Staff Pick: Agatha Christie - 100 Years of Mystery (Part Two)
Published on 9th June 2026
Marking 100 years since the publication of her iconic novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, we are inviting readers to rediscover the Queen of Crime this summer. Our library staff have selected their favourites from across her remarkable backlist, whether you’re a long-time fan or discovering her for the first time, there’s a perfect mystery waiting to be solved.
And Then There Were None (1939)
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None regularly appears at the top of readers’ lists featuring the author’s most popular titles. It is considered one of Christie’s masterpieces and is one of the best-selling novels of all time for good reason.
This iconic murder mystery starts with ten strangers receiving mysterious invitations to a remote island. The gathering quickly turns sinister however when the guests realise that they are being targeted for their past crimes and are picked off one by one, with the killer using methods that mimic a nursery rhyme. They search the place from top to bottom for their tormentor but to no avail, and because they are stranded on the island with no means of returning to the mainland, panic and paranoia soon set in. Trapped and increasingly frightened, the guests become suspicious of each other and form changing alliances in the hope of unearthing the killer.
This books is often noted for its tension and for how Christie introduces a sense of unease from the very first chapter. It is also noted for the depth and variety of its characters, each one drawn with a distinct personality and with a hidden past.
It’s a tense, at times unsettling, and exceptionally well-crafted book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to read Agatha Christie at her best.
Find a copy of And Then There Were None in the library
And Then There Were None ebook on BorrowBox
Submitted by Betty.
Endless Night (1967)
It’s the Summer of Love and Dame Agatha is not in the mood for ‘peace and love’. In 1967 she wrote and published arguably her darkest novel, Endless Night. Mike Rogers is that archetypal 60s character, a young man with grand ambitions, little means, a non-existent work ethic, but immense charm. He becomes fixated on a plot of land called Gypsy’s Acre and is determined to build a home there. The ground is believed to be cursed by the locals. He meets Ellie Guteman, an American heiress, who is estranged from her family back home. They fall in love, marry, and the now wealthy Mike sets about his plans to build his dream home. Enter Rudolf Santonix, a modernist architect with a demonic aspect, who fulfils his ambitions.
Endless Night is a slow burn. The inevitable murder(s) happen very late in the novel. But Christie builds up a growing sense of dread throughout. The rural setting, the hostility of the landscape, the darker aspects of folklore and superstition (not to mention quotations from T.S. Eliot and William Blake) give the story an almost folk-horror tone. The violence, when it comes, is inevitable and inescapable. There is an absence of hope. As one character states: ‘The world is a very evil place’.
Needless to say, the plotting is precise and the pacing is masterful. Christie regarded it as one of her more accomplished works. So, if you are in search of some summertime chills, find a well-lighted place, pour a glass of your favourite tipple, crack open Endless Night and paint it, black.
Find a copy Endless Night in the library
Submitted by Enda.
