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This year I have decided to take part in a women's century challenge in the group catching up on classics where the participants read a book written in ten consecutive decades. I chose to focus on the 20th century and my 1930s selection is And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Although I had previously read some of her Hercule Poirot cases, this is my first stand alone mystery of Christie's that I have read. A suspenseful premise for a case, And Then There Were None left me on edge for the duration of the book.

Ten individuals who committed murder at one point in their lives have been invited to Soldier Island for a supposed holiday. Upon arrival, the participants note the quaintness of the island and the home which they are staying in. Yet, on top of the mantel in each bedroom is the poem "ten little Indians". In the communal dining room are ten salt shakers each representing a person and the same poem. As the group gathers for cocktail hour, a gramophone recording announces the crime each individual is guilty of committing. Shocked at first, each person comes to terms with the accusation and reveals what really happened to the group.

Christie's participants represent a cross section of society including a judge, doctor, Scotland Yard police officer, retired general, mercenary, governess, and spinster. None of these primary participants believes themselves guilty of the crime because after all they were acquitted. Yet one of their party believes them all to be guilty, or they would not have been invited to Soldier Island. One by one the group is murdered, the island is searched, and the dwindling group realizes that there is a murderer in their midst. The death mirrors the poem on the wall, and as each person is killed, another salt shaker breaks. It is up to the remaining people to identify the murder.

Unlike Hercule Poirot cases where Christie allows the reader to crack the case early on only to have Poirot peal back layers and layers to the case, in And Then There Were None, Dame Christie does not clue us as to who the murderer is. Even someone as myself who reads a fair number of mysteries was left captivated as to whodunit, allowing me to read quickly until the end of the book. The participants were also held in suspense, accusing each other of being the murderer. This lead to a revealing denouement, one that had me guessing until the last page.

I have read many mysteries written by women, including many cases starring female private eyes and police detectives. Many of these mystery writers have Dame Agatha Christie to thank for paving their way as early as the 1920s. And Then There Were None first appeared in serial form, leaving its readers in suspense until the next installment appeared. A captivating mystery, I am open to reading more of Christie's stand alone cases, and rate this mystery 4 stars.