98 pages 3 hours read

Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1939

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

And Then There Were None

  • Genre: Fiction; mystery
  • Originally Published: 1939
  • Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 570L; college/adult
  • Structure/Length: 16 chapters plus epilogue and manuscript; approx. 300 pages; approx. 6 hours on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: Eight houseguests at an isolated island estate begin to be murdered off one by one, their modes of death representing the lines of a children’s rhyme.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Murder; racist language in the original title and original children’s rhyme inspiring the plot; suicide

Agatha Christie, Author

  • Bio: 1890-1976; born in Devon, England; homeschooled by her mother; studied voice and piano in Paris at 16; served as a nurse during WWI; introduced famous character Hercule Poirot in first published novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1921); wrote over 70 detective and mystery novels in her lifetime, many adapted to stage plays and film; earned the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award in 1955; awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1971
  • Other Works: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1921); Murder on the Orient Express (1934); Death on the Nile (1937); Evil Under the Sun (1941); A Pocket Full of Rye (1953); Sleeping Murder (1976)
  • Awards: Credited as being the best-selling mystery novel of all time