My introduction to this story came about when I played the role of Inspector Blore in a high school dramatic production of And Then There Were None. That was the last time I acted on stage—our director, a frustrated Hollywood actor reduced to coaching students of tender years, was brutal in scheduling endless rehearsals and lamenting our questionable Thespian skills in pointed monologues of remarkable acerbity. I decided I’d rather be locked away on a remote island with a potential murderer than go through more of that grief, hence I never auditioned again—but I still love Agatha Christie’s devilish story. Once again, she recreates the strictures of a locked room without needing any locks. The tale takes place on a (you guessed it) remote island where a group of visitors have arrived, each having received a mysterious invitation—only to find that, one-by-one, they’re getting murdered. The reader is in a race to determine the killer before only one candidate is left standing—who must be the obvious culprit (or maybe not?).
