A good mystery is my go to when I need to mix it up amidst all the non -fiction genres I prefer. Apart from historical fiction it is probably the only other type of fiction I can read. For me It is like that welcome cheat day when you throw all your rationale and reason of a diet out of the window to give in to simple pleasures. Therefore every now and then I cheat with a good mystery or a thriller.
When it comes to mystery there are two favourites I have. One is the eccentric detective from Baker Street and the other is the queen of mystery Agatha Christie, although I have read only a few from the Hercule Poirot’s adventures. The fact that these are also period dramas, in the sense that the stories are set in a time long gone, add to the charm. So when I came across this book ” And Then There Were None” which has been voted as the world’s favourite Agatha Christie I bought the book on impulse.
The book starts with a foreword from the author herself that it was quite a challenge for her to build this plot and when it was finished she was left with utmost satisfaction, and why not ? She builds up a splendid premise full of intrigue and compels you to go to the next chapter and next and so on. For some reason or coincidence 10 people find themselves on an island just off the English coast and get stranded. The mysterious host of the palatial house is himself not there but then on the first night itself through a prior arrangement digs out some skeletons from everyone’s closet. That agitates everyone and while it gets dismissed as a dirty prank but then, people start dying. One by one and curiously with every death the small marble figurines of soldiers on the dining table keep disappearing. Since there is no one on the island barring these 10 individuals the culprit has to be someone amongst them or was there someone hiding. The list of suspects keeps going down with every murder and each individual is on the edge, questioning everyone else. Without really spilling any more beans I can only say that book was unputdownable if that is a word. I finished it in a day. So if you like murder mysteries this one is about one perfect murder.