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And Then There Were None Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of And Then There Were None


The story opens up by introducing 10 characters. These characters do not know each other and are invited to Indian Island off the coast of Devon. The guests are invited by an unknown couple named the Ownens who are said to be millionaires and own the island. Each character is invited for a different reason through a letter from this mysterious couple. Once the characters reach the island, they are welcomed into a fancy house where they will be staying. After having a great dinner, the guests are gathered into the drawing room, where they hear a voice recording accusing each guest of a past murder that was never uncovered.
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The guests are startled and frightened by this recording because it reveals the horrific pasts of each of them. Each guest from their party has never seen these so-called Owens, and they realize that they were not there by means of a vacation. Strange things start to take place on the island after one of the guests chokes to death, which is exactly how an old nursery rhyme that each of the guests receives is written.
One by one the guests of the island start to die with the cause and murderer unidentified, where each murder goes along with this disturbing nursery rhyme. With no one on the island except for themselves, the guests conclude that the murderer must be on of them!
The review of this Book prepared by Pat Bonner




   Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None,' starts off with a group of strangers all headed toward the same destination: Soldier Island. Each stranger has been invited to the island by someone who claims to know them, yet none of the strangers can recall who this person is. Upon arriving at the Island, two new characters, butlers, are introduced. They explain how they arrived on the Island a few days ago but have not yet seen their host. No one thinks too much of this until strange events begin to occur. Perfectly healthy people begin to drop dead at random with out an explainable cause. The guests on the island realize that it is not a mere coincidence and become suspicious. They soon realize a strange connection. Upon one of the bedroom walls there hangs a poem about Ten Little Soldier Boys who all fall to awful deaths. There are also ten little soldier boys placed on the dining room table. There are also ten guests on Soldier Island and each time one of them dies, strangely enough, a soldier from the table also disapears.
    The guests scramble across the island trying to find an explaination for the deaths. They search every inch of the house and island but find no one and no answer. As their stay continues and more guests mysteriously die, those who remain begin to suspect one another as the murderer. Tensions continue to rise and everyone heightens their security but none of the guests are a match for the murderer. The murderer has a creative way of killing off the victims in that the murderer stays along the lines of the poem "Ten Little Soldier Boys." Each death is another line in the poem.
    As more and more victims die the reader is led to believe that the last guest remaining is indeed the atrocious murderer.
The review of this Book prepared by Megan




The whole book is about an unknown character gathering ten strangers to an island off the coast of Devon, England. Once ther ,his purpose is made clear thriugh a grammophone recording - to bring each guest to justice for a past murder they have gotten away with. Two deaths occur the first night on the island. At first the characters are skeptical to what is going on.

After the third murder the next day, the guests become aware something is wrong. They then realize that there is a murderer on the island with an insane sense of justice. Three of the male guests decide to make a search of the island to find the murderer. After searching and finding no one they realize that the unknown murderer is one of them.

The guests then realize that they are stranded on the island when the afternoon of the second day on the island comes and the boat that comes regulary every morning has not arrived yet. By the morning of the 4th day on the island there only three guests left out of the original ten. One event leads to another and before long all ten are dead on the island. Who is the murderer? He/She reveals himself in a prologue after the main part of the book is done.
The review of this Book prepared by Joseph McClelland




The ten all arrive on the island for one reason or another, all lured there by the mysterious U.N. Owen. They begin dying off rapidly and soon the characters realize someone is killing them off. Trapped on the island, there is no escape for them, that is, unless they can discover who the murderer,before the murderer discovers them. It is a little eerie at times as they all die they way the nursery rhyme "ten little indians" depicts.
The review of this Book prepared by Rebecca L.




Ten people are summoned to Indian Island, supposedly to spend their summer holiday at a guest house belonging to an old acquaintance. However, when they are assembled, an eerie voice echoes through the room, accusing each of them of murder. After the initial panic it is discovered that no one really knows why they are on the island or who gathered them there. Then, like the old nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians," posted in each bedroom, the guests begin to die in strange ways. Is it murder or coincidence? And will anyone make it off the island?
The review of this Book prepared by Marci Hendrickson




Also known as _Ten Little Indians_, this 1939 murder mystery moves the classic "locked room murder" to an island off the south coast of England and ups the ante to ten victims. A disparate collection of people unknown to one another and not even certain who their hosts may be, are lured to the island by various methods for a "party" that turns out to have no hosts and lasts nearly a week with no escape. It turns out that each guest has a shady incident, if not an outright capital crime in his or her past, and as each of them dies, one by one, the survivors try to guess which of them must be the killer. Compared to the more breezy and sophisticated mysteries of Dorothy Sayers, this one tends to be a bit relentless, unsubtle and pat, but it's definitely a brain teaser.
The review of this Book prepared by David Loftus




Ten people are invited to Indian Island. Oddly though, their host and hostess are nowhere to be found. Then, the tragedies begin with the death of Anthony Martson. There is no way for the victims to get help or escape. One by one they die,"and then there were none."
The review of this Book prepared by Danielle




Ten people are invited to an island to stay for a vacation but unfortunatley one by one they're all murdered until there is no one left!
The review of this Book prepared by Chris




And Then There Were None was a mystery/suspense story in which ten people are invited to an island off the coast of Devon for a vacation the weekend of August 8th. They never make it off the island, because one by one, they are murdered. No one is on the island but the ten people, which leads them to believe that the killer is among the ten, posing as a guest. Over-all it's an awesome book... anyone who likes murder mystery stories will fall in love with And Then There Were None.
The review of this Book prepared by Nicolle



Chapter Analysis of And Then There Were None

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases 16.7%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 47.8%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 20%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 15.6% Tone of story    -   suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain?    -   Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues    -   Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story:    -   1930's-1950's What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   nearly 100% Murder of certain profession?    -   criminals Misc. Murder Plotlets    -   Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator    -   british mystery (I say!) Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Male

Setting

Island?    -   Yes Island:    -   stranded    -   on vacation Misc setting    -   fancy mansion

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death    -   poisoning    -   hanging    -   crushed    -   drowned Unusual form of death?    -   Yes Amount of dialog    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Agatha Christie Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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