After I read The Murder on the Orient Express, I figured I should read some more books by the renowned Dame Agatha Christie. First up is And Then There Were None, hence the title. This the first book of 2021 that I started and finished. Rhythm of War was started in November and finished in January. I wish I had read it faster, but I also enjoy taking my time. For a long time I wasn’t ready to get it out of my head and start anything new that wasn’t related to the Cosmere. I did it, though. I listened to the audio for And Then There Were None and it was a fast listen. It took me 5 days. It is a short book, however. On to the review! With spoilers.
3/5 Stars, unfortunately.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. It was hyped up a little too much due to it’s reputation. After Orient Express, this was a bit of a let down with a lot of similarities. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but the ending reveal was too neatly tied in a bow.
The novel was first published in 1039 with a very racially offensive title; Ten Little N*****s. It was also the title of the feature children’s poem that the story revolved around. Regardless of the UK’s view on the word (they don’t see the word quite as negatively as the US does), especially at the time period, the US smartly retitled it immediately to And Then There Were None, from the last five words of said poem. I found this tidbit to be rather interesting and shocking at the same time. Honestly, I’m surprised the US renamed it so quickly considering it’s own racist views even today. The poem now consists of 10 little soldiers, instead, with the island being called Soldier Island. Soldier obviously replacing all mentions of the offensive word. The UK version now uses the term Indian.
The poem plays a major role in the novel as it’s featured in the bedrooms over the mantel and is the mode of death for the actual people on the island. This part of the plot is a fun idea. The mystery comes to who, why, and when, not so much the how. Also, who is doing the killing. The 10 people on the island are brought under false pretenses and find themselves trapped for supposedly murdering other people. They are the only people on the island. Fascinating!
Who is the killer? Is it one of them? Who is going to die next? They slowly go mad and desperate. Eventually, no one is left. Still, the mystery remains unsolved. The police can’t figure it out either. Until an epilogue of a letter in a bottle describing everything in admittance by the killer. Very slowly do they explain why and how this all happened and their identity is hinted at, then revealed at the very end. I don’t like that bit. It seems to convenient for a letter to explain everything. The killer never got away with it, they died too! Supposedly they were dying anyways, which is hinted at in the letter. Why? We shall never know. Something about a surgery. So many questions still!
So, all in all it’s a decent mystery novel. Not the best, but good. I would like to see it as a movie. Apparently there is a 2015 mini series. I’ll have to check that out. I do recommend it for mystery lovers and to anyone who wants to read Agatha Christie since it’s one of her most notable pieces. Her next novel I plan to read is Death on the Nile. Kenneth Branagh is directing this as well and it’s meant to be released this year in September, after the success of his Murder on the Orient Express (which is what made me read that one).
Rachels Books 