This week we are discussing And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Ch. 11-End.
Trigger Warning!!! This book contains situations and subjects related to: racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, murder, death, and suicide.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
Discussion:
Michaela: Welcome friends to our final discussion of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. This felt like a little bit of a whirlwind ending this book. I know it all takes place within like 3-4 days but the rest of the book felt rather slow in comparison to this last section. It was kind of like *bam* death *bam* death *bam* death *bam* the end. I will say that I really suspected Armstrong up until his body was found, he was framed really well.
Jacilyn: I agree, the rest of the book felt like it took place over a much longer span of time than the few days it was. But, I think the last bit was the most enjoyable part of the book for me, because the drama was ratcheted up so much. My suspicions were mostly centered around Wargrave, but when this section began I was honestly thinking the perpetrator might be hiding on the island in a secret spot. I know they all searched the island, but it seemed plausible that there was a hidden location. But honestly, Wargrave being a judge almost seemed too perfect…. And I won’t lie, I didn’t anticipate Wargrave enlisting the help of an ally to fake his death - that was a complete surprise to me when reading his confession. Which, by the way, totally gave Dexter vibes - someone with an ever-present desire to murder, but some sort of moral compass that prevents them from murdering innocents.
Michaela: I totally thought someone was hiding on the island somewhere. They all searched the island but I think that was the issue, they all searched the island together. It would be so easy to avoid the group searching an entire house and island as they are all attached at the hip. Splitting up was a bad idea but it also made the searching unreliable. I had suspicions about Wargrave but then he ended up “dead”, and I also never expected him to have help faking a death so that was definitely a twist I did not see coming. Wargrave’s confession letter was fascinating, honestly. It made so much sense while also showing how absolutely insane he was.
The ending as far as the murders go was pretty much exactly how I thought it’d go. I figured we’d end up with two to three people left. One would separate and die somehow, then one would kill the other and the last one would ultimately die either by killing themselves or drowning trying to swim to the mainland. At one point my thinking was that the last two non-murderers would kill each other out of suspicion and fear, leaving the murderer alone who would then kill themselves. Then I second guessed myself after Armstrong ended up dead! I called it and then I changed my mind, so disappointed! But I did not think Vera would be the last one alive. I thought it’d be Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong as the last three.
I also appreciate how all the murders did actually follow the nursery rhyme though not literally, that was really interesting. Blore being “hugged” by a bear, a clock with bear on it dropped on him. Emily Brent killed by “bee sting”, a syringe. I loved the red herring twist, the whole time I was thinking the “red herring” would just refer to drowning ultimately, but it was so much more interesting than that.
Jacilyn: I really liked how his confession was integrated at the end. The message in the bottle was a cool touch. At first I was thinking that all the effort Wargrave went into to ensure that authorities thought he had been murdered when they arrived was pointless, but considering everything that went into making the murders match the rhyme it’s not actually surprising at all. Everything was perfectly planned with one hell of a flair for the dramatic. The wig and robe was quite the detail to include in the fake death. It makes sense for him to have wanted everyone to wonder.
I was also expecting it to end with one of the last two people being killed by the other, and then that person killing themselves from the stress of it all. I really thought that that was what had happened, until the detectives mentioned that the chair Vera had kicked away from herself had been placed carefully against the wall. That little detail gave me an actual chill down my spine, and I was convinced yet again that there was a whole other person on the island with them. And you’re exactly right about it being easy to avoid a whole ass group of people searching an island. The searching was never exactly thorough of the house either… as proven by how Wargrave hid things around the house.
Michaela: Wargrave was one hell of a drama queen. I was so desperate for answers by the end of the story that I was like maybe it's the boat guy just hiding on the island somewhere or maybe it's that Morris guy. The last 20 pages was just a wild flurry of maybe its this person, maybe its this person, nope they just died, maybe it's that person. The mystery of this whole thing was so interesting.
The chair being put back also gave me actual chills. That was so freaking creepy. So was the chair and noose just waiting for her to come back to her room. Ugh *shivers*. Also, the way the two women were hallucinating, from stress I assume, right before their deaths…so so creepy and also so cool to read. As well as everyone slowly beginning to subconsciously admit to their accused murders. This last section was way more captivating than the whole rest of the book.
In the end, I enjoyed this book a lot even though it was a little slow to begin with. I loved the mystery itself and that even by the end I still really had no idea until a full on confession was in front of my face. I’d love to read another of Christie’s books, based on this book alone I can already see why she’s the queen of mystery. Until next time friends!
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