And Then There Were None (Biggest Inspiration) by Agatha Christie

 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 10th October 2024 by Harper Collins.

Originally published 1939.

From the cover of the book:

Ten strangers are lured to an island mansion on an isolated rock near the Devon coast. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous hosts mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime. When one of the party dies suddenly, the guests realise they may be harbouring a murderer among their number.

The ten strangers include a reckless playboy, a troubled doctor, a formidable judge, an uncouth detective, an unscrupulous mercenary, a religious spinster, two restless housekeepers, a highly decorated general and an anxious secretary. As one by one they are picked off, the dwindling group must stay one step ahead of their deadly stalker. Who will survive? And who is the killer?

And in every room hangs a copy of an ominous nursery rhyme, foreshadowing the awful fates of ten people doomed to die…

For the first time ever, this unique edition of Agatha Christie's masterpiece presents her story in a format that is entirely faithful to her original conception, with the final solution presented in a letter that can only be revealed once you have finished the story and discovered if you have solved the deadly puzzle correctly.

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And Then There Were None is the best selling crime novel of all time. Its captivating plot about ten guilty strangers lured to a tiny island off the coast of Devon, and successively bumped off, is one which has made it a worldwide hit. In 2015, on Christie's 125th anniversary, it was voted the global Favourite Christie novel, and its plot has gone on to inspire so many authors since it was published in 1939.

There are many things about this novel that make it memorable: the quite brilliant concept of bringing ten murderers together who have gotten away with their crimes; the cracking locked-room setting; the disturbing ways they meet their ends in relation to a macabre nursery rhyme; and the almost impossible task of identifying the murderer. Only Christie could pull this off, and she was pretty pleased with herself when she managed to her satisfaction.

The marks of Christie's genius are all over this mystery. The cast of characters is so beautifully 'Christie' - doctor, judge, detective, mercenary, spinster, general, secretary, playboy, and two apparently meek servants - handpicked from her usual fayre - and her favourite methods of murder are here in abundance. 

This is a very fast-paced novel for Christie. Even though her more typical slow-burn style is absent, she still manages to create a palpable atmosphere of menace on Soldier Island - so near, and yet so far from, the safety of the mainland - especially when a storm sets in. Placing her characters in a stylish, modern house, rather than a creaky old manor, is curiously unsettling too. 

I think my favourite thing of all though is the awesome way Christie keeps loyalities divided, constantly splitting her characters off into smaller groups that eye each other with suspicion as their numbers dwindle... until they aee all gone!

This is my November pick for #ReadChristie2026 prompt of Biggest Inspiration, and it was lovely to spend time with the wonderful Hugh Fraser via the audio book for my revisit.  

And Then There Were None is available to buy in multiple formats.

About the author:

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.