And Then There Were None
(Agatha Christie)
And Then There Were None
Originally titled ?Ten Little Niggers?, because the murders follow the pattern of the nursery rhyme, this is one of the most baffling of Agatha Christie?s detective novels. Unlike the majority of her novels, there is no clear detective. Rather the suspects themselves try to work out who is killing them off one by one.
The cast is small, and all ten are murderers in their own right. However, due to various twists of fate, none of them were ever found out and/or charged. But someone has discovered their secrets and has decided that they are going to pay for their crimes. Ten people are invited to a private island and informed by a pre-recorded message that their murders are known, and then they begin to die?
The guests work out that the murderer is in their midst, but that none of them have an alibi for any of the murders. Each time someone dies, a porcelain figurine is smashed, reflecting the actions in the rhyme. The cleverest moment arrives when the two final survivors realise that, although it is physically impossible, the other person must have committed the murders?.
Christie has created in this novel a perfect psychological game with her protagonists. The knowledge that they cannot leave the island, and that the murderer is in the very same room, drives them mad under the pressure.
This is a sheer work of genius that will keep you guessing until the very last page. The story is so complicated that one can read the novel again and again without getting bored. The murderer, when he finally confesses, does so in the most amazing twist, perhaps, of all of Agatha Christie?s novels. Quite simply a fabulous read for any lover of detective fiction. Agatha Christie at her best.
Resumos Relacionados
- And Then There Were None
- And Then There Were None
- And Then There Were None
- And Then There Were None
- Curtain
|
|
