And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
This was my first Agatha Christie novel and I absolutely loved it. It was such a fascinating idea; ten people are lured to a remote island under false pretenses and quickly find out they are to be punished by death for ‘crimes' they have committed in the past and got away with. We slowly uncover each of the individuals' crimes, as one by one they are murdered in ways based on a nursery rhyme “Ten Little Soldiers". To make matters worse, they determine that the murderer is one among their group, and thus the suspicion begins.
It is not a long or complex book like many mysteries/thrillers, however it is still so clever and unpredictable. I never saw the end coming of who was behind the murders. Christie doesn't add unnecessary commentary nor descriptions. The majority of the book is dialogue or some inner thoughts of the characters so it is short and to the point but yet still so intriguing and entertaining. I think this worked well with the mystery and the personalities each of the characters brought together.
The narrator, Dan Stevens for the audiobook I listened to also deserves major praise. He has a different voice for about 12+ characters. 12 different voices, people! I was never once confused as to who was talking which is important since the majority of this book is dialogue or a characters' inner thoughts.
Synopsis: Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a lonely mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die....