Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Title: And Then There Were None
Author: Agatha Christie

Goodreads Summary:

First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.




My Thoughts:

My first book of the year! It was a good choice - it was a quick read that held my interest to the very end.

I am a huge fan of the movie Clue and the television show Harper's Island - how I missed this story, probably the story that inspired the later two, is beyond me.

So yeah, this was also my first Agatha Christie book. I can't believe it took me this long to read one of her mysteries. I love little mysteries and isn't she the queen? Well, I bow to her prowess in this genre. I was completely captured, and had no idea how it was all going to wrap together neatly. Christie even acknowledged the difficulty of this task herself, in a bit at the beginning of the book.  The characters were fascinating, their "wicked" pasts all slowly coming to light, each one more wretched and horrible than the next. One by one, they fall, and the reader is left to wonder until the very end who is is the mastermind, the most wicked of them all?

I admit, I watched the mini-series first, but only because I accidentally ran into it. Without the mini-series, I would never have known about this book, which was amazing! So I am glad that I did. I want to add that the mini-series was very well-done! It stuck very closely to the book with only a few minor dramatizations for television audiences but it didn't detract from the original story one bit. I loved Aidan Turner in the role of Lombard, and the oh so mighty Charles Dance as Judge Walgreave - I can't help but have a crush on them both!

This is the perfect read for an afternoon or evening, curled up with a spot of tea and biscuits. It's quick and fast and delivers a powerful mystery full of grim figures and intrigue.