the novel was originally published in late 1939 and early 1940 almost simultaneously, in the united kingdom and the united states. in the uk it appeared under the title "ten little niggers", in book and newspaper serialized formats. the serialization was in 23 parts in the "daily express" from tuesday 6 june to saturday 1 july 1939. all of the instalments carried an illustration by "prescott" with the first having an illustration of burgh island in devon which inspired the setting of the story. the serialized version did not contain any chapter divisions. the book retailed for seven shillings and six pence.