Spoiler-free Review

Book Name: And then there were none
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Classic Mystery
Rating: 5/5

This was my introduction to Agatha Christie's books and undoubtedly, it was perfect. I’ve already become a fan of her writing. Classics can be intimidating. But ‘And then there were none’ has an easy writing style. So, it’s a great book for beginners to get into classics or to get into classic mysteries in particular. As I didn’t have many experiences with books which have multiple perspectives before, I had a little trouble keeping track of all the characters at first. But after two or three chapters, I got used to it and it was a great reading experience.

The plot of this novel is that there's a poem in there & all the victims get killed exactly how the poem says. It starts off with 10 people getting invited to a mysterious island named ‘Soldier Island’ by a mysterious person. When they go, each of them is accused of a terrible crime. Now they're getting killed one by one, which in the antagonist’s eye is the ultimate justice for their wrong-doing. There’s no way of getting out from Soldier Island. And their only chance of survival is to find the murderer before he/she can execute this dark plan. There is one murderer among them and only the dead are out of suspicion.

This is one of the best mysteries I've read. The premise was not only creative but also unique. The poem itself was dark which helped the story to get thrilling when the situations came. The pacing was fast and kept me engaged till the last word. I couldn't stop turning the pages! The setting was eerie which was perfect for the plot. All the characters were morally corrupt so you wouldn't know who and who not to trust. The twists were shocking too. The reveal of the antagonist was unexpected. In most of the mystery books I’ve read, I could pretty much guess the antagonist or have a fair amount of idea of who it could be at least one or two chapters before the actual reveal takes place. But in this book I was totally ignorant about the murderer till the name was actually revealed. I've always loved the part in books where the villain gives his monologue (when the villain explains in great detail how he executed his plan). But most of the time it is done with having a plot convenience or two unlike in here, it was executed in a very clever way indeed. Suffice to say the ending was satisfying & wrapped the whole story together perfectly.

Favorite Quotes from the book:

"There was something magical about an island—the mere word suggested fantasy. You lost touch with the world—an island was a world of its own. A world, perhaps, from which you might never return."

‘In the midst of life we are in death.’

‘The abandoned creature, not content with having one sin on her conscience, committed a still graver sin. She took her own life.’

“I know I did…Well, I was wrong. Here’s one more of us who’s been proved innocent—too late!’”