And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys travelling to Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I scare easily.  I even have to hide my face during scary movie trailers.  So it should be no big surprise that I have not read a lot of thrillers or mystery books.  Lord knows I would never be able to sleep after reading them!  This month I read my first Agatha Christie book!  I'm pretty surprised I had never read her works before, seeing as she is one of the best-selling novelists of all-time.  I think I was just too timid to pick anything up in fear of being afraid.  But if I'm going to read a mystery, I might as well read one of the best!  

When researching Christie's legacy, I wanted to read a book that would really showcase her skills.  By far, the most popular book mentioned in every list, blog post, and article is "And Then There Were None."  It is her best-selling novel, with more than 100 million copies sold.  It is also the world's best-selling mystery novel.  One review said it was similar to the board game Clue.  Another review compared it to "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", which was a book that sparked my love for reading in middle school.  Those two reviews were enough to seal the deal for me.

The story opens on eight people being invited to Indian Island for a variety of reasons.  They are met there by the two housekeepers who say that the hosts, Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen, have not yet arrived.  The guests find this odd but start to introduce themselves and enjoy dinner together.  After dinner, a gramaphone record is played.  The record accuses all ten visitors of murder, and it details each crime on the recording.  While the guests try to understand who their host is and what is happening, one of them ingests a poisonous drink and dies.  Will they find out who U.N. Owen is?  Or will he slowly kill them one at a time until none are left?

While the US editions were titled "And Then There Were None", there is a not so nice history about the original UK publications.  The original title was "Ten Little Niggers" based on the nursery rhyme that hangs in each guest's room.  The island they meet on also has the same name.  The rhyme and island were later changed to Ten Little Indians/Indian Island or Ten Little Soldiers/Solider Island in other editions.  Other cultures still have the original title in their translations.  However, the estate of Agatha Christie now only offers the novel under the English title.  So going forward, any new foreign language editions would be translated from this titled edition.

Now I have to be honest, I wasn't blown away by the book.  Was I surprised by the ending?  Yes.  I had ideas about who the killer may have been, but I definitely did not expect the resolution Agatha gave us.  But it wasn't a knock me out of my seat and jaw-dropping ending.  If anything, I see the plot more as an outline for hundreds of stories.  Agatha Christie laid a story framework that can be adapted and reused countless times.  I think that's why this book is the best-seller it is.  It is well written, captivating, has the big twist at the end like you want it to have -- yet it is still simple and has remained popular over time.  At the end of the day, I guess I should be grateful that it didn't scare me too badly!

Rating: 3 out of 5
Positives: Pretty captivating to read.  I would sit down and read 50-100 pages each time.  And I'm glad it wasn't too, too scary for me!
Negatives: I thought the male characters lacked diversity.  I kept confusing them!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller.  The book hops back and forth between three perspectives-- the alcoholic and lonely Rachel; the over-protective mother and jealous wife Anna; and the beautiful and repetitively unfaithful Megan.

Rachel is truly the main character.  She is a middle aged woman who is struggling.  She is an alcoholic who suffers regular black outs.  You also learn about her ex-husband, Tom, who cheated on her.  Rachel regularly rides the train in and out of London to hide her unemployment from her roommate.  During her train ride, Rachel points out two houses to the reader.  One of the houses she passes is her old house.  Her ex-husband and his new wife, Anna, now live there.  Rachel tries to avoid looking at Tom and Anna's house.  Instead, she focuses her attention down the street to a different house.  We later come to realize that Megan and her husband Scott live in this second house.  Rachel fantasizes about Megan's picture-perfect life, and she envies the blissful marriage she creates for them.  During one train ride, Rachel glances at Megan's house to see her kissing someone other than her husband.  Rachel is shocked.  Although she has never actually met Megan, Rachel cannot fathom her cheating on her husband.  Rachel drinks heavily that night.  The following morning, Rachel wakes up with little to no memory of the previous night, but finds herself covered in bruises and blood on her hands.  She later hears on the news that Megan has gone missing.  Rachel feels drawn to the case, and she is convinced that what she witnessed is pertinent information.  She becomes involved with the police, contacts Megan's husband, and slowly starts to piece together her black-out from the night Megan went missing.

This book blew up pretty quickly.  The movie adaptation came out October 2016.  I always recommend reading the book before watching the movie if possible.  I heard it was similar to Gone Girl.  I hated Gone Girl (the book), so I was a little nervous to pick this up.  Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.  For the most part, I thought it was a pretty easy read.  You get caught up in the drama of the characters and next thing you know an hour has passed.  Just when you think you know the main suspect, they introduce new evidence or a twist to make you change your mind.  It can get a little confusing bouncing between different character's past and present story lines, but you can still follow without it needing to be extremely specific.  My only other complaint is the glorification of cheating on your spouse throughout the book.  Unfaithful relationships become crucial to the plot line.  I can't really say much more without ruining the story, but it was a little disappointing to continually see cheating as a core theme of the book.

I was up until 1:30am trying to fly through the last hundred pages of the book.  There was no way to go to sleep without knowing the resolution when you can see the end in sight!  Afterwards, I had to turn the TV on and make sure the front door was locked.  I have to admit, I'm very easily spooked, and reading thrillers at night probably isn't the best for me.  Even now I'm peeking over my computer screen to make sure no one is coming up the stairs with a butcher knife waiting for their moment to strike.  As much as I love the suspense and page turning that thrillers provide, my heart just can't handle it.  Maybe I can convince Derrick to watch the movie with me this weekend mid-day with the lights on and sun shining.