Review: ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie

One reason I guess this story is so unique is because there isn’t a detective pointing out clues for you and musing on alternative theories.  All you have are snatches of random characters’ thoughts and accounts of their occasional ‘meetings’ where they bandy about some ideas in an effort to stop themselves going bonkers.  Contrary to what you might expect, getting a glimpse into characters’ heads from time to time is actually more confusing; sometimes I didn’t know who was thinking a particularly incriminating thought or something ambiguous would come from someone that I’d started to think might be wrongly caught up in things and I’d be right back to square one.  It was brilliant.

Despite not spending much time on anything but the characters’ backgrounds/thoughts and, obviously, the action, the story has a brilliant atmosphere in a classic trapped-in-a-huge-mansion-in-a-storm kind of way.  On top of that, as the characters become more suspicious of their remaining companions and more nervous (sleep deprivation and a sense of impending death is no good for a happy group dynamic), the tension becomes almost palpable and is hard to escape from.  I barely put the book down and pretty much read it in two sittings.  That is extremely rare for me and a testament to how completely sucked in to the story I was.

There isn’t much more I can say without giving too much away.  At only 172 ePages/224 pages in paperback, this is an extremely quick read that is packed full on suspense, intrigue, murder and secrets.  If it’s gloomy and you have a couple of hours to kill, read this – it’s perfect autumn fodder!

Overall:  The beauty of this book lies in never knowing what is going to happen next or, more specifically, when something is going to happen.  It’s a brilliant thriller with a twist every couple of chapters and an ending that I genuinely never saw coming which, I suppose, is all you can really ask for from a mystery!