First published 1938
I read Harper paperback 2003
IBSN 978-0-00-713683
250 pages
Grade: 5/5
One of my reasons for reading mystery novels, especially the cozy kinds, is that the crime is discovered and the bad guy gets his rightful punishment, and so justice is re-established.
This book is different from other books by Agatha Christie first of all it is not Mrs. Marple or Hercule Poirot detecting.
Second the book starts with a note from the author giving away the plot; she writes that she wrote it for herself as a difficult and fascinating idea: to have ten people die without it becoming ridiculous, but she was very pleased with the end result as was I, it seems plausible.
An isolated island, a modern house built by an American millionaire, a lot of gossip in the newspapers. To this place ten people have been persuaded to come for a week, their host Mr. Owen.
Mr. Justice Wargrave, retired, known as the hanging judge, he has been promised to meet an old flame, Constance Culmington.
Vera Claythorne, a teacher, has been hired as a secretary for the summer.
Captain Philip Lombard who likes to move very close to the line of wrong; the panther.
Miss Emily Brett, spinster, religious, knows what is right and wrong in a strict way, poor, so the promise of spending a week free of charge in a guest house is very pleasing to her.
General Macarthur, retired and bored, has been promised to have the company of old friends to talk military memories.
Dr Armstrong a successful and overworked doctor was asked for a huge fee to observe the wife of Mr. Owen, to diagnose if there was a problem with her nerves. The good doctor needed a break so he agreed to come.
Tony Marston, young rich, entitled, has no time for old people, arrived to the harbor in a fast modern car. His only demand for the weekend was good alcohol and girls.
Mr. Blore retired police man, was asked as a private investigator to protect Mrs. Owen’s jewels; so, he invented a cover as a major who had served in South Africa; but he was found out fast.
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers the butler and housekeeper arrived the day before the rest.
On arrival they were told that the host was late; but they were given a nice room and later they had a very nice dinner, after which the gramophone started to accuse everyone present of having caused a death or murder. The coziness is broken, everybody turns on every one else. When a storm breaks out, they realize they cannot leave the island. Then the horror starts: one after another they are killed in various ways, poison, shot, heads crushed, drowning and hanging.
They are killed as predicted in the nursery rhyme ‘Ten little soldiers went out to dine’ and present in their rooms.
After 3 days when the police arrived, they cannot make head or tail of the story. It is all cleared up in a letter in a bottle thrown into the sea written by the mastermind behind the plot.
It is a book with very good person descriptions, the atmosphere about what to do when you realize you are stuck with a group of people who have murdered and gradually realized they are going to die too.
According to Wikipedia this book has sold more than 100 million copies; it was rewritten as a play and has performed more than 27500 performances since 1952; is closed down before of the Corona pandemic in March 2020.
I bought the book as it was on sale in the bookstore. As a teenager I read a lot of Agatha Christie together with my mother. I do not remember having read this one, but now I have and will look for more of them.
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