And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

"And then there were none" written by the Queen of Crime Agatha Christie is perhaps the most famous murder mystery of all time and has been adapted several times on the big screen, does Gumnam(1965) ring a bell? It’s sold over 100 million copies making it the world’s best selling mystery ever and one of the bestselling books of all time. The first of several Christie stories based on nursery rhymes, this deals out ten mysterious murders, and none was more satisfactory at the conclusion of this cryptic puzzle. This book stars no Hercule Poirot and no Jane Marple, it belongs to no series.

Plot:

10 people are invited to a Mansion on the mysterious and deserted Soldier Island. The Host is conspicuously missing.

On the Island they are cut off from the rest of the world except from the dark shadows of their own past. The guests are unable to leave because of freak weather. In the trapped mansion, one by one the guests start to get murdered and as Tensions in the house begin to rise the prisoners/guests of the Mansion begin to realize that the murderer is one of them but can they figure out who the murderer is before he/she is able to finish off the nursery rhyme:



Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Soldier boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Review:

This is without a doubt the best book that I have ever read and can totally understand how it sold 100 million copies, the book is brilliant and the plot is ingenious. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling the nursery rhyme, I was not able to figure out who the murderer is in fact I was totally baffled by the ending, If you are able to figure out then hats off to you. This is not your regular English country village mysteries, this one is a dark murder mystery the atmosphere that Christie creates at the end of the book is of pure terror, I was actually scared a couple of times when reading this one, there is a paragraph in the book were the mansion is being lashed with rains there is no light exterior or interior and in the rooms of the mansion lay dead bodies of people who have been murdered and the survivors are waiting for their fate in the dining room.

If you don’t read murder mysteries or just don’t read at all, try out this one and you will not regret your decision, 5 stars for the Queen of Crime.