“And Then There Were None”, by Agatha Christie

 

300 pages, Harper Mystery, ISBN-13: 978-0062073488

I first read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None back in junior high when it was still called Ten Little Indians (which is still an improvement over the British title Ten Little N******; I kid you not). The book is the world’s best-selling mystery with over 100 million copies sold, also making it the sixth best-selling title in any language, reference works included. Once completing it, you will no doubt understand why this is so.

Without spoiling the book too much, it begins when eight strangers arrive on a small, isolated island off the Devon coast, each having received an unexpected personal invitation to the same; they are met by the butler and cook/housekeeper who explain that their hosts, the mysterious and unseen Ulick Norman Owen and Una Nancy Owen (take note of those names) have not yet arrived, though they have left instructions for their care.

From there, people begin to drop off one-by-one, one after the other until…there were none. The plot is structured around the ten lines of the children’s counting rhyme Ten Little Soldier Boys, with each of the ten victims (the eight guests plus the two caretakers) being killed in a manner which reflects one of the lines of the rhyme (also killed, off the island, is the island’s recent owner). Which children’s rhyme would that be? Here you go:

 

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 travelling 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 in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four

Four little Soldier Boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three

Three little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two

Two little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one

One little Soldier Boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none

This is a stand-alone work without any of Christie’s usual characters, which is one of the reasons why I selected it for the Fraser Public Library’s Mysteries & Munchies book club. As the sales numbers would indicate, the reason for its lasting popularity is because it has to be one of the best mysteries ever written. Each character is distinct and well-developed, their deaths are gruesome and, if one is to be perfectly honest, well-deserved, and the ultimate perpetrator is shocking.

While my childhood-level of detective work left much to be desired, I remember being both enthralled and shocked by the level of carnage being perpetrated on this small island and how the killer was able to get away with it all. And no wonder: who else but Christie could have dreamt-up such a baffling, complex, seemingly-unbelievable mystery that makes perfect sense once the killer is revealed and their methods and motives explained? Nobody.

And Then There Were None is a brilliant whodunnit that richly deserves its laurels as one of the best mysteries ever written, one that will stay with you long after you close the covers – oh, and if you must, the BBC One miniseries which aired in December 2015 was excellent, while the 1945 film is pure caca.