And Then There Were None

AGATHA CHRISTIE

Publication: Curtis, 1939, Philadelphia

7 vols. First appearance anywhere of And Then There Were None, in 7 issues of The Saturday Evening Post running consecutively from May, 20 to July 1, 1939 (with 30 illustrations by Frank Wiles). Early issues here precede the English serialization in the Daily Express and both book editions (London, November 6, 1939, and NY, January 1940), so buying this gets you the first and saves you the embarrassment of putting the (poorly titled) London edition on your shelf. Original wrappers, staple bound, very good, some pages loose from the staples (in June 17 and July 1st), but everything is there and well preserved. Although it defies many tropes of the mystery genre, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians) is a masterpiece and one of the world’s best-selling mystery novels. Christie includes, for example, no Poirot or Marple-like detective to solve the mystery and unmask the killer. Nor are any of the victims innocent. They are all deemed guilty and receive justice, albeit through the actions of a murderer. Ten strangers die because a murderer judges them guilty of past crimes. Christie thus offers a unique take on both guilt and justice, revealing that guilt can manifest and be perceived in many ways. And speaking of bestsellers, a man set a world record by reading To Kill a Mockingbird 145 times. He then set another world record by reading Go Set a Watchman twice.