Agatha Christie. And Then There Were None

The book that took first place in an international online survey held for Agatha Christie’s 125th anniversary, aiming to determine which of her 80 detective novels is the world’s favorite.

1939. Europe is on the brink of war. Ten strangers receive an invitation to Soldier Island — a secluded rock off the coast of Devon. Cut off from the mainland and left without hosts — Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen — the guests unexpectedly hear accusations of terrible crimes allegedly committed by each of them. When one of the guests suddenly dies, it becomes clear: the killer is among them.

Among the invitees are a reckless libertine, a gloomy Harley Street doctor, a stern judge, a rough detective, a ruthless mercenary, a devout old spinster, two nervous servants, a celebrated general, and an anxious secretary. One by one, they die. Who will survive? And who is the murderer?

In every room hangs a copy of a sinister nursery rhyme — and the murders occur exactly according to its lines: about the “Ten Little Soldiers”…