‘And Then There Were None’ – By Agatha Christie: A BOOK REVIEW

By Koushiki Banerjee

About the author:

Agatha Christie is an English detective novelist and playwright whose books have sold more than 100 million copies and have been translated into 100 languages.

And Then There Were None

One of the most well-known authors, she has most popular novels under her belt. Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” is a timeless classic that was sold across the world all-time.

Summary: Eight people receive a personal invitation to a small island. They accept it and arrive on the island, but find out from the butler and the cook that the Ulick Norman Owen and Una Nancy Owen have not arrived yet. However, they have left instructions for the guests. As the guests make their way to their rooms, an old rhyme called “Ten Little Indians” hangs in every room. After supper is served and eaten, a phonograph recording plays and accuses all ten guests of murder. The guests start talking and realise that none of them knows Owen and suddenly one of the guests fall down and dies on spot. Now, the mystery of the Owen’s gets crucial after the sudden death of a guest. As the novel progresses and the victims pile up, we dive deep into the mystery and the checkered past of the ten guests.

Review: As I read this book, I get chills! I still get a kick from identifying the offender and discovering new information that I had missed in past reads. Since I’ve always loved Agatha Christie, this will always be my favourite murder-mystery book. All of the characters have fascinating backstories, the narrative is skilfully crafted, and everything fits together so cleverly that you can’t help but be in awe of the story. It really raises the bar for the genre, and 80 years later, its effect can still be seen in works. I was concerned about keeping track of ten persons and their stories, but Christie succeeded in developing likeable characters with intriguing backstories.

The tale should have given Emily Brent, the ultra-religious spinster, more attention and perhaps even a spin-off. She piqued my interest the most. Emily fired her unmarried, pregnant maid, who later committed suicide. Emily appeared to be twitchy and was inflexible and rude. She was a strong contender to do the murder. However, was it her?

While the nursery song “10 Little Indians” dominates the plot, there is another underlying subtext that all ten characters were participants in other people’s killings. The patient’s demise was caused by Dr. Armstrong. While, Vera Claythorne was charged with murdering a young child. Philip Lombard killed many members of an East African tribe without feeling any regret. Each participant had a unique history, but they all came to the same conclusion: their misdeeds had not been punished as they should have been. What were they really doing on Indian Island? It wasn’t until the last 30 pages that things really grabbed my attention. Agatha Christie knows how to make you feel like you’ve figured everything out way ahead of time. Basically, she makes you feel like a genius for solving a murder mystery, then she comes out of nowhere and completely blows your mind and makes you question everything.