And Then There Were None Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
In And Then There Were None, ten strangers are lured to a mansion on an island off the coast of Devon by a mysterious host. A recording accuses each of them of having caused a death and escaped justice. Then they begin to die one by one, following an old nursery rhyme, until no one is left.
It is Agatha Christie's best-selling novel and one of the best-selling mysteries ever written.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Justice Lawrence Wargrave | Retired judge |
| Vera Claythorne | Former governess |
| Philip Lombard | Adventurer and soldier of fortune |
| Dr. Edward Armstrong | Doctor |
| William Blore | Former police detective |
| General Macarthur | Retired soldier |
| Emily Brent | Strict elderly lady |
| Anthony Marston | Reckless young man |
| Thomas and Ethel Rogers | Butler and cook |
How does the story begin?
Each guest receives an invitation from someone they half know, signed U. N. Owen. The butler and cook were hired by letter. The host never appears. After dinner a gramophone record accuses all ten of murder. A framed nursery rhyme about ten little soldiers hangs in each room, and ten little figures stand on the dining table.
↑ Back to the topWho dies and how?
Anthony Marston chokes on poisoned whisky. Mrs. Rogers dies in her sleep from too much sleeping draught. General Macarthur is struck down by the sea. The next morning Rogers is killed with an axe while chopping wood. Emily Brent is poisoned with an injection, beside a bee in the room. After each death, one of the china figures disappears, and the survivors realize the killer is one of them.
Then Judge Wargrave is found apparently shot in the forehead, dressed in a judge's wig and robe. Dr. Armstrong goes missing in the night. Blore is crushed by a heavy marble clock shaped like a bear. Armstrong's body washes up on the rocks.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to Vera and Lombard?
Only Vera and Lombard are left, each convinced the other is the killer. Vera takes Lombard's gun and shoots him. Shaking, she returns to her room and finds a noose hanging ready. In shock and guilt over the boy she let drown years ago, she follows the last line of the rhyme.
↑ Back to the topWho was the killer?
Police find ten bodies and no explanation. Then a trawler brings in a bottle containing a written confession. The killer was Justice Wargrave. Gravely ill, he wanted to punish people guilty of murders the law could not touch, in a perfect, impossible mystery. He persuaded Dr. Armstrong to help fake his death, then pushed Armstrong off a cliff. After Vera died, he set the scene and ended his own life with the gun, attached by elastic to the door, so that it would look like he had been murdered.
↑ Back to the topMore about And Then There Were None
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.