And then there were none is a mystery novel by the english writer agatha christie described by her as the most difficult of her books to write it was first published in the united kingdom by the collins crime club on 6 november 1939 as ten little niggers after the childrens counting rhyme and minstrel song which serves as a major element of the plot. Created by agatha christie with maeve dermody charles dance toby stephens burn gorman ten strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious host and start to get killed one by one could one of them be the killer. Directed by rene clair with barry fitzgerald walter huston louis hayward roland young seven guests a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one by one they work together to determine who the killer is before its too late. Ten little niggers and then there were none agatha christie and then there were none is a mystery novel by english writer agatha christie widely considered her masterpiece and described by her as the most difficult of her books to write it was first published in the united kingdom by the collins crime club on 6 november 1939 as ten little niggers after the british blackface song