A mysterious house on a deserted island, far from the rest of the world. Ten people who have never met before, united only by the fact that they all have a disturbing past and brought together by an inexplicable series of invitations. A mysterious guest who never shows up. And an absurd children’s nursery rhyme that returns obsessively, implacably punctuating a succession of murders. Ten Little Indians (1939) is Agatha Christie’s masterpiece and one of the peaks of the suspense novel. ‘The book, born of a long elaboration phase, filled me with satisfaction. It was clear, straightforward and at the same time disconcerting, ‘ Christie recounted in her autobiography, recalling the laborious genesis of her most widely read and best-loved novel, with multiple adaptations for theatre, film and television.