Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - En toen waren er nog maar...

Like most Agatha Christie novels, I’ve listened to And Then There Were None a dozen times and know the solution of the mystery by heart. It was interesting to slow down and read it on paper, because different things jumped out at me.

Agatha Christie’s prose is clear and to-the-point, summing up all ten of her main characters in only a few words. The descriptions of Emily Brent and Anthony Marston were particularly effective, while on the other hand it’s easy to get ex-Inspector Blore and Philip Lombard mixed up in the early stages. Even knowing the ending, it’s interesting to watch the atmosphere of increasing dread play havoc on everyone’s anxieties.

One of the things which makes And Then There Were None a really clever mystery is the total lack of trustworthy sources. Every character is equally open to suspicion, and that means the reader can’t trust anything, not even murder mystery staples like time of death or who last saw the victim alive. And by the time solid alibis are established, the characters are all too psychologically wound up to recognise and act on it.

While And Then There Were None is widely recognised as one of Agatha Christie’s most unique offerings, it’s surprising to me that it’s so often recommended to people who haven’t read any others. The very fact that it’s not a detective story makes it a slightly odd place to begin. I’d advise new Christie readers to start with something a bit more traditional and work their way up to And Then There Were None once they’re familiar with the format!

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alexlagon's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Decided to reread this book since I read it as part of 7th grade English. I liked it a lot better then, still an interesting mystery but I couldn’t get over the language used.

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rusty_moonshadow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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faygof9's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Great book, way better than Murder on the Orient Express and I wish I had read it first. The movie Clue is likely somewhat based on this story as it reminded me of it often. I read the beginning on ebook as I had a hard time keeping the characters straight on audio, then switched between them.

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jacinderr's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

4.5

Fuck this would’ve been 5 stars if it weren’t for the racism ?? Couldn’t put it down I was so invested !!? but girl literally was finding every excuse to throw in antisemitism for no reason

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livimarie's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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lefthandedmatt's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I went into this expecting a difficult read given its age. Other books I've read from the 1930s have been struggles given the aged writing styles. But surprisingly, this is a breeze. Christie's writing is conversational and easy to digest. It doesn't rely on flowery descriptions or confusing language.

On the flip side, her writing also isn't particularly... good. It's plain and often overly simplified. Characters have the barest of personalities. Most dialogue follows a pattern of "x said angrily: 'That makes me angry!' y said suspiciously 'This is very suspicious'."

But it works! The story is completely engrossing and has a fantastic central mystery. It kept me coming back and is clearly the inspiration for an entire subgenre of "murders in an isolated mansion" stories. I'm quite eager to explore more of Christie's tales.

I came pretty close to guessing who the killer was, but it caught me by surprise!

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