And Then There Were None

This book has inspired an entire genre of content where a group of people find themselves in a situation similar to her secluded island...and they cannot leave. I just ticked off a handful of books and TV shows that use this model, and I enjoy them all.

In the novel, multiple points of view drive the narrative, and the perpetrators choose the victims based on their own dubious, possibly criminal, histories. I found the reduction of the soldiers on the dining room table as each person dies to be diabolically brilliant, ratcheting up an already unbearable tension.

I strive to… show more.

This book is a classic murder mystery for a reason. The suspense and pacing that the story took me as a reader was fantastic all the way through.

Each of the characters (and their deaths) were well-crafted, and the twist at the end made for a great surprise. I also enjoyed the development that the book gave to the soon-to-be victims’ increasing fear and panic over their situation.

The emotional pressure between the characters affected their future actions throughout the story, creating this domino effect of tragedies up until the very end.

Agatha Christie will forever be queen of the murder mystery. She has more than one novel set at parties, but And Then There Were None is the best of the best in my mind.

The premise – ten strangers summoned to an island for a party by an eccentric millionaire – almost feels like a trope now, it’s been done and redone so many times. That’s because Christie did such a magnificent job of it, writers and storytellers will forever pay homage to her by plucking this setup and reworking it in wonderful ways.

And Then There Were None is a masterclass in plotting and misdirection by the Queen of the Locked Room Thriller.

And despite a large cast, it’s also amazingly economical in the way it’s written, coming in at under 55,000 words. I’m prone to overwriting – so it’s a great reminder to me that, no matter how complex I think my plot is, being ruthless when it comes to editing those early drafts will deliver a better reading experience.

I’ve been recommending books that readers may not already be familiar with, but I can’t leave out the mistress of puzzling mysteries.

In this one, it seems as though there can be no solution to the murders, although there’s no shortage of suspects until they start getting killed off, one by one.

Christie maintains suspense continuously, which made it hard for me to put the book down. The complex plot always hangs together and the denouement is thoroughly satisfying.

As a writer, I can only aspire to what Christie created—and not just in this one book. Her craft amazes me.

The ultimate locked room mystery.

Not only do we have a killer in an isolated situation (a small island) intent on murdering every one of the ten occupants but we soon find out the killer is one of the ten occupants.

As each is picked off, one-by-one those who remain try desperately to stay alive and to unmask the killer.

This book got me through a difficult time at school. I was the school bully’s target and I let it be known I was reading a book where everyone is murdered, one by one.

This appealed to her macabre personality… show more.

The plot is deceptively simple – eight strangers are invited to a mansion on a remote English island before the weather moves in and they start getting murdered one by one – but it’s a masterclass in gothic suspense and incredibly clever plotting. I first read it as a child at my grandparents’ house in Edinburgh, and it’s the first time I can remember reading a book and consciously thinking I want to do that. I want to write something just as clever and fascinating and brilliant. I still think it’s her best book, and its setting and atmosphere and… show more.

Agatha Christie is essentially the queen of the mystery whodunnit genre and easily puts the perfect crime to paper. I still remember the first time I read this book and it was as if a window was flung open in my mind. As the plot thickens and the suspense builds, Agatha Christie still finds the capacity of surprise and amazement with yet another twist. This is the type of book you will want to read again and again, and each time you will be reminded of what true whodunnit crime fiction should feel like.

Because it is arguably (!) the best of Christie’s mysteries and the best introduction to her work anyone could hope for. Ten strangers, all with a wide variety of occupations and backgrounds, accept invitations from a mysterious host to spend a weekend on an isolated island. The strangers, though, have one thing in common: they have escaped justice for dark deeds done in the past. As the weekend progresses to its seemingly inevitable conclusion, the weekend visitors begin to die one by one. Whatever the sins of the past, one of them is a killer.  The ever-dwindling band of survivors… show more.

No one does murder mystery like Agatha Christie. She was rightly proud of herself once this masterpiece came together for publication. The details, the deaths, and the atmosphere are creepy and entertaining. And unless you’re cheating, you aren’t going to figure out who the murderer is before the end.