34. And Then There Were None (1939)

{also published as Ten Little Indians}

First book I've read in one sitting in... years.

This.

Dear Agatha, I have always thought that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was my favorite Christie.  Murder on the Orient Express is up, there, too.  But this... this book is different from any of the others I've read.

I'd almost classify it as horror or suspense rather than detective fiction.  Yes, there is a mystery to solve -- who exactly is U. N. Owen? - but it is solved in the context of ten people fighting for their lives.  That definitely brings a horror / suspense element to the normally cerebral cozy mystery that we are so used to from you.

Roger Ackroyd was written early on and certainly established your position as Queen of Deception, but the novels that followed were often formulaic (no criticism intended as I still can never guess the culprit!).  Then, somehow, you manage to do something so creative, so extraordinary with And Then There Were None - in the middle of it all.  It blows my mind simply that you published something like 5 novels in 1938 and 1939 - that alone is a feat of workmanship to be admired - but to come out with ATTWN in the middle? Astounding.

What else can I say?

I love that the mystery is not solved with the final chapter.  Or what you think is the solution is found not to be the solution in the epilogue.  It isn't until the final pages of the novel in one character's confession that everything is wrapped up neatly.  (If it weren't for that confession, we would have no solution!  What if...?)  Even structurally this book transcends norms.

Tonight we get to go see the stage version of the story.  I can't imagine how this will translate into a live production.  And I can't wait!