The strength of this mystery springs from the excellent character portrayals of its eight people who are invited to an island off the coast of England, called the Indian Island, by a person named Mr. Owen who is unknown to everyone. Each person is different and each person has a blemish or rather a specific murder in his or her past, and these people are not acquainted with each other. These characters are Tony Marston, General MacArthur, Dr. Armstrong, Emily Brent, William Blore, Philip Lombard, Judge Wargrave, and Vera Clayborne, who thinks she is being hired as Mr. Owen’s secretary, plus the husband and wife caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.

The interactions of these ten people provide all the suspense any mystery story may need. Added to this are the ten little Indian figurines and a nursery rhyme verse that is placed in each room. The story begins with an announcement from a record player telling of each character’s murdering or causing the death of a human being.

The story continues with people dying or being murdered one by one. It is not so much what happens in the plot but the way the characters go through their stay in the island, without having a way out, as due to extreme weather, there is no way they can make it to the mainland.

The twist in the plot is at the end, in the revelation of the character who planned all this. As far out as the entire plot and the uncovering of its mystery may be, this mystery story has some very strong themes with the strongest main theme being the restoration of justice. Whether the characters deserved their ends is an iffy concept, however. Another strong theme is the torment of guilt and the effects of it on people. Then the story also shows how people can come together when in dire straits and while still suspecting one another. There is also the annoying self-righteousness of the character who planned everyone’s demise and who was probably cruelly insane.

The story is expertly written and the injection of suspense in drops flowing into floods is its strong point. I especially liked the way the author used props, made use of a nursery rhyme, and put together such varied characters, giving them no way out. Also, I liked how she throws one hook after another at her readers.

Yet, even with such an expertly concocted mystery, I have to give precedence to its unbelievability factor. In a mystery, I like to believe that it happened or it can happen. This novel, as well as it is written, failed to do that for me.

The way the author put together such varied characters in such an imaginative fashion, giving them no other possibility but death.

the unbelievability of the ending.

is the very well known Agatha Christie who was born in 1890 and created eighty novels and short-story collections in her lifetime.

I liked the construction of the plot and the interest it evokes while one is reading it. However, if you wish to read something that may not shock you with its lack of validity, this book is not for you.

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Created Nov 12, 2018 at 7:28pm • Submit your own review...