And Then There Were None - Matthew Poole

This was a great murder mystery written by Agatha Christie. Ten guests are invited to an isolated island off the coast of England by the mysterious “Mr. Owen”. Each guest is responsible for the death of another person in their past but the justice system was unable to prove their involvement in the crime. Some of the guests feel remorse for the deaths, some do not. A childhood rhyme is posted in each of the guest’s rooms titled “Ten Little Indians” and on the table there are 10 Indian figurines that disappear one by one as the guests are murdered. The victims die according to the rhyme. No one knows who the murderer is and they start to suspect each other. They can’t get off the island and no one comes to their rescue. Just when you think you know who is responsible for the murders, that person dies until it comes down to the last guest, who, driven to madness by the situation, hangs herself. But the chair she stood on is carefully put back in place against the wall. So, who did it? A note is found in a bottle explaining who did it and why, but there will be no spoiler alert here. All I will say is they should have checked the old guy’s pulse before they assumed he was dead! What I liked most about the book was the stories behind each guest’s past and why they felt they weren’t guilty of murdering anyone. What I would have changed is the ending because it is always satisfying when someone has to pay for their crimes.