The title of this book instantly appealed to me as it is obviously reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s classic, And Then There Were None. As this book is popular year after year in the library (a classic will do that), I’m always looking for books with similar themes and situations. I was hoping this would be one. It is somewhat similar in that characters are killed off one by one. The twist is that the victims aren’t who you expect to be killed.
And Then There Were Four is a wild ride and the action begins immediately. Five students are summoned to the old (like, really old) carriage house on the property of their boarding school. Super jock and the friendliest dude on campus, Antoine; rich and haughty gal (also Antoine’s BF since Kindergarten), Evangeline; the rebel whistleblower whose noble actions got her mother murdered, Kenyon; the possible sociopath, Caleb; and the quiet, over-mothered, diabetic and club-footed, Saralinda. These five who are mostly unknown to each other, are called together under the premise of being chosen for a leaders’ club. As three of the five are not exactly the leading type, suspicions are already aroused. Also arousing suspicion is the fact that this mystery meeting is taking place in a condemned building in the middle of the woods. The roof is literally creaking and leaking and bowing. Cue the violent thunderstorm. And . . . down goes the roof. On top of the five. Miraculously, none of the five are seriously injured. All of the five think something fishy is going on (ya think?). Antoine is pretty sure he knows what it is. It’s his mom. She’s been trying to kill him for a while now. This must be her latest attempt. Since there’s nothing like being nearly killed together to form a friendship, the five are instantly bonded and determined to get to the bottom of why all of them were targeted. It leads them on an investigation that has them literally running for their lives.