And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

On Thursday, before leaving home for a bit of a road trip, I was desperately searching through the Overdrive app for a new audiobook – I could not undertake the journey without one and I had forgotten to swing by the library the previous two days. Imagine my excitement when I stumbled across an Agatha Christie novel read by Dan Stevens! It fit the bill perfectly.

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Synopsis

Ten… Ten strangers are lured to an isolated 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?

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Review

My husband’s aunt has every Agatha Christie book ever written, and most of her later works are first editions. Every time we have gone to visit her over Christmas, I marvel at her beautiful built-in bookshelves full of Christie hardcovers. Last summer, when my book club decided to read mysteries all summer, we knew we had to include a classic Christie and chose Murder on the Orient Express. I enjoyed it so much, that I looked for more of her books to read and enjoy.

And Then There Were None is my new favorite (granted, favorite of 2) Agatha Christie mysteries. The woman is the queen of crime for a reason – her mysteries are complex without being confusing, and it is great fun to attempt to solve the mystery as it is unfolding. Unlike Orient Express, which deals mostly with Detective Poirot interviewing suspects after a murder, in There Were None, the crime is being committed over the course of the book and the characters must take up the mantle of amateur sleuths as they are being killed one by one while trapped on an island a mile off the English coast.

I love that Christie provides so many clues and insights into what is going on, but still leaves a person guessing as to which of the 10 guests is not really a guest – it’s a great example of a “locked room” mystery and one that I highly recommend! Hopefully in the near future I’ll have a chance to watch the BBC adaptation and be able to compare it to the book.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

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