Ten people, an island, and that is my final offer.

My mother had this on her shelf in a 1970s paperback with a cover that gives nothing away and a smell that is entirely her house, and I read it over two evenings sitting with her in hospital, so it has an unfair advantage over everything else on this list.

I'd been told for years I'd work it out. I did not work it out. I had a theory by the fourth one, and the theory turned out to be structurally right and completely wrong about the person, which is the worst available way to be nearly clever.

I'm not describing the method, the order, or the last chapter. What I will say is that it's fair. Everything you need is on the page in plain sight, and the reason you miss it is that you're busy counting.

The part I hadn't expected is how frightening the middle goes, once they've all understood. Nothing gory. Just people in a house being terribly polite to one another and quietly locking their doors.

Ninth best of my... no, sorry, top three. I move it up every single time I think about it.