And Then There Were None

Several months ago, I listed a few books that I wanted to read in the post Summer Reading. While I did not complete my entire list by the end of summer, I did however check one more off that list earlier this week.

While mom was out of town visiting her aunt, my sister and I were covering her shifts as secretary of a nearby church. God bless my mama, she worked hard before and after her trip to make sure that she completed most of her work and that her girls didn't have to do too much. But that left me with a dilemma. I was going to sit in a church office all morning with absolutely nothing to do.

I had wanted to read "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie for a while but just hadn't got around to it yet. And this was the perfect opportunity. So after completing the couple of tasks for Tuesday morning, I settled into the less than completely cushy office chair and began to read. The first two chapters were a little show and boring as I was being introduced to each one of the characters, but then it quickly picked up speed and captivated me. The story was thrilling and intriguing, but not until the end would I realize just how brilliant it was.

The story of the book begins as follows: Ten guests are invited for a variety of reasons to a remote island surrounded by rumor. When they arrive, they are informed that the host would be arriving the next day and instructed to enjoy their first night in his absence. After dinner, they settle into the living room and suddenly a voice is heard calling each of them by name and accusing them of murder. In the next three days, the host is still not there and one by one the guests are killed, leaving the remaining guests and the reader to figure out who is behind the deaths.

I did not think I would like a mystery novel, but this one had me obsessed with finding out who done it. First I thought it was William Blore, who initially lied about his identity and then was discovered to be an ex-investigator. Who else would have known all these details about the guests? And then I thought maybe it was Dr. Armstrong who knew everything possible about different poisons and strong sedatives. And then my suspicions shifted to Philip Lombard, the mysterious survival genius who carried a gun and smiled way too much. All the baddies smile too much, right?

Without revealing the end, I will say that I absolutely did not see that coming. The second to last chapter had me entirely clueless as I had run out of guesses. But the final chapter had my jaw dropped so long I'm surprised I didn't find a fly in there. I admired the total geniosity of the villain, and even moreso the author behind the geniosity who was able to put the entire story together in a way that so fascinates her readers. I was literally on the edge of my seat in anticipation almost the entire time, which consisted of less that two days.

This seriously was an amazing book, and I suggest that all of you read it. Read it, I tell you. Now please excuse me while I raid my sister's Agatha Christie book collection.