And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None

By: Agatha Christie

A mysterious letter arrives in the post inviting eight complete strangers to an island getaway off the Devon coast.  When they arrive, they are greeted by two house staff, but no sign of their mysterious benefactor. That night, when the unlikely party sit for dinner at a table decorated with ten toy soldiers, a record plays a list of indictments for various murders committed by each person in the room.  Shortly thereafter, one party member dies of cyanide poisoning.  When the guests look at the table setting, they notice that one of the ten toy soldiers is missing. 

This was to be but the first of death of many during their stay. A pattern soon emerges as each murder begins to resemble the lyrics of a children’s nursery rhyme posted in each guest’s bedroom: ten little soldiers.  As the guests are picked off one by one, the list of suspects shrinks. With no way on or off the island, it must be one of the members of the party, but who? Alliances are formed, accusations fly, and then there were none. 

This book gives me chills! Having read it several times, including aloud with my family on several occasions, I still get a thrill uncovering the murderer and discovering new little clues and tidbits I had missed in previous readings.  As a long-time lover of Agatha Christie, this book will forever remain my favourite murder mystery. It’s perfectly crafted, there are twists and turns at every stage, the characters are all well developed with full backstories, and all the pieces fit so intricately you can’t help but marvel at the story. It really sets a new standard from the genre and you can see the influences of this book in books written eighty years later.  

If you enjoy murder mysteries of this ilk, Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty or Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie are two great examples of books with a large cast of unique characters whose backstories are slowly revealed to give context to the story at hand. 

Genuine Fraud

Genuine Fraud by e. Lockhart is a psychological thriller following the life of Jule, a self-proclaimed vigilante super hero on the run from unlawful incarceration. The reader first encounters Jule in a five star hotel where she is being tracked down by the police. From here, the story works its way backwards through a crazy story leading back to why Jule is running from the police and how she came to be at the hotel. 

In the first flash back, the apparent suicide of Jule’s good friend Imogen quickly takes an even darker turn as we start to meet the people involved in Jule and Imogen’s lives. What follows is a crazy story of friendship, betrayal, delusions, and murder! 

The writing in this book is incredibly vivid and really sucks you in; however, if you don’t like a jumping time line, reading this book might be a bit of a struggle. Added to this, Jule is not exactly a reliable narrator. As you get further into the book, you start to realize that Jule might not be recounting things as they actually happened. Is Jule a vigilante, working on the side of justice to avenge her friend, is she a misunderstood underdog running from wrongful persecution, is she a criminal genius executing the greatest identity theft of all time, or is she just plain crazy? This book is interesting, creative, and not to be trusted!

Warning: Murder and Gore, Foul Language, and Implied Sexual Assault.

Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines

By Philip Reeve

Tom Natsworthy is a Third Class Apprentice in the Guild of Historians in a futuristic London.  But this London is like nothing you’ve ever imagined.  It’s one of the great Traction Cities – a city on wheels – that moves about feeding on smaller towns in the Great Hunting Grounds.  No longer does the “civilized world” stay in one place – 1000 years in the future, “Municipal Darwinism” dominates in a “town-eat-town world”. (p.58)

Despite being considered a low-class citizen, Tom believes that London is the greatest city in the world.  But when he is betrayed by his hero, Thaddeus Valentine, Head Historian of London, Tom begins to see the world differently.

Dumped into the Great Hunting Grounds, Tom gets stuck with fellow survivor, Hester Shaw.  As the two of them try to make their way back to London, they are swept up in an all-out war between the Traction Cities and static settlements.

London, it seems, has revived a weapon of mass destruction from ancient times.  With the help of Anna Fang, aviatrix, Hester, and a number of other surprise allies, Tom must battle the city he loves.

Full of dashing heroes, striking landscapes, fierce battles, suspense and tragedy, Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines doesn’t disappoint.  This is the first book in the Mortal Engines quartet.  Make sure you read it before you see the movie!