And Then There Were None : A mystery play script in three acts [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2010

Mystery / 8m, 3f / Int. In this superlative mystery comedy statuettes of little soldier boys on the mantel of a house on an island off the coast of Devon fall to the floor and break one by one as those in the house succumb to a diabolical avenger. A nursery rhyme tells how each of the ten "soldiers" met his death until there were none. Eight guests who have never met each other or their apparently absent host and hostess are lured to the island and, along with the two house servants, marooned. A mysterious voice accuses each of having gotten away with murder and then one drops dead---poisoned. One down and nine to go! The excitement never lets up in this ideal play for schools, colleges and little theatres.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Samuel French, Inc. (March 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0573616396
• ISBN-13: 978-0573616396
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and created the detective Hercule Poirot in her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). She achieved wide popularity with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and produced a total of eighty novels and short-story collections over six decades.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ten Little Indians: Another Great Literary Classic, February 25, 2000

By 

Adam "DingleBerry" (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: And Then There Were None : A mystery play script in three acts (Paperback)

Ten Little Indians is a classic murder mystery novel about ten people caught in a world of paranoia and suspense! Written by world renowned author Agatha Christie, it is also known as And Then There Were None. Ten Little Indians whisks you away to the desolate Indian Island where a group of ten people have all been invited for recreation, relaxation, and a week of fun. However, the fun stops after dinner when a chilling record is played, charging all ten of being involved in murder! After that, one by one, the guests are murdered in the manner described in a child's nursery rhyme. Wits pit against wits as the victims try to find the murderer, and more paranoia ensues when they find out it's one of them! Finally, the last person dies, and then there were none. This classic is full of surprises and keeps you guessing until the end. Another wonderful book by mystery novelist, Agatha Christie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars author really keeps the readers fooled, November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: And Then There Were None : A mystery play script in three acts (Paperback)

It is the best Murder Mystery I have ever read. The author keeps the readers fooled until the very end of the book. This is the best Agatha Christie book i've ever read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And Then There Were None: A Mystery Play in Three Acts, January 11, 2011

By 

FuturePlaywright - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: And Then There Were None : A mystery play script in three acts (Paperback)

In this superlative, three-act, mystery-comedy statuettes of little soldier boys on the mantel of a house on an island off the coast of Devon fall to the floor and break one by one as those in the house succumb to a diabolical avenger. A nursery rhyme tells how each of the ten "soldiers" met his death until there were none. Eight guests who have never met each other or their apparently absent host and hostess are lured to the island and, along with the two house servants, marooned. A mysterious voice accuses each of having gotten away with murder and then one drops dead---poisoned. One down and nine to go! The excitement never lets up in this ideal play for schools, colleges and little theatres.

SPOILER ALERT:

The Ten

Anthony James Marston, a rich, spoiled, good-looking man with a well-proportioned body, crisp hair, tanned face and blue eyes known for his reckless driving. Mr. Owen accused Anthony of running over and killing two children, for which Marston felt no remorse. Marston was the first of Owen's victims, poisoned by potassium cyanide slipped into his drink while gathered in the drawing room with the others.

Mrs. Ethel Rogers, the cook and Mr. Rogers's wife. She is described as a pale-faced, ghostlike woman with shifty light eyes, who is scared easily. Despite her respectability and efficiency, she was obliged to help her domineering husband, Thomas, to kill their former employer, the elderly Miss Jennifer Brady, by withholding her medicine, in order to inherit her money. She was Owen's second victim, dying in her sleep from an overdose of chloral hydrate, which she did not self-administer.

General John MacKenzie, a retired World War I hero, who sent his wife's lover (a younger officer named Arthur Richmond) to his death by assigning him to a suicide mission. MacArthur fatalistically accepts that no one will leave the island alive, which he confides to Vera. Shortly thereafter, he becomes Owen's third victim, his head being crushed in as he sat along the shore.

Thomas Rogers, the butler and Mrs. Rogers's husband. He and his weak-willed wife, whom he dominated, killed their former elderly employer by withholding her medicine, causing the elderly woman to die from heart failure, in order to inherit the money she had left them in her will. He was Owen's fourth victim, being struck in the head with an axe as he cut firewood in the woodshed.

Emily Caroline Brent, a rigid and repressed elderly woman of harsh moralistic principles who uses the Bible to justify her inability to show compassion or understanding for others. She dismissed her maid, Beatrice Taylor, as punishment for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. As a result Beatrice, who had also been rejected by her own family, threw herself into a river and drowned. Miss Brent privately felt incredible guilt though publicly considered that Beatrice's suicide was an even greater sin. She became Owen's fifth victim after being injected with a dose of potassium cyanide into her neck as she sat alone at the dining table after being drugged.

Dr. Edward James Armstrong, a Harley Street surgeon, blamed for the death of his patient, Louisa Clees, while operating under the influence of alcohol. Armstrong became Owen's seventh victim after being pushed off a cliff into the sea. His body goes missing for a while, leading others to think he is the killer, but his corpse washes up at the end of the play, leading to the climax.

William Henry Blore, a retired police inspector and now a private investigator, accused of having an innocent man, James Landor, sentenced to life imprisonment as a scapegoat after having been bribed. The man later died in prison. Blore became Owen's perceived eighth victim, having his skull crushed by a bear-shaped clock, dropped from a window above outside the house.

Philip Lombard, a soldier of fortune. Literally down to his last square meal, he comes to the island with a loaded revolver. Though he is reputed to be a good man in a tight spot, Lombard is accused of causing the deaths of a native African tribe. Unlike the other characters, he admits openly that the accusation against him was true, but feels no remorse for his actions. It is said that he stole food from the tribe, thus causing their starvation and subsequent death. Though not an actual victim of Owen's, Lombard fulfilled the ninth referenced verse of the rhyme, shot to death on the beach by Vera, who at the time believed him to be the murderer.

Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, a young teacher, secretary, and ex-governess, who takes mostly secretarial jobs since her last job as a governess ended in the death of her charge, Cyril Hamilton. She let young Cyril swim out to sea and drown so that his uncle, Hugo Hamilton, could inherit his money and marry her; however, the plan backfired, as Hamilton abandoned her when he suspected what she had done. Of all the "guests" Vera is the one most tormented by latent guilt for her crime, yet is made to suffer the most, being the last survivor. She eventually meets her demise when she walks back to her room after shooting Lombard. There she finds a readied noose, complete with chair beneath it, suspended from her ceiling. Again, not technically a victim of Owen's, but guilt-ridden and delusional, Vera climbs the chair, adjusts the noose round her neck, and kicks the chair away, fulfilling the rhyme's final verse as the tenth and final victim.

Justice Lawrence John Wargrave, a retired judge, well-known as a "hanging judge" for liberally awarding the death penalty in murder cases. He himself is suspected of murder because of his summation and jury directions during the trial of an accused murderer named Edward Seton, despite doubts about Seton's guilt during the trial. Wargrave was thought to be the sixth victim of Owen's in order to fulfill the Chancery verse, but was later revealed to be the murderer, "Mr. Owen", faking his own death with the assistance of Dr. Armstrong in the drawing room. Phillip, who reveals that Vera missed when she tried shooting him, shoots Lawrence, and Vera and Lombard live happily ever after.