Agatha Christie is a grand master of mystery. She specialized in the locked house mystery and "who will die next" formula. My mother was a huge mystery and horror genre fan. And Then There Were None was both. I began reading Christie's books at age eleven and reread them occasionally today.
*** SPOILER ALERT***
To begin, a group of seemingly random people arrive at a remote manor home on a deserted Island for a party.
“Best part of an island is once you get there - you can't go any farther...you've come to the end of things...”
As the bodies pile up, backstories and the reason for their attendance is revealed. Each has been found guilty of a crime decided by a judge of one and have been invited to their own execution.
"There was a silence—a comfortable replete silence. Into that silence came The Voice. Without warning, inhuman, penetrating . . . “Ladies and gentlemen! Silence, please! . . . You are charged with the following indictments.”
Christie writes in third person omniscient. The writing is spare. Descriptions kept to a minimum. The audience is clued in to the connections and murder accusations one at a time. There is a poem about Ten Little Indians that hangs in each bedroom, a template for what is to come.
"There was no one on the island but their eight selves."
Each guest has a secret, but not all of them carry guilt. Their crimes are revealed one after the other.
“But it does come! The blessed relief when you know that you’ve done with it all—that you haven’t got to carry the burden any longer. You’ll feel that too, someday…”
The tension comes from the "who will die next" aspect, the claustrophobia of no escape, and the paranoia and fear created by not knowing where the monster is and when it will strike next. This is a critical technique to keep in mind when writing horror.
“I don't know. I don't know at all. And that's what's frightening the life out of me. To have no idea....”
If there is a weakness, it is that some of the "crimes" were sort of soft crimes: negligence or incompetence. The victims are not all guilty of atrocity, so the justice is a little unbalanced.
"I must say that I watched the faces of my guests closely during that indictment and I had no doubt whatever, after my long court experience, that one and all were guilty."
In addition to the stage play and movies based on the actual novel, her techniques have been utilized in countless mystery and horror novels and films. She also utilized a poem in Crooked House, another technique worth borrowing. New adaptions of Christie novels into movies have been filmed in recent years and the series continues.
I incorporated a few of the techniques in Mythikas Island. My characters are on a deserted island with no way off and no foreknowledge of the dangers they face. Secrets are revealed. Suspicion and paranoia heighten the tension.
And Then There Were None was published in 1939. You can pick up a copy here. One of Christie's books still sells every seven minutes. That is the type of immortality writers strive for.
Christie's son decided to allow author Sophie Hannah to continue his mother's legacy. She has written new "Christie" novels resurrecting the cozy sleuth Hercule Poirot in a new series
Hercule Poirot's Silent Night: A Novel
Closed Casket: A New Hercule Poirot Mystery
The Mystery of Three Quarters: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery
The Killings at Kingfisher Hill: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery
I have not yet read the new series. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about someone taking on another writer's character and world, especially when they aren't around to object or approve. But Sophie Hannah is a good writer of her own material. So you can decide for yourself.
I highly recommend studying Christie for story structure. For my dissection of another of her works, Crooked House, check out this six post series on Dissecting Christie.
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