<P> The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None . All successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, which is taken from the last five words of the song . </P> <P> It is Christie's best - selling novel, with more than 100 million copies sold; it is also the world's best - selling mystery and one of the best - selling books of all time . Publications International lists the novel as the sixth best - selling title . </P> <P> On a hot 8 August in the late 1930s, eight people arrive on a small, isolated island off the Devon coast of England . Each has an invitation tailored to his or her personal circumstances, such as an offer of employment or an unexpected late summer holiday . They are met by Thomas and Ethel Rogers, the butler and cook - housekeeper, who state that their hosts, Mr Ulick Norman Owen and his wife Mrs Una Nancy Owen, whom they have not yet met in person, have not arrived, but left instructions, which strikes all the guests as odd . </P> <P> A framed copy of a nursery rhyme, "Ten Little Niggers" (called "Ten Little Indians" or "Ten Little Soldiers" in later editions), hangs in every guest's room, and ten figurines sit on the dining room table . After supper, a gramophone (or "phonograph") record is played; the recording describes each visitor in turn, accuses each of having committed murder but escaping justice, and then asks if any of "the accused" wishes to offer a defence . All but Anthony Marston and Philip Lombard deny the charges, and Miss Brent refuses to discuss the matter . </P>

When was and then there were none set