From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

Start date: July 1, 2023

Finish date: August 7, 2023

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: This Christie classic is next in our Scenes of Classic Crime Challenge.
[close] This Christie classic is next in our Scenes of Classic Crime Challenge.

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Group Challenges

* 2026 Challenge
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* Oct 25: A Murder Is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie
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What Members Thought

Mar 24, 2016 Anissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, 2022, mystery-suspense-crime, favourites, british-fiction-uk-ireland, cozy-mystery

Reread 2022: I picked this up from my bookshelf for a reread this past weekend and I think I enjoyed it even more. Dame Christie knew what she was doing.

I'm a big Christie fan but while watching a recent television adaptation of And Then There Were None (hey, it got me to turn on Lifetime), it occurred to me that I'd either not read it fully or possibly at all. A quick look through my bookshelves told me that I didn't have a copy so the latter was more likely. I immediately set to remedy that sa ...more

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Jan 31, 2018 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“And Then There Were None,” has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, making it, according to the Christie estate, the best selling crime novel of all time. A poll in 2015 (set up to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Christie’s birth), voted it the most popular of all her books, it has had more adaptations than any of her other novels, and, however many times I read this novel – and it has been a few – I can really understand the appeal. Published in 1939, Christie described it as, “so d “And Then There Were None,” has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, making it, according to the Christie estate, the best selling crime novel of all time. A poll in 2015 (set up to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Christie’s birth), voted it the most popular of all her books, it has had more adaptations than any of her other novels, and, however many times I read this novel – and it has been a few – I can really understand the appeal. Published in 1939, Christie described it as, “so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me,” and it is both simple, and fiendishly difficult, to solve.

We begin with a disparate group of people heading for Soldier Island in Devon. There is Justice Walgrave, a retired judge, Vera Claythorn, a young games mistress, the daring, and dashing, Captain Philip Lombard, Miss Emily Brent, an upright, religious spinster, the elderly General MacArthur, successful Harley Street doctor, Armitage, a previous police detective, William Blore and the reckless party lover, Anthony Marston. Once on the island, the ill assorted group are greeted by Thomas and Ethel Rogers, who are acting as butler and cook.

It soon transpires that all of the inhabitants of Soldier Island have been lured there for different reasons – a job, the promise of a free holiday, the chance to talk over old times. Their host, though, appears to be missing and there is no way off the island. When a mysterious voice accuses them all of past crimes, the guests begin to be picked off, one by one. It seems that a madman is on the island and, if anyone is to make it off alive, they need to find out who their accuser is…

Other people have taken this idea, but Christie did it best. This novel works because it is brilliantly conceived, with real atmosphere and a very creepy plot. If you want to try Agatha Christie, but are not sure you want to read Poirot, Miss Marple, or any of her other series, then this is an ideal starting place. A stand alone novel, which really stands out and which has stood up to the test of time.

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Jan 06, 2018 Kavita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: golden-age-mystery, uk, mystery

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier boys going ...more

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Nov 07, 2013 Jackie rated it it was amazing

very dark, but good.

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Nov 14, 2013 Booklover rated it really liked it

Good Mystery

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Nov 03, 2017 Rachel Burke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-and-read

The greatest

Its not being superlative to state that And Then There Were None is one of the, if not the, greatest mysteries ever written. Christie embodies the entire book with setting and a stark, unknowable, terror. The perfect murder mystery wrapped up in a perfect bow. If you've somehow not read it you must. It is perfection. ...more

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