And Then There Were None (The Christie Collection) Reviews

And Then There Were None tells the story of ten people, all with different backgrounds, and who don't know each other, who are invited by a certain U. N. Owen to spend some time on Nigger Island, off the shore of Devonshire. When they disembark they learn that their host has't arrived yet. They're all speculating as to who this mysterious man or woman can be when a record starts playing on the gramophone, accusing each guest of murder. Not long after, one of them dies, poisoned.

The next morning, it's another one's turn. One by one they die, according to the verses of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Niggers, and one by one the ten little negroid statuettes displayed in the dining room disappear. After a thourough but infructuous search of the island, they're forced to face the music: the murderer must be one of them.

It was the third time I read this book, albeit the first in its original language. And even though I was bound to find it a little less suspenseful, it was nice to see the tension build up as the guests all start to suspect each other, and it was much entertaining. Lady Agatha Christie sure knew how to write them detective stories!