Ten people who don't know each other are invited by a Mr. Owen to spend their holidays on an island where there is nothing but a big mansion. After dinner a recording say them that in fact they are there to pay fot crimes they did in the past. The accusations are well founded and unable to leave the house, the guests are being killed off one by one in mysterious murder. The heartlessness of one particular character was the biggest surprise, and the figurine removal added to the tension. Each character struggles with their sordid past, while outwardly justifying themselves and denying guilt. The ten attempt to socialize and dine with one another, despite the fact that they know one of their number intends to murder them all.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book includes themes of murder, guilt, and psychological tension.
From The Publisher:
"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
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
Ratings (388)
Incredible (105) | |
Loved It (149) | |
Liked It (91) | |
It Was OK (35) | |
Did Not Like (8) |
Reader Stats (698):
Read It (399) | |
Currently Reading (6) | |
Want To Read (209) | |
Did Not Finish (6) | |
Not Interested (78) |
10 comment(s)
Not impressed. If something has to be explained in an Epilogue it's not very well written IMO. Aside from that, I was also quite bored with it halfway through. And the plan wasn't foolproof. Plus inner dialogue of the characters didn't make sense.
This was a very well written mystery. I thought I knew who the killer was but in the end I knew nothing.
The fact that Wargraves was the murder and that he was mentally unstable was quite a shock. All of his scenes in the book made it seem that he was a very proper and well put together man. Christie was very good at writing his character.
Story and writing style
3.75
This is one of the best books of Agatha Christie. This book made me get up at night dripped in sweat.
An Island, Ten people. No one knows who is the host. Even the butler and his wife is clueless. All have a past which is troublesome. And one after another people start dying, leaving the other to doubt on each other, as the island is lonely without a escape route.
Till the end it kept me on my edge and I couldn't even guess the killer.
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.
4.5 stars!
It's been a while since I've read anything as fun as
And Then There Were None—it's a book I stayed up too late reading and then couldn't wait to get home to finish. I was surprised by how modern it feels in style and content (aside from a couple hilarious moments where hysterical women are slapped across the face to sober them up). I did struggle a bit with the sheer number of characters, but made a cheat sheet that worked well enough. By the time the first one was killed off, I was pretty confident that I'd found the murderer…and while I did accurately predict the way that person died, Christie surprised me not once, but twice in the final chapters! Absolutely delightful and thoroughly satisfying. The only slightly unbelievable part was the final death, but I don't really care that much as everything else was so well done.
Taking off a half star because I was a bit underwhelmed by Christie's prose. Effective, yes; and I don't think Christie is pretending to be a great stylist. But readable as it is, it's a bit too plain for my taste. The same can be said for the characterization and overall atmosphere. There's just not a lot of substance.
I'm sure I will be reading more Christie next time I'm in the mood for a quick, fun,
Clue-like romp.
I didn't find many passages worth highlighting, but here are my favorites:
Illuminated by the setting sun, they had their first glimpse of Soldier Island jutting up out of the sea to the south. Vera said, surprised: “It’s a long way out.” She had pictured it differently, close to shore, crowned with a beautiful white house. But there was no house visible, only the boldly silhouetted rock with its faint resemblance to a giant head. There was something sinister about it. She shivered faintly.
“Oh, yes. I’ve no doubt in my own mind that we have been invited here by a madman—probably a dangerous homicidal lunatic.
If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and heavily 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. Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all….
It flashed across Dr. Armstrong’s mind that an old man like the judge was far more tenacious of life than a younger man would be. He had often marvelled at that fact in his professional career. Here was he, junior to the judge by perhaps twenty years, and yet with a vastly inferior sense of self-preservation.
She began laughing wildly again. Dr. Armstrong strode forward. He raised his hand and struck her a flat blow on the cheek. She gasped, hiccupped—and swallowed. She stood motionless a minute, then she said: “Thank you … I’m all right now.”
Aeons passed … worlds spun and whirled … Time was motionless … It stood still—it passed through a thousand ages…. No, it was only a minute or so … Two people were standing looking down on a dead man…. Slowly, very slowly,
Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard
lifted their heads and looked into each other’s eyes….
The plot and the way Agatha described the setting is some of her best writing. Definitely one of the best agatha christie books
A classic whodunnit mystery. It's still the best of the best.
It's such a melancholic and creepy mystery. I loved how the people were always speculating and reviewing the clues for us
Read this ages ago - one of the many great Agatha Christie books that I still enjoying tremendously
What can you read after
And Then There Were None?
About the Author:
Agatha Christie, the acknowledged 'Queen of Crime' (The Observer) was born in Torquay in 1890. During the First World War she worked as a hospital dispenser, and it was here that she gleaned the working knowledge of various poisons that was to prove so useful in her detective stories. Her first novel was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced Hercule Poirot to the world. This was published in 1920 (although in fact she had written it during the war) and was followed over the next six years by four more detective novels and a short story collection. However, it was not until the publication of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd that Agatha Christie's reputation was firmly established. This novel, with its complex plot and genuinely shocking conclusion, attracted considerable public attention and has since been acknowledged by many experts as a masterpiece. In 1930 the sharp-witted spinster sleuth Miss Marple made her first appearance in The Murder at the Vicarage. In all, Agatha Christie published over 80 novels and short story collections. The brilliance of Christie's plots, and her enduring appeal, have led to several dramatisations of her work on radio, television and film. In 1930 she was one of a number of crime writers asked to contribute a chapter to a mystery, Behind the Screen, that was broadcast on BBC radio on 21st June that year. More recently, June Whitfield portrayed Miss Marple on BBC Radio 4, whilst John Moffat starred as Hercule Poirot. On screen, Peter Ustinov, David Suchet, Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie have all memorably played Agatha Christie's famous sleuths. As her play The Mousetrap (the longest-running play in the history of theatre) testifies, Agatha Christie's detective stories are likely to appeal for a long time to come. Agatha Christie was awarded a CBE in 1956 and was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. She died in 1976.
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