I read the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None. I know the title is not the original. The name of the setting was according to the title. The story is what it is however. Its characters are believable, the setting ambient and the plot immersive. It is a murder mystery about murderers as the victims.
My suspect was not the killer. Everything is explained. I felt tricked but not cheated. There was a clue I missed until a character mentions it outright.
I began reading just past midnight in the first hour of Wednesday July 9th and finished nearly a quarter past 4 PM on Friday, July 11, 2025. I thought to only read at night but read most of the book in the light day. Though scary, it is a murder mystery, not technically a horror story.
What I loved most about the novel was my sympathy for the protagonists. Though they are all guilty of dastardly deeds, I am shown the world from their perspectives. They are not sadists but rather normal people who crossed a line. They are horrified when their dark secrets are revealed.
I dream a recurring theme since my young adulthood. I am guilty of a murder. I do not know who I murdered or if it was deliberate or not. I am living my normal life and at peace when I forget my crime, thinking I got away with it. When I remember, however, I am sickened with dread. I know everyone will turn on me and my life is over if anyone finds out.
Such was my interest in reading And Then There Were None… and I was not disappointed.
A good mystery will tend to have the truth in plain sight. It is best when everything seems obvious in the end. That way, there is the chance of figuring things out.
ReplyDeleteWhat made the mystery scary was how she humanized the characters. All of them are murderers... yet you feel for them. You fear for them. This book did what perhaps no other has ever done... and that was sheer genius.
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