Genre: Classic- Mystery
Status: Stand Alone
Publication Date: 1940
Page Count: 234
Rating: 4/5
Ten strangers are summoned to Solider Island for various reasons by various acquaintances, and one by one they start dying. Trapped on the island by a storm, will they be able to find out who the killer is and stop them before they are all dead?
This is my second Christie mystery I have read, and her most well-known mystery. It has sold over 100 million copies and is the world's best selling mystery. I have been wanting to read this forever, and I finally picked up a copy in a box set of Christie's most well-known works, and now that its summer (YAY!!) I decided to take this one on vacation with me and read it on the beach. This was a great beach read and a great way to start off my summer reading.
The mystery was so entertaining and clever! I had a hard time putting this one down because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. I loved how Christie used the nursery rhyme to guide the mystery, and even with that outline, the book was still suspenseful and surprising. The characters are developed the perfect amount, and the setting of the novel adds to the mystery and creepy atmosphere.
The beginning of my edition has a note from Christie's autobiography regarding the challenge of writing this novel. She says,
"I had written this book because it was so difficult to do that the idea fascinated me... I wrote this book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was very pleased with what I had made of it.. It was well received and reviewed, but the person who was really pleased with it was myself, for I knew better than any critic how difficult it had been."I really admire Christie. She was so accomplished; she is third in book sales world-wide to only Shakespeare and the Bible, and on top of writing sixty-six mysteries, she wrote fourteen short story collections and the world's longest running play, The Mousetrap. What is so great about Christie is that she accomplished all of this while writing under her own (obviously female) name. (Side note: Christie also wrote six romance novels under the pen-name Mary Westmacott.)
I'm really eager to pick up more Christie this summer, and I have a few on my TBR shelf right now, but I would love for you to leave me your favorite Christie novels (or any other mystery novels) below so I can check them out. I'm also interested in picking up her autobiography, so let me know if you have read that as well!
So glad you read this one. I enjoyed my reread of it earlier this year. You should try Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile and maybe Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple appears a bit). The other two are Hercule Poirot mysteries. Oh, and if you get a chance to read The Moustrap - there is a book of her plays out, you should. It's clear why it's been running forever. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI already own The Orient Express, so I will be reading that one soon! I will add the other two to my TBR, and I would love to read Mousetrap! I will have to keep my eyes open for a copy!
DeleteThanks for the recommendations and thanks for stopping by Kay!