And Then There Were None Book Review: The Original Blueprint for Terror

I have been a big Agatha Christie fan since I was a child, but I mostly have consumed her content through the television medium. I have only read two of her books, Murder on the Orient Express as a teenager and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd a few years ago, so I am way behind on my Christie reads. I was a big fan of the And Then There Were None miniseries and I have been thinking about writing a version of this book set on an abandoned space station. I know, an ambitious project to try to compete with a master like Agatha Christie but it is one of those stories that I am dying to tell. I plan to write it during this NaNoWriMo so let’s see how this goes. Anyway, enough about my ambitions, let’s dive in.

The Guests and the Invitation

The story begins with ten strangers, all from different walks of life but each harboring a guilty secret. They are individually lured by a mysterious host, “U. N. Owen,” to a secluded, modern mansion on Soldier Island, a barren rock off the English coast. Eight strangers arrived as guests, expecting a weekend of leisure, but their host is nowhere to be found. Instead, they are left in the care of two newly hired servants who are just as clueless as the guests. The initial awkwardness of strangers meeting soon gives way to a much darker reality.

The Countdown Begins

The trap is sprung on the first night. A voice from a gramophone record booms through the house, accusing each guest by name of a specific murder they committed and got away with. The shock is still hanging in the air when the reckless young Anthony Marston chokes on his drink and dies. The official conclusion is poison, and it perfectly matches the first line of the nursery rhyme hanging in every room: “Ten little soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.”

This is where Christie just floors the accelerator and never lets up. The next morning, the housekeeper, Mrs. Rogers, is found dead in her sleep, just as the second verse predicts. With two dead and ten little soldier figurines on the dining table now mysteriously reduced to eight, the remaining guests realize this is no coincidence. I love the next part. The three most able-bodied men, Lombard, Armstrong, and Blore, conduct a thorough search of the island. It’s like a real procedural, but it only confirms their worst fear: there is no one else here. The killer is one of them.

The psychological pressure starts to crack the survivors. General Macarthur is found by the sea, bludgeoned to death, having eerily accepted his fate. The next morning, the servant Mr. Rogers is killed with an axe while chopping wood. Then comes Emily Brent’s death, a syringe to the neck, with a buzzing bee in the room to match the rhyme. 

Just when you think you have a handle on who the most likely suspects are, the survivors find Judge Wargrave’s body. He’s been shot in the head, dressed in mock judicial robes. From this point on, it’s a desperate, paranoid scramble for survival among the last few, who begin to turn on each other in the most terrifying ways.

A Masterclass in Narrative Tension

Christie structures the story by constantly shifting the third-person perspective between the remaining characters. I loved this way of story telling. It is giving the reader clues while not revealing anything in a way. One chapter, you’re inside the head of the cool and capable Vera Claythorne as her sanity begins to fray; the next, you’re privy to the cold, calculating thoughts of Judge Wargrave. It’s a genius structural choice that prevents you from ever feeling safe with one character’s point of view. It’s this technique, especially after shocking events like the Judge’s “death,” that builds the suffocating paranoia, making the psychological tension just as terrifying as the murders themselves.

Read This If You Like…

• Modern thrillers like The Guest List or The Hunting Party.
• The “locked-room mystery” trope executed to absolute perfection.
• Claustrophobic thrillers that make you feel the isolation and dread.

Final Thoughts

Watching the characters get picked off one by one is what makes this book so unforgettable. Even knowing the ending from the miniseries didn’t lessen the impact; I was still on the edge of my seat. The story matches the fall vibe perfectly.

What are your favorite fall-vibe reads? Let me know in the comments below.