From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Invisible Host

Gwen Bristow,

Bruce Manning

Start date: March 1, 2024

Finish date: March 31, 2024

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our March group read.
[close] Winner of the poll for our March group read.

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Group reads

* Nominations for November 2025 group read
By Judy · 18 posts · 21 views

last updated Sep 05, 2025 03:20PM

* Sept 25: Lonesome Road (#3 Miss Silver Mysteries) by Patricia Wentworth
By Susan · 13 posts · 11 views

last updated Sep 03, 2025 12:03PM

What Members Thought

Jan 14, 2023 Shauna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: golden-age-crime, kindle, us-crime, 2023

Written before 'And Then There Were None', this book is very similar in plot but much less well executed. The victims are trapped in a penthouse apartment and killed off one by one. The characters are lightly drawn and the book suffers from that and from a lack of tension but is still enjoyable. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2022 Nancy Oakes added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1930s, crime-fiction, 2022, crime-fiction-america, dean-street-press

Family here until Sunday (and we play really, really hard!) so my post will have to wait.

for now, another book that while not exactly great, was actually a lot of fun to read and I found myself glued. Eight people are invited to a party by an unknown host; once they are settled in, the partygoers find themselves at the mercy of someone whose presence is made known through a radio broadcast. The host lets them know that this is no ordinary party at all -- that they are there to die, one person e ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 07, 2024 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

'The Invisible Host' was published in 1930 and was the first novel by a young married couple of journalists, who, reportedly annoyed by a noisy neighbour, decided to murder them fictionally. However, for crime fans, this is of particular importance as it is rumoured to be the inspiration for the most successful crime novel of all time, 'And Then There Were None,' by Agatha Christie, which appeared in 1939. The introduction considers how likely to was that Christie was to have read this and concl 'The Invisible Host' was published in 1930 and was the first novel by a young married couple of journalists, who, reportedly annoyed by a noisy neighbour, decided to murder them fictionally. However, for crime fans, this is of particular importance as it is rumoured to be the inspiration for the most successful crime novel of all time, 'And Then There Were None,' by Agatha Christie, which appeared in 1939. The introduction considers how likely to was that Christie was to have read this and concludes she was more likely to watch the film that was inspired by it, 'The Ninth Guest.' Either way, I was interested to read this, as I love the Christie novel and I was keen to see the similarities and differences.

This novel begins in a very similar way to the Christie classic, with guests (eight in this book) invited to a party in a New Orleans penthouse. They are then seen arriving, which is also similar. Where the stories diverge are in the guests themselves, who know each other, while in Christie's books, they are all strangers to each other. Here, though, we have eight guests who represent some of the richest, brightest and most influential that New Orleans can offer, including a society hostess, a college professor, a civic leader, an author, a lady attorney, a politician, a film star and a society dilettante.

The party is to be held in the Bienville Building, a skyscraper, and none of the guests know their host. When they arrive, they are still unclear, but eventually a recording tells them that the doors are electrocuted and they will all die before morning. There follows a number of bizarre deaths, which are difficult for the authors to arrange, in a fairly small space. The question, of course, is, who is the host who has threatened them all and will anyone survive?

Overall, this was better than I expected. I liked the possible suspects and motives and I thought the authors did well to organise the plot within a very small space. It is easy to see why this was adapted as a play and a film as it would be easy to stage. I think Christie was clever, assuming she did see/read this, to improve upon it. Her setting, of a large house on an island, gave the characters more space to roam and made them easier to kill. The fact they did not know each other made it harder for the characters, as they had to try to create alliances, whereas in this novel, being known to each other, obviously made that easier. The ending was also much more chilling. Still, I enjoyed reading this and - if it did nothing else than inspire a classic - it was more than worthwhile, but I was pleased not to be disappointed in reading it for its own sake. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2024 Jan C rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, 2024

A re-read for me. While I could remember certain parts of the story, as in methods used, I didn't remember the killer or any other real details. Also, I think I may have enjoyed it just a bit more the second time around. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 04, 2024 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-library, kindle, tbr-with-gr-groups, detectives-buddy-read24

This mystery was written by American newspaper reporters and newlyweds, and is credited with being the inspiration for Agatha Christie’s masterpiece, “And Then There Were None”. Christie wrote her book a decade later, and I reread it last year, so it was fresh in my mind for comparison. She was a master in plotting, so her book was more gripping, and she did a better job ratcheting up the tension, and the writing was better - she was the master! Still, this was chilling and quite an achievement, ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2024 Jill rated it liked it · review of another edition

And Then There Were NoneThis book was written by American journalists in 1930, and so was a forerunner of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. One of the differences were there were only 8 invited in this as opposed to 10 by Christie.
I do think it started well and captured the atmosphere and hopelessness of the people invited to the so-called party. I did find it quite scary at the start and it was going well as a mystery, but towards the end I felt it got a bit silly. A good read but obv ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2022 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, 2022, south

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2022 Jazz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-british, golden-age-mystery-pre-1950, best-of-2022

If you're well-read in the development of the mystery story, this plot will sound familiar. But to think that it was written over 90 years ago and prior to Christie's "And Then There Were None" makes it very unique, I think. I loved the way the characters were introduced in the first chapter. And the whole whodunnit element was great fun. I look forward to reading the other three mysteries Bristow wrote with her husband, Bruce Manning. If this is any indication, I will certainly enjoy them. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2023 Calum Fisher rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was surprisingly sort of great. It's sold as the precursor to Christie's And Then There Were None, and it's not as good as that novel but then very little is. But actually the set-up, atmosphere and horror are well built-up. The characters don't hugely come alive, but they're all dropping dead so fast it doesn't matter much. The ending is pretty daft and relies on silly technological tricks and wild coincidence, but actually it's effective, satisfying and quite clever in a stupid sort of wa ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2024 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, mystery-classic, rread-2024

Very interesting precursor to 'And Then There Were None' and, in many ways, better (but I am not a great fan of ATTWN). I liked that the party guests knew one another and could each find, first a reason for being invited, and second a reason why someone would want to kill them. However, I knocked off a star as some of the dialogue, including the explanation, went on too long. The ending was excellent. ...more

1 like · Like · see review