Joseph Beattie Archives - North West End UK

When first I read “And Then There Were”, a novel sensibly shorn of its original title, I closed the final page convinced that no one for a thousand pounds could work out how the murder was done. The explanation was so profoundly improbable and bizarrely unlikely as to warrant a well-deserved grunt and a huff and a sigh of incredulity from this reader. However, despite my lowly opinion, the book has found its place as a (if not “the”) best-selling crime novel of all time. Quite a claim in such a packed genre with everyone from Richard Osman to Alan Titchmarsh having a crack. We love murders! We love detectives - be they little old ladies, vain Belgians or high-functioning sociopaths in deerstalkers. This tome by the indisputable monarch of murder, Agatha Christie, (Dame of the British Empir...

"And Then There Were None" is one of the best-selling novels of all time with Agatha Christie's sales surpassed only by the Bible and William Shakespeare. The inscription above the stage at Richmond Theatre which reads "To wake the soul by tender strokes of art," seems to contrast starkly with the ruthless and unforgiving nature of events in this play. Eight strangers and two servants receive invitations to stay on Soldier Island, but it quickly becomes evident that they have all been deceived, as connections to their supposed hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Owen, turn out to be shaky or false. The Owen’s never appear, and a storm isolates the group on the island, cutting them off from the mainland. The guests seem to have little in common, and they squabble with each other and with the servants. E...

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And Then There Were None – The Alexandra

And Then There Were None – Richmond Theatre