And Then There Were None: A Mystery Play in Three Acts Book

And Then There Were None aka Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie
5★'s

This is a new one for me!! I have often said I was the only breathing human on the planet that didn't like Agatha Christie..so where in the world did those 5 stars come from? I will have to reevaluate my statement to I am the only breathing human on the planet that doesn't like Agatha Christie…EXCEPT for And Then There Was None

A group of ten strangers is invited or hired for a long weekend on Indian Island, a mile off the Devon coast. It is somewhat improbable that these ten would all accept such a vague invitation from a host they do not know to a place they have never seen before, but each for his or her own reasons accepts. They include a doctor, a games mistress, a soldier of fortune, a rich playboy, a retired policeman, a judge, a spinster, a retired general and a married couple who are to be the servants. They arrive on a bleak rocky island to a completely modern house with all the amenities. The fires are welcoming, there is an ample supply of food, the servants are impeccable, but their host is absent. In each of the bedrooms, the Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme is posted on a prominent wall. It begins:

"Ten Little Indian boys went out to dine…
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.---

Drinks are served, and one guest chokes, turns blue and falls over dead. Now the tension begins to build. Fright runs in the hearts of the stranded people as one by one they are picked off…each in accordance with that cursed nursery rhyme. As the number of victims increase, the survivors' suspicions of each other also increase. When the police arrive and find them all dead….the question remains "Who is the murderer? It has to be one of the survivors…but which one?

And Then There Were Noneis told in short choppy chapters. The strange thing is that none of the characters are even likable. Christie toys with the idea of a serial killer long before such an animal was even heard of. This is an excellent story, and the author is so far ahead of the reader's reasoning that you will never guess who the guilty party is. If you do manage to figure out the "who" and the "how" then you have my highest respects.