And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

New York: Bantam Books, 1983. Originally published in 1939.

My JVC community read this book as part of our community book club. We were looking for a fun, page-turner “beach read,” and I must say this book certainly fit that bill.

And Then There Were None is a fun, page-turning mystery-thriller; it’s a tale of ten strangers stuck together on an island … and then they start dropping dead one by one. The mystery and suspense are brilliantly conceived. I won’t say too much more because I don’t want to spoil it. However, if you’re looking for a page-turning mystery-thriller, look no farther.

Note: this book is very British. This made me feel distanced from the book for the first couple chapters, but after the first death, reading this book felt natural and I was pulled right into the story.

Note: the characters in this book are clearly racist. Almost amusingly racist. I would hesitate to say the book itself is racist, but I’m also not convinced that it isn’t racist. So be warned on that front.

This book was also great fun to read as part of a book club. I really appreciated dissecting the book with my community-mate Pat after we finished reading it. I correctly guessed the murderer but not the method, while Pat correctly guessed the method but not the murderer. I really had fun chatting about this with him.

I eagerly recommend this book. (I’d also include a caveat concerning racism. It’s hard to appreciate something racist.) However, you might want to hold off reading this book until you have someone with whom to read it, for once you finish reading it, you may very likely be twitching to discuss it. I know I was.