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A character in And Then There Were None

Ethel Rogers

The cook, white-faced from the first evening, who faints when the record names her.

What they want

To be left alone with her fear.

The book

And Then There Were NoneAgatha Christie, 1939

Ten strangers on an island off Devon, a nursery rhyme on the wall, and no detective coming to save anyone.

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At a glance

In the book
Cook, engaged by post with her husband
Charged with
The death of Jennifer Brady, with her husband
Where she appears
Chapters 2 to 5

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Ethel Rogers is frightened before anything has happened. She cooks the first dinner, and when the gramophone names her she faints. Dr Armstrong gives her a sedative and puts her to bed. She has the least to say of anyone in the book and is the first to be found dead in it.

How Ethel Rogers Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • The faceBloodless and nervy, noticed by Vera on arrival.
  • The faintShe drops at the sound of the record and has to be carried out.
  • The sedativeA dose from Armstrong's case, given to help her sleep.
  • The morningHer husband cannot wake her.
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Ethel Rogers dies in her sleep from an overdose of the sedative, the second death and the one that matched the line about oversleeping.

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