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Booktopia Comments
Originally titled Ten Little Niggers, and subsequently renamed for obvious reasons, this book, I think, shows Agatha Christie at her inventive best.
In the classic cut-off-from-help setting, ten characters assemble for an unknown purpose. Previously strangers to each other, each of them has a shady past involving sudden death. And they find themselves being murdered one by one!
Christie tells the story by alternating between the characters, and does so in a totally engaging way. She has the ability to produce a solution that makes you say "Oh, that's not fair!" until you realise that it is indeed very fair, just fiendishly clever.
It's easy to see in this book how the work of Christie still informs much of today's writing.
As reviewed by Chris Bilkey in the May 2010 Booktopia Crime Buzz.
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Book Description
Agatha Christie's world-famous mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret.
That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again! and again!
About the Author
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign countries. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.
'Agatha Christie's masterpiece.' Spectator 'One of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies.' Observer 'The most astonishingly impudent, ingenious and altogether successful mystery story since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.' Daily Herald 'One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day.' Time Magazine 'There is no doubt that this is a highly ingenious jigsaw by a master of puzzling.' Books 'There is no cheating; the reader is just bamboozled in a straightforward way from first to last... The most colossal achievement of a colossal career. The book must rank with Mrs Christie's previous best - on the top notch of detection.' New Statesman 'The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.' New York Times
ISBN: 9780007136834
ISBN-10: 0007136838
Series: Agatha Christie Collection
Audience:
General
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 224
Published: March 2004
Dimensions (cm): 17.8 x 11.4
x 2.1
Weight (kg): 0.17
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