The manner of deaths appear to correspond with the rhyme, with one of the figurines being removed for each successive death. The next morning, Mr Rogers is found dead at the woodpile, and Emily Brent is found dead in the drawing room, having been injected with potassium cyanide. After General MacArthur dies from a heavy blow to the head, it is concluded that one of the seven remaining persons must be the killer. Suspecting that U N Owen may be systematically murdering them, three of the guests search the island, but find no hiding places. The next morning, Mrs Rogers is found dead in her bed. Dr Armstrong confirms that there was no cyanide in the other drinks and says that Marston must have dosed himself. Marston finishes his drink and promptly dies of cyanide poisoning.

The guests discover that none of them know the Owens, and Mr Justice Wargrave suggests that the name 'U N Owen' is a play on 'Unknown'. After supper, a phonograph record is played the recording accuses each visitor and Mr and Mrs Rogers of having committed murder, then asks if any of the 'prisoners at the bar' wishes to offer a defence. They are met by the butler and cook/housekeeper, Thomas and Ethel Rogers, who explain that their hosts, Ulick Norman Owen and Una Nancy Owen, have not yet arrived, though they have left instructions.Ī framed copy of an old rhyme hangs in every guest's room, and on the dining room table sit ten figurines. Plot Įight people arrive on a small, isolated island off the Devon coast, each having received an unexpected personal invitation. The novel has been listed as the sixth best-selling title (any language, including reference works). The book is the world's best-selling mystery, and with over 100 million copies sold is one of the best-selling books of all time. UK editions continued to use the original title until 1985. Successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, though American Pocket Books paperbacks used the title Ten Little Indians between 19. The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, taken from the last five words of the song. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little Niggers, after an 1869 minstrel song which serves as a major plot element. And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write.

And then there were none walk through