Sunday, November 20, 2011

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None
By Agatha Christie 
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date Published: 1940/2011
Pages:
247

     First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.
Can you believe this is actually the first Agatha Christie novel I've read? I've seen plenty of visual adaptations of her stories, from TV specials, movies, to plays, but never really sat down with one of them. I called myself a sucker for mysteries and had never read anything by the Queen of Mystery!

I read And Then There Were None right at the end of my summer break, devouring it in about a day. It has a lot of the elements you'd expect: creepy, large house isolated from the rest of civilization, inclement weather, people with suspicious backgrounds, dark rooms, plenty of room for the killer to hide. Everything was pulled off well; there were more than a few times where I actually felt frightened. The poem about the Ten Indians, and the porcelain Indians that were smashed each time one of the characters died was a nice, creepy touch that heightened the urgency of finding the murderer.

I didn't expect that ending at all! And that's what makes the best mystery sometimes.
My first venture with Agatha Christie was a positive one, and I have Murder on the Orient Express to look forward to!


 


1 comment:

  1. For me, I was never really that into mysteries. Maybe I'll give this one a try ...

    ReplyDelete