Agatha Christie has created not only a ‘locked room’ type of mystery but also a mystery full of suspense, as the guests try to identify Mr U N Owen and become increasingly suspicious of each other. From that point onwards, one by one they are found dead, corresponding to the deaths in the rhyme and one by one a china figurine on the dining room table mysteriously disappears.Īs the weather worsens they are stranded on the island and unable to leave or to get help from the mainland. On their first evening they sit down to dinner in good spirits until, without any warning they hear a Voice accusing each of them (including the butler and housekeeper) of having caused the deaths or murdered a number of people. In each of their rooms is a framed copy of the rhyme about the ten little nigger boys who all met their death. They are met by the butler and housekeeper/cook who explain that the owner, Mr Owen (U.N.Owen) has been delayed but has left instructions for their reception. panic grips the visitors one, by one … by one… by one…Įight people are invited to the island (based on a real island – Burgh Island off the south west coast of Devon). Though they all have something to hide, they arrive hopefully on a glorious summer evening… But soon a series of extraordinary events take place: the island is suddenly bathed in a most sinister light. Because of its offensive title it was first published in the US a few months later in 1940 as And Then There Were None.ġ0 people are invited to a fabulous mansion on Nigger Island off the coast of Devon. I wondered when I began to write this post whether to use the current title, And Then There Were None, for this book, but chose to use its original title, Ten Little Niggers as that is the title of my copy, a 1968 reprint of its first publication in the UK in 1939.
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