Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #312939 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-13
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

And Then There Was The Best Murder Mystery Story Ever !!
Having been an avid Miss Marple and Poirot follower I was reluctant to read any Agatha Christie novel that did not 'star' the ingenius detectives. I decided to pick up this book on a car boot sale - not expecting to enjoy it. BUT HOW WRONG WAS I ???!!!

THIS BOOK IS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE ! The plot is incredibly simple, based around a childrens nursery rhyme, on a deserted island off the coast of England. There are no distractions to the story, the characters are credible and the way the deaths are strung together is perfection itself !! The usual twists, turns and surprise ending are evident here - but this one is a complete original ! Totally unpredictable !

This really is my favourite book !I have converted all of my friends and family over to Agatha Christie by introducing them to this book. How I wish I could forget the conclusion, however, so that I may read this book time and time again !?

No other Agatha Christie - in my mind - can compare. Move over Marple & Poirot........

Irresistible Suspense, Justice, Red Herring and Perfect Plot
Unlike most mysteries you will read, this one will always stay with you. Agatha Christie has surmounted the mystery form to provide a fascinating story of morality and immorality in which justice plays an unusual hand. The title nicely displays the mystery (which has a perfect plot from my point of view). And then there were none -- who did it?

Agatha Christie wrote this in a spare and efficient way so that the story starts moving immediately, and speeds up as you go. It will be impossible to put this book down once you start reading it.

As you can imagine from the book's age and the author, this is a classic English murder mystery. The murders are there, but the blood does not overwhelm. Violence and social niceties nudge one another for your attention. At the same time, there is hope. Agatha Christie adds her hope for the future in a most unusual way in this novel, that will leave you encouraged for the future of humanity after first causing you to despair.

One of the beauties of the plot is that it expands on the famous locked room format to include an island where there is no access or exit, nor any way to communicate. That gives much more room for interesting plot developments without losing any of the intellectual puzzle of a locked room.

An unusual factor about this novel is that you will soon find yourself identifying with the guilty victims (even though you are not a murderer). Usually, mystery novels have the reader identifying with the innocents or the detective. That is accomplished by creating a gripping sense of paranoia as the numbers of those on the island rapidly dwindle.

Don't miss this book!

After you are done and have savored all of the book's brilliance, reflect a little about how Agatha Christie explored stalled thinking about what was going on to make the plot so effective. Then think about all of those places in your life and business where things may also not be what they seem. If you can use this insight to locate your misconception stalls, you will be doubly blessed by reading this book.

The Chronicler of Demise
Agatha Christie is the unwitting and morbidly fascinating chronicler of her own demise - the gradual fading of her milieu, her period, its mores and values, beliefs and superstitions, dreams and aspirations. The mirror of pre-Hitler Europe crack'd and then there were none. She was there, an indefatigable and uncannily observant documentarist of a dying era. sam Vaknin, author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited.