166. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Agatha Christie 1939

I honestly am not sure why I didn't reread this book sooner because it is my absolute favorite of Agatha Christie's work!  It is exquisitely Brilliant and Awesome!!! Ten strangers (Emily Brent, Vera Claythourne, Dr. Armstrong, Anthony Marston, old Justice Wargrave, Philip Lombard, General Macarthur, C.M.G., D.S.O. Manservant and wife: Mr. and Mrs. Rogers),  united by the common thread of  a guilty conscience, are summoned to Indian Island by an Unknown host. One by one, they die, until there were none!

'In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times.'(opening lines)

'She had pictured it differently, close to shore, crowned with a beautiful white house. But there was no house visible, only the boldly silhouetted rock with its faint resemblance to a giant Indian's head. There was something sinister about it.'(22)

'She stood in front of the fireplace and read it. It was the old nursery rhyme that she remembered from her childhood days.

Ten little Indian boys went out to die;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon; 

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven. 

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy let all alone;

He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

Vera smiled. Of course! This was Indian Island.'(32)

'He said: Just now we had a somewhat disturbing experience. An apparently disembodied voice spoke to us all by name, uttering certain precise accusations against us.'(54)

'If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and heavily panelled walls, there might have been an eerie feeling. But this house was the essence of modernity. There were no dark corners -- no possible sliding panels -- it was flooded  with electric light -- everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed. It had no atmosphere about it.... Somehow, that was the most frightening of all .....'(72)

'It's those little figures, sir. In the middle of the table. The little china figures. Ten of them, there were. I'll swear to that, ten of them.'(95)

'In the sense you mean, no. I came to that conclusion early this morning. I could have told you that your search would be fruitless. Nevertheless, I am strongly of the opinion that 'Mr. Owen' ( to give him the name he himself has adopted) is on the island. Very much so. ... It is perfectly clear. Mr. Owen is one of us...'(135)

'Five people -- five frightened people. Five people who watched each other, who now hardly troubled to hide their state of nervous tension.... There were little pretence now -- no formal veneer of conversation. They were five enemies linked together by a mutual instinct of self-preservation.'(191)

'I have wanted -- let me admit it frankly -- to commit a murder myself. I recognized this as the desire of the artist to express himself! If I was, or could be, an artist in crime!'(263)

St. Martin's Paperback edition/May 2001

275 pages

Book owned
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge