A review by its_kievan
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

 I'm not sure that this deserves to be the most popular mystery novel of all time (fun fact, this is the 6th best-selling book in human history) but Agatha Christie is famous for a reason. The central premise is beautifully simple: ten people are trapped on an island and killed off one by one by an unknown person. Their deaths follow the pattern of an old nursery rhyme, and are carried out in revenge for past crimes for which they were never punished. The writing and characters are a bit too Br*tish at times, and earlier editions of the book are pretty aggressively racist (the book's original title, the central nursery rhyme, and the island it's set on all include the N-word for no particular reason), but it's absolutely worth reading for its creativity and impact on other murder mysteries. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs

Earlier (pre-1960 or so) editions of the book are named "Ten Little N*****s", which is also the name of the nursery rhyme that the killings are based around. The island itself is called N***** Island, which is just lovely. This has been removed in later editions, ie. all editions titled "And Then There Were None".