Eight guests, two servants, but no host or hostess—that is the situation [of "And Then There Were None", published in Great Britain as "Ten Little Niggers"] in the luxurious mansion on Indian Island off the coast of Devon. The servants say that they have been hired from an employment agency and have never seen their employers. The guests have been brought to the place on various pretexts, and each of them professes to know nothing about the missing Mr. and Mrs. Owen, who are supposed to be their hosts. If one may believe the Voice, which makes a startling announcement after dinner, all of these persons are doomed to die for crimes which they are alleged to have committed. Hanging in each bedroom is a framed copy of doggerel verse about "Ten Little Indian Boys," and this, too, predicts the fate of the ten. When you read what happens after that you will not believe it, but you will keep on reading, and as one incredible event is followed by another even more incredible you will still keep on reading. The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery that Agatha Christie has ever written, and if any other writer has ever surpassed it for sheer puzzlement the name escapes our memory. We are referring, of course, to mysteries that have logical explanations, as this one has. It is a tall story, to be sure, but it could have happened. (p. 15)
Isaac Anderson, in The New York Times Book Review (© 1940 by The New York Times Company: reprinted by permission), February 25, 1940.
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