And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Last year, just like a few years before that, I didn't complete my resolution of reading at least one book a month. I started well and was very gung ho once lockdown happened assuming that since I was home, I will now get more time to read. But I soon realised that being at home and working from home are two different things. And then I picked up something that I didn't like and things just went downhill from there. I kept telling myself that I need to finish it soon and pick up another one, but neither of that happened.

This year, since I am on leave for a few days at the start of the year, I did pick up a book. Since it was a very captivating read, I finished it too. Besides it wasn't a very big or difficult read either. To say that it was interesting would be grossly undermining this book which is well known to be one of the best suspense novels since ages. I read it as a kid in school and decades later, I had forgotten most of it - I mean the characters etc., not the suspense and how it is revealed. Despite that, it made for a very gripping read. 

I am no authority on the nuances of literary works i.e. the finesse of writing, or the vocabulary used, or even development of characters. I am no analyst, only a connoisseur; and one who very profoundly enjoys Agatha Christie's very British style of writing. The characters, I find are very intriguing and each one of them adds to the story and development of the plot. The epilogue is not just the highlight of the book but also paramount because one could never guess the murderer without reading it even despite having gone through every detail in the chronology of the events in the novel. No one could ever guess who the culprit is without Agatha Christie telling us. Moreover, what could be a better mark of skillful story weaving if not the fact that as bizarre as the events in the book are, they are still absolutely believable, and not once does one feel like putting the book down on account of duplicitousness. 

To conclude, this is a book to enthral adults and young adults alike. In all likelihood, once you are beyond page 15, you will not put it down until you read it through till the end. 

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