Ten strangers are invited to spend time at the luxurious and famous private island off the coast of Devon called Soldier Island. As the guests settle down, their millionaire host is nowhere to be found, and no one seems to know who he is. What ties this odd assortment of people together is their dangerous past – they’ve each been accused of murder. One by one, the guests fall victim to an unknown murderer, leaving those who survive terrified and paranoid, desperate not to be the next target. All they know is that the murderer is someone on the island.
I thought I’d kick off 2020 with a good old book review. And there’s no better way to start than with a fantastic murder mystery. This is the first book I’ve read by Agatha Christie, and I was by no means disappointed. From the beginning, the novel is shrouded with mystery, as each guest is invited to stay on Soldier Island, but no one knows who the host is. As the group attempt to figure this out, ‘the Voice’ accuses each member of the party of murder. At first, I thought I had the plot figured out, as some characters appeared a lot more suspicious, notably Mr Blore, who continuously lies throughout the novel. But every time I thought I’d guessed the answer, Agatha Christie comes in with another plot twist. As the characters begin to be picked off by this unknown murderer, there is a growing sense of panic and mania amongst the guests who still survive. This further heightened the sense of thriller I felt as a reader. It even got to the point where I couldn’t read the book when it got dark. It was that intense.
Having read a few other reviews of the book, I have seen some people say that they wanted a bit more character development. However, I have to disagree. As the reader, knowing little about these people and their involvement (or lack thereof) in murder is what creates this sense of anticipation and psychological thriller, as the murderer could, in fact, be any one of the characters. It made me more involved with the book, as I kept trying to guess who the murderer was along with the characters. If you’re someone who likes to sympathise with characters, then this aspect might frustrate you, but I personally think it heightened the mysteriousness of the entire book.
I would really recommend this book to any lover of mysteries and thrillers. It’s not only a really easy and accessible read, but it’s so gripping that you’ll fly through it in no time. I really enjoyed it (and felt really creeped out at times), and I will definitely be picking up some more Agatha Christie books in the future.
Favourite quotes:
“When the sea goes down, there will come from the mainland boats and men. And they will find ten dead bodies and an unsolved problem on Soldier Island.”
“Whoever has enticed us here, that person knows or has taken the trouble to find out a good deal about us all.”
“There is, as I have said, a devil amongst us.”