~Fatal Invitation~. Review on Ten Little Indians - Agatha Christie

Romancing Sleuths

Agatha Christie's fictions could never grabbed my attention at any point of time. Might be, I started reading Conan Doyle and fell in love with the non conventional gentleman staying at Baker Street. Poirot was too much sophisticated and methodical. I always loved the off beat and eccentric ways of Holmes.

Ofcourse, the title was fascinating - "Ten Little Indians" (Also, published with the title Ten Little Niggers)I thought it was all about Indians. But as I progressed with the fatal invitation(the central theme of the book), it took me to a mysterious world of curiosity. Ofcourse, it is a mystery thriller without any sleuths. The initial description of characters were a bit dragging. But as the story progresses, definitely anyone would feel like getting himself comfortable in the couch and proceed till the end with a cup of steaming filter coffee. If you choose to read it in Monsoon, ofcourse it add to the effect. Occasionally care to peep out of your window and experience the charm of distant clouds, dribbling water ---- Ahh, there start your journey to the world of mysteries.

Plot Summary

Ten unacquainted people were lured to accept the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. U N Owen (does that signifies Unknown?). They were brought to an Island in the Devon Coast. Upon arrival they were welcomed by the butler and his wife and they were informed that their hosts are away for some reasons. In each room alloted to guests, there was a framed copy of the Nursery Rhyme "Ten Little Soldiers".In the dining hall, there was the figurines of ten solidiers.

They were welcomed by the eerie voice of the host through a Gramaphone record. The host reveals that each one of them were involved in crimes and escaped from the long hands of law merely because of technicality. Guests realised that they were tricked to get into this island. The boat carrying them to Island is not found. Here starts the never ending miseries they have to face.

One of the guests Anthony Marston was poisoned with Cyanide and choked to death! Suddenly, one of the soldier figure from the dining hall was missing. Next was the turn of Thomas Rogers who was found dead due to the overdosage of sleeping pills. He was overslept and dead. One more soldier figure was missing from the dining hall.

Now everyone realised the significance of the Nursery Rhyme - The opening verses were

"Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;One overslept himself and then there were eight"

Similarlly, the death of all ten soldiers were described in the poem. Each one of the guests started suspecting the other one as they failed to found the presence of any third party. But finally, all of them were dead exactly in the similar way in which the poem described the fate of ten soldiers.

Scotlandyarddetectives tried to resolve the mystery but was baffled.

Finally, it was a fishing trawler in Devon Coast who retrieved the confession note of someone who was the architect of the entire murder plan to the cops. The confession of the murderer was something beyond imagination! Yeah, fact is stranger than fiction! The confession lead to the unexplored territories of mental trauma, anguish, sadism, frustration of someone!

Also the confessor ridiculed the conventional approach of cops mentioning that even if the confession note is not found, he left three major clues in the Island itself.

Who is he? What made him to do that? ----Well, for those who have not read the novel, I am leaving it to your curiosity.

Significance

This novel is quite different from the traditional detective stories where in the charimsa of the sleuth is glorified. Conan Doyle also gave birth to Professor Moriarty who is as clever as Holmes. But never ever, Doyle glorified the criminal but here we have someone who is over and above the sleuths.

Rather than emphasising too much of the technicalities, Agatha Chrisitie adopted a psychological approach where in guilty conscience, fear factor etc. of human beings are being revealed in the finest possible manner.

Conan Doyle's first novel Study in Scarlet -we can find the influence of this novel

The eerie voice of the unknown host welcoming the ten guests - Is this the central theme of the most successful reality shows like Big Brother / Big Boss?I wonder, no one ever discussed about it so far.

There are many adapted versions of this novel - which includes Gumnamin Indian screen, Ten Little Sailor Boys- computer game and several other Hollywood flicks.

Altogether, without any doubt, I consider this as one of the best work from Agatha Christie due to the novelty of the theme and it's infulence over many other creations in the world of entertainment.

Mystery lovers will find it quite exciting - and yeah, Monsoon is imminent!

So, what are you waiting for?