrible conclusions: the killer must be one of them, and there is no way for them to escape.
I've been an Agatha Christie fan for a few years now, picking up her work whenever I get in the mood for a good mystery. But after multiple people have expressed shocked that I hadn't read And Then There Were None, arguably Christie's best known work, I decided that it was time that I gave it a try. I was surprised at first, as it has a decidedly different feel than Christie's other works, which often feature a central detective (such as Poirot), or at least a protagonist that severs as a detective. Instead And Then There Were None features no real central character, and each person on the island does his or her fair share of detecting. To me, this heightened the feeling that the killer could be anyone.
If there's one thing that And Then There Were None does astoundingly well, it is establish a feeling of paranoia on the island. As members of the party are slowly killed off, the remaining survivors become more and more panicked, wondering who the killer could be, and if they will be next. The fact that the island is so isolated (a boat is needed to bring them to the mainland, which does not return for the duration of their stay), only adds to the panic and trapped feeling, creating an almost horror-movie atmosphere. This is further enhanced by the nursery rhyme element (each person is killed in a method described in the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Indians”), which makes the story even creepier. The mystery plot is also top notch, really one of Christie's bet. And Then There Were None may be a slim volume but that's because it is free of filler, and every line is important. I also like how each character has an air or mystery around him or her. Did they really commit a murder? If so, how could a seemingly normal person do such a thing? To me, this is the most effective in a delicate woman who is accused of killing a child, truly a horrible act.
To me, And Then There Were None is really one of Christie's best works, and I highly recommend it to fans of the author, and fans of the mystery genre in general. I'm glad that I finally picked this up.
Rating: five stars
Length: 275 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Other books I've read by this author: The Tuesday Club Murders, Dead Man’s Mirror, They Came to Baghdad, 4:50 to Paddington, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Sleeping Murder, The Secret Adversary, The Secret of Chimneys, Hallowe’en Party, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Death Comes as the End, Appointment with Death, A Caribbean Mystery, A Murder is Announced, The Under Dog and Other Stories, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express, Death in the Air, Murder in Three Acts, Murder in Mesopotamia, Evil Under the Sunday
Next I will be reviewing Across the Universe by Beth Revis Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads
Island. When they sit down for dinner, a recording announces their greatest secrets, each one of them has committed a murder and gotten away with it. Then, one by one, they begin to die. With no way on or off the island and no one present but them, they come to two horrible conclusions: the killer must be one of them, and there is no way for them to escape.
I've been an Agatha Christie fan for a few years now, picking up her work whenever I get in the mood for a good mystery. But after multiple people have expressed shocked that I hadn't read And Then There Were None, arguably Christie's best known work, I decided that it was time that I gave it a try. I was surprised at first, as it has a decidedly different feel than Christie's other works, which often feature a central detective (such as Poirot), or at least a protagonist that severs as a detective. Instead And Then There Were None features no real central character, and each person on the island does his or her fair share of detecting. To me, this heightened the feeling that the killer could be anyone.
If there's one thing that And Then There Were None does astoundingly well, it is establish a feeling of paranoia on the island. As members of the party are slowly killed off, the remaining survivors become more and more panicked, wondering who the killer could be, and if they will be next. The fact that the island is so isolated (a boat is needed to bring them to the mainland, which does not return for the duration of their stay), only adds to the panic and trapped feeling, creating an almost horror-movie atmosphere. This is further enhanced by the nursery rhyme element (each person is killed in a method described in the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Indians”), which makes the story even creepier. The mystery plot is also top notch, really one of Christie's bet. And Then There Were None may be a slim volume but that's because it is free of filler, and every line is important. I also like how each character has an air or mystery around him or her. Did they really commit a murder? If so, how could a seemingly normal person do such a thing? To me, this is the most effective in a delicate woman who is accused of killing a child, truly a horrible act.
To me, And Then There Were None is really one of Christie's best works, and I highly recommend it to fans of the author, and fans of the mystery genre in general. I'm glad that I finally picked this up.
Rating: five stars
Length: 275 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Other books I've read by this author: The Tuesday Club Murders, Dead Man’s Mirror, They Came to Baghdad, 4:50 to Paddington, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Sleeping Murder, The Secret Adversary, The Secret of Chimneys, Hallowe’en Party, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Death Comes as the End, Appointment with Death, A Caribbean Mystery, A Murder is Announced, The Under Dog and Other Stories, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express, Death in the Air, Murder in Three Acts, Murder in Mesopotamia, Evil Under the Sunday
Next I will be reviewing Across the Universe by Beth Revis Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish, and goodreads