I have read many, many Agatha Christie novels, though I never got around to finishing off all her works. Everytime I have tried in vain to figure out the murderer, the culprit. Now here’s the good news: This is actually the easiest of her mysteries to solve. I was on the mark halfway, until she introduced a zillion twists and turns where I lost my way. So, I’ll drop in a few hints here which may help you solve the mystery. Of course, I won’t tell you anything that will give away the solution. It’s just that, as Shere Khan puts in Jungle Book (the movie), ’’It makes the game more interesting.’’ Now, if you haven’t read anything by Agatha Christie, well, this is an excellent read and try it out by all means. My review is really intended for Christie addicts who haven’t got to this book yet. But first, a brief description of the plot: Ten persons - a well-known judge, a prominent surgeon, a young, pampered rich brat, a sly fox making his living out of doing jobs on people, a policeman, a retired major, a young mistress, a middle-aged ultra-conservative lady, a butler and his wife - are invited - for business or pleasure, depending on the person in question - to a cottage on an island by a certain Mr.U.N. Owen. Neither have the persons ever met Owen, nor have the persons ever met each other before. They barely begin to enjoy themselves when an L.P playing on the gramophone indicts them with crimes they have committed but were never tried for in a court as there was no evidence linking them to the crime and their involvement in the act was subtle. After this, one by one, an unknown entity starts knocking them off. Some die early and quickly; for others, a slow and excruciating death is in store. Here’s the catch: there’s nobody else on the island apart from these ’guests’ and all the guests eventually die. So who killed them? The answer: one of them, who also dies! So, here are the guideposts to make things a little easier, just a little, for you: 1) Think about how the letters written to the guests are framed, who writes them and so on. There is a tip there, if you are very clever. 2) One of the ten pins is not guilty of any crime. That pin has plotted the entire devious scheme of bringing home unproven crimes to the other nine pins. So the pin makes a fake case for himself/herself. So think: which of the ’crimes’ doesn’t sound very convincing? And which person appears to have the psychological make-up to plan and implement the crime? 3) When the L.P plays, it first recites a rhyme, ’’Ten little Indians’’. The rhyme has real clues and red herring clues. Spot the red herrings and steer clear of them. 4) When each crime is committed, think whether it happened for sure or could have been staged. The one who’s staged his/her murder is the killer. 5) The mental thoughts of each ’victim’ about the situation appear frequently. There are clues there too. On one night, all the ’surviving victims’ think about what lies in store for them. The persons and their thoughts are not linked, it’s just assorted voices speaking within themselves. One voice is that of the killer, you will easily spot which of the words have been spoken by the killer. Now try to figure out the identity of the killer. If the killer dies before the last victim dies, you may be right. 6) That leads us to the next hint: the last person to die is obviously not the killer. The killer is alive at that time, but ostensibly ’dies’ in the eyes of the survivors. I’m sorry I couldn’t make ten clues for ten Indians! Anyway, I didn’t have the benefit of these hints when I read the book. When I re-read it, I figured out all the clues I had missed. So good luck and may the best mind win! Yeah, a warning: Do not turn to the last chapter. It is a letter written by the killer. If you read it, the suspense will be spoilt.. And please do tell me if you honestly succeeded in nabbing the killer before his/her missive finds its way to the police. Don’t cheat, as it will only spoil your experience of the book. I repeat, those unfamiliar with Agatha Christie will find all the fuss about cracking the mystery pretty amusing. But Agatha Christie addicts would perfectly understand!