Review: And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie was voted the most loved Agatha Christie book in a global vote to find the world’s favourite Agatha Christie book for her 125^th birthday. This particular Christie novel involves ten strangers arriving on Solider Island, off the Devon coast, after being invited by their mysterious host, U. N. Owen. The events that soon unfold once they arrive makes them all question who their mysterious and absent host could be. Not only this but each of the ten guests are accused of committing an awful crime, so when one of the guests suddenly dies they all begin to question why they were invited to Soldier Island and whether or not there is a murder among them.

What I liked most about this book was that the setting and atmosphere gave me actual goosebumps. Often when reading tense and eerie scenes and I heard a noise I would physically jump and my heart rate would increase – I have not read a book that has made me running scared at a door closing in years! Not only was the atmosphere off the book scary but Agatha Christie makes you question everything including plots lines and every little move or thought each character makes so that by the end you end up trusting none of the characters.

Despite there being ten very strong main characters each character was unique and had more than one side to their personality that was brought out by the end of the novel. It would be very difficult to pick a favourite character in this book but I would have to say that I did have a slight favouritism for Mr Lombard (but maybe that was because he was played by Aidan Turner in the BBC adaptation and he is fiiiiine). SMALL SPOILER *One thing I would like to add that I have been thinking about since putting the book down is that the only character I believe truly knew who the murder was from the beginning was Mr Lombard, this is due to a few observations and statements he made throughout the book and I would like to believe that at least one of the characters knew all along*.

My particular favourite scene is the night after one of the murders takes place and each and every character goes to bed and simultaneously locks their door. What I loved about it, is that it sets the scene of distrust and fear for the rest of the book and the scenes imagery stayed with me even after finishing the book.

There was only one issue I had with the book and that was the death of one of the characters as I felt it was not very believable however I overlooked this as a murder mystery novel as complex as And Then There Were None would not have been possible without some aspect being not 100% believable.

And There There Were None keeps you guessing until the very last page and the reveal of the murder mystery really was a surprise to me that I did not see coming and it was not a let-down either.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery novel as this one is completely unique and I have never read anything comparable to it. I would also recommend it to anyone who want to get into reading Agatha Christie or the mystery genre in general.

So all in all, I very much enjoyed this book and gave it 4* out of 5.