And Then There Were None // Week 2
Where are we now?
Hello, hello all! Welcome back for another exciting round of Book Club featuring the Agatha Christie mystery classic, And Then There Were None. 😎
When we last saw our heroes…just kidding, no playback over here. 😂. Though feel free to check out Week 1’s post to get the lowdown on the first section of the book in case you missed it! This week we will be covering up to page 200 in my copy, which should is just as things begin to heat up in chapter 12…
Okay, it’s popping off!
Miraculously, I still haven’t been spoiled on the ending and I cannot tell you how nervous I am to accidentally stumble upon something!! I have straight up refused to google anything about the book (not even character names or spellings) out of fear of accidentally spoiling the ending.
So, I do hope I have provided enough alerts to ensure no one else falls upon that fate either. Because really, is there any point in reading a mystery if you know how it ends?
***Spoilers Ahead
This section continued to be a series of misdirects that leave us still questioning who is running this show and who is an innocent bystander. Though, I suppose the idea of any of them as innocent is quite laughable at this point. Blore seems equally as confused as I am, so I am less suspicious of him now.
Wargrave keeps taking control of each little group meeting, which makes me want to believe he is actually orchestrating everything carefully according to plan…but something tells me he may just be a useful story tool to deliver information. He guides the reader dutifully through each possibility, slowly introducing and then eliminating them from the pool of options.
The younger men (Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong) go on a journey to check the island, and came back empty-handed. There is evidently nowhere to hide on the island and nowhere to hide in the house. They come to the unsettling conclusion that the murderer MUST be one of them.
This discovery raises the stakes for everyone. Through this midsection of the book we are shown a dozen different combinations of the group members talking and interacting. The moving parts alone make it so no one person can truly be eliminated from suspicion (except those who have already died). There is definitely the feeling of “Judgment Day” being upon us, as we see each character meet their grisly fate.
But who is the killer?
We are down 4 guests now! But, the little mid-chapter cliffhanger of Brent being stung by a bee quite clearly illustrates that she will be the next found dead.
So not her, but we don’t have enough evidence to point the finger at anyone else either! Lombard is brought into question because he alone appears to have a gun, or is he simply the only one to confess it? No one has yet been killed with a gun so it’s a moot point for now, but I do have to wonder if someone else may be concealing another weapon for just the right moment.
The biggest standout to me in this section seems to be Brent writing “Beatrice Taylor is the killer.” She questions her sanity, as if she didn’t really write it. But what does it mean?? Does U.N. Owen have a special connection with the girl whose death she was responsible for? Or is she actually just descending into madness?
They all seem equally suspicious as they fling accusations at one another and attempt to mask their own guilt. Each reveal is only giving me more questions, not answers. I almost want the pattern of deaths to veer away from the poem just to switch it up a bit. But I know a twist is coming, I KNOW it.
Body Count– (+2) 4 total
- Mr. Justice Wargrave
- Vera Claythorne
- Philip Lombard
- Emily Brent
General Macarthur(hit with a blunt object on the back of the head- 3)- Dr. Armstrong
Tony Marston(chokes on cyanide- 1)- Mr. Blore
Rogers(ax to the back of the head- 4)Mrs. Rogers(dies in her sleep- 2)
Questions still unanswered…
- Who is U.N. Owen?
- Still have not uncovered this identity, but of course we get ever closer as each body is found…
- Who can we trust to be telling the truth?
- Likely no one, everyone has a bit of shadiness or guilt in their inner monologue that creates plausible motives for everyone to have committed these crimes for one reason or another.
- Who are you rooting for to survive (or do you think anyone will)?
- I have hope that there may be one survivor at the end of all this and s/he will happily head back to shore on the boat with Fred Narracott! Or maybe there will be 2 survivors who are able to overcome and defeat U.N. Owen, but I am just as clueless as to their identity as I was at the beginning. At this point, the book has stumped me and I am rooting for no one to survive. 😂
Share your thoughts so far in the comment section or reach me on Instagram!
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Devony DiMattia
Traveling actor, writer, reader, performer, & bartender juggling jobs (and balls) to make it in the big city hustle!
