Agatha Christie is still a mystery to me! Anyone who knows I love mysteries have suggested her books. I have tried to like her books but somehow they don’t live up to my expectations. Maybe I’m yet to read the right book! Or my expectations are too high! Most of the books I have read of Christie’s has Miss Marple and I didn’t really like any of it. Then a friend suggested that I should try books with Hercule Poirot in it. Well, I still haven’t gotten around to that! Anyhoo, this book And Then There Were None came highly recommended by a few friends and many in Bookstagram gave it good reviews too.
Ten complete strangers are invited by a mysterious person U.N.Owen to spend the weekend at a private island. When they reach the island, their host, who is an eccentric millionaire, is nowhere to be seen. On their first night after dinner, a message blaring from gramophone explains in vivid detail all of their unpunished crimes. Each of the guest is accused of a murder they committed in the past. Then they start getting killed one by one according to the Ten Little Indians rhyme. No one has a clue to who the killer is or who their host actually is!
As a mystery, the book is really good. There was no way I could have guessed the killer. Christie has crafted the story, characters and dialogues so well that nothing is given out at any point. Not a single character in the story is lovable but we are still curious about what will happen to them. Some of them concede openly about what they did while others vehemently oppose it even though they admit to themselves that they are guilty.
Towards the middle of the book everyone starts to suspect each other. Every time I started doubting someone, that person just got killed. I’m amazed by how Christie managed to give equal importance to almost all the characters without us being able to figure out anything. Only the characters who got killed at the start did not get much of a role.
Almost always, stories like this have an eerie setting where the house itself looks sinister. But I loved the setting of this story. Even though the island is isolated, the house and the beach sounded like the perfect place for a holiday getaway. The book is an easy read and I finished it in 2 days even with my busy schedule.
It took me sometime to be familiar with all the characters. We do not get a lot of insight into each of the characters and I was confused at the beginning as to who was who. Only when their occupation was mentioned, I could identify the character. This also led to me not being invested in any character and none of their deaths really affected me. All of my interest was in figuring out who the killer is.
I was surprised when the killer was revealed but that’s all there was to it. Since I wasn’t invested in any of the characters it did not matter to me who the killer turned out to be though it did give me a closure.
I have realized that I should keep my expectations low otherwise I’m not going to be able to enjoy any of my Christie reads. I have my eyes on Murder on the Orient Express next. Not sure when I will get my hands on it. Hopefully soon!
My Rating: 3.5⭐/5.
