Today I want to talk about an Agatha Christie’s book entitled Ten Little Niggers (or And then there were none for the American version) and published in 1939.
Ten people who don’t know each other are invited to come to an island by Mr and Mrs Owen because of different excuses ( to meet old friends, job…). But when all the guests arrive no signs of their hosts, there are only two servants to receive them. The first night, all the guests (who are not related) confide one common point: they all have murdered (directly or indirectly) someone and escaped to justice and they are all here to « pay for their crimes ».
One by one, all the guests begin to die and their murders follow a famous nursery rhyme entitled « ten little niggers » whose lyrics are hanging on the wall of all the bedrooms. After each murder one of the ten figurines presents on the table is broken. After the second murder panic and distrust settle down in the house. They are alone on the island and they can’t escape because of the bad weither. They are traped, scared and they suspect each other of being the murderer. All along the plot we can see character’s personnality evolve and until the end we can’t really know who is the murderer.
I love police novels and those of Agatha Christie are so interesting, with a lot of suspense and it’s always a pleasure to read one of her books.
And you, did you read it? What do you think of it?
I remember reading it for french class a few years ago but I don’t really remember the story exactly. Maybe I should read it again!
I didn’t read the book but I watched the adaptation of the novel on the TV, so, I don’t know if this adaptation is like the book… In any case, I found the plot so interesting and fascinating ! Everything is kept until the end.