Christie at Her Best

When I talk with friends about Agatha Christie's books, the question invariably comes up: is it possible to point to one of her books as the best she ever wrote? It's not an easy question. For someone with such a long list of fine mysteries, with so many memorable series characters - Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, the Beresfords, Parker Pyne, Harley Quin - and so many different styles, from thrillers to elaborate puzzle mysteries, how do you pick one as the best?

For me, though, there's still only one answer: her 1939 masterpiece, "And Then There Were None." I don't think Christie ever came up with a better, or more chilling, plot, or a more ingenious solution. It's not in any series, and it features none of her famous detectives, but I think that just makes it a better story, as we must begin without preconceived notions about who is, if not the hero or heroine, at least the representative of justice in some form.

If you have never read "And Then There Were None," let me refer you to my podcast review for a summary. Briefly, ten people find themselves stranded on a lonely (and inaccessible) island - and somebody is killing them, one by one. Yet there appears to be nobody else on the island. And so, as the body count mounts, the tensions get higher, as the survivors attempt to discover which one of them may be responsible - before it is too late for them all.

It is an amazing book, very tightly written, and the tension quickly becomes almost unbearable. Yet it is also a puzzle - and, at the end, the author points to just three clues which might have given the secret away. You'll have to read it to understand - but I really do think it is Agatha Christie's most amazing book and, yes, her best.

Comments

[Martin Edwards]

I agree. It's an extraordinary book, and in my view the finest Golden Age mystery of all.