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Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot, #15)

Agatha Christie

Start date: May 1, 2025

Finish date: May 31, 2025

Discussion: Buddy Reads

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Sep 26, 2020 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hercule-poirot, mystery, agatha-christie

Hello, to my goodreads friends. September turned out to be a busy month with holidays and work, so busy in fact that I didn’t open a book for a week and a half. With only a little over three months to go in the year, I am beginning to experience 2020 burnout, as I’m sure others have at various times throughout the year. Like so many times during this year, Agatha Christie has been there for me. The Queen of Crime with her cases featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple has kept my little gray cel Hello, to my goodreads friends. September turned out to be a busy month with holidays and work, so busy in fact that I didn’t open a book for a week and a half. With only a little over three months to go in the year, I am beginning to experience 2020 burnout, as I’m sure others have at various times throughout the year. Like so many times during this year, Agatha Christie has been there for me. The Queen of Crime with her cases featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple has kept my little gray cells active in an otherwise mentally draining year. In my busiest of times, I’ve turned to Dame Christie again, this time in an unique case featuring four of her sleuths.

Mr Shaitana enjoyed collecting objects d’art and flaunting his taste at parties. A self proclaimed Mephistophelian, his collections included pieces from Egypt and the Far East, items that wowed most of his visitors. In a move that appeared even unique to him, Shaitana decided to collect four sleuths and four murderers and invite them to the same supper party. This move, while shocking, announced that there will be a murder here, so let’s see if the detectives are up to the task of preventing, or at least, solving it. The crown jewel of the dinner party was none other than Hercule Poirot who had known to only be wrong once in twenty eight years of detecting. He would be joined by Inspector Battle, Colonel Race, and the peculiar Ariadne Oliver as they attempted to foil Shaitana’s plot before murder was committed right under their collective noses. Whatever the motive of Shaitana’s experiment was, a murder was indeed committed at the party: his own. It would be up to Poirot and company to solve a case that was designed to mock their expertise.

The murder centered around a game of bridge, and Poirot’s methodology involved asking each of the four players, potential murderers all, how well they remembered both the rounds of cards dealt and the attention to detail in the room. His instinct was that one of the four would have at least noticed the other committing murder even if they did not reveal to him who the guilty party was. Whereas Mrs Oliver had no idea whodunit and acted as though she did and Inspector Battle employed the methods used at Scotland Yard, Poirot used his little gray cells to solve this case, one that utilized all four of the detectives’ collective intelligence. By conducting mind games and social experiments, Poirot would bring Shaitana’s murderer to justice and perhaps even solve some old crimes in the process. Because Poirot is never wrong.

As one who enjoys reading Poirot’s cases, I am used to seeing him work alone, or at least with Colonel Hastings who is usually as baffled by the cases as the average person. I am not as familiar with Battle or Race although they have appeared from time to time in Poirot’s other cases. It was intriguing for me to see him interact with other detectives more at his intellectual level, even ones as strange as the crime writer Mrs Oliver. In Mrs Oliver, Christie wrote herself into certain cases because it is apparent that in writing as many books as she did, she had as much aptitude to solve mysteries as her fictional creations did. Even with the assistance of three other sleuths, it is apparent that Poirot was intellectually ahead of the game, as it was he who recognized whodunit from the beginning and only had to interview all of the potential defendants in order to go through the motions of an investigation. I found this case featuring a game of bridge, an intellectual game in its own right, to be unique from Christie’s other cases, in that from the beginning the reader knows that the murderer has to be one of four people, eliminating a lot of the legwork that goes on in an investigation. As a result, Cards on the Table ended up being a more intellectual crime that usual, showcasing the height of Poirot’s intellectual sleuthing powers.

Like Poirot, I had a hunch whodunit this time around and read through to see if I was right, but more to see the methods employed in this unique setup for a case. Agatha Christie has helped me get through this unique year, and I still have a few more of her cases to get through before the year is out. Mentally, I’m ready for the calendar to read 2021. I think then I’ll be able to exercise my gray cells with literary tomes that I have not attempted in months. Until then, Dame Christie is there, and Poirot is never wrong.

4 stars 🕵️‍♂️ ...more

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May 24, 2025 Theresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: detective, cozy-mysteries, christie, adapted-to-film-tv, puzzle-or-game, classics-and-classic-redos, christmas, england, buddy-reads, pop-sugar-2025-reading-challenge

The rather colorful and eccentric Mr. Shaitana, a 'collector' who styles himself as Mephistopholes, encouters Poirot at an exhibition on snuffboxes. He talks to Poirot about 'collecting' people who have gotten away with murder and invites Poirot to a dinner party to meet them. The night of the party arrives, and Poirot arrives to meet three other detectives (all featuring in AC's works): Superintendent Battle (Scotland Yard) , Colonel Race (more espionage), and Mrs. Ariadne Oliver (author of mur The rather colorful and eccentric Mr. Shaitana, a 'collector' who styles himself as Mephistopholes, encouters Poirot at an exhibition on snuffboxes. He talks to Poirot about 'collecting' people who have gotten away with murder and invites Poirot to a dinner party to meet them. The night of the party arrives, and Poirot arrives to meet three other detectives (all featuring in AC's works): Superintendent Battle (Scotland Yard) , Colonel Race (more espionage), and Mrs. Ariadne Oliver (author of murder mysteries and AC's alter-ego). A few minutes later, one by one, 4 individuals arrive, 2 women and 2 men, presumably the 'murderers". A lovely dinner ensues, at the end of which as they are removing to the parlor, Mr. Shaitana makes a cryptic remark: Mr. Shaitana laughed gently. “Poison is a woman’s weapon,” he said. “There must be many secret women poisoners—never found out.”... “A doctor, too, has opportunities,” went on Mr. Shaitana thoughtfully.“But if I were to commit a crime,” went on Mr. Shaitana. He stopped, and something in that pause compelled attention. All faces were turned to him. “I should make it very simple, I think. There’s always an accident—a shooting accident, for instance—or the domestic kind of accident.” Each comment is pointed at one of his collection of murders.

What then ensues is a game of bridge played only by the collection of murderers, with Mr. Shaitana sitting in a chair by the fireplace, watching. The 4 detectives removed to an adjacent room connected to the parlor. After several rounds of bridge, the party broke up. Upon approaching Mr. Shaitana they find he is dead. Only one of the 4 bridge players could have killed him. The rest of the novel has the 4 detectives investigating to determine who killed him. Once again, Poirot brings it all together in the end, and once again Christie has hoodwinked me!

This was a delight from start to finish, with some wonderful scenes, including a couple that had me snorting with laughter. I also learned a few things of the period - something that often happens with her books thought they don't read as 'dated' in the least. Those who are bridge players will likely really enjoy this as the games play a key part and show Christie's mastery of and lover for the game. ...more

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May 22, 2025 ˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ rated it really liked it

Poirot is a guest at a weekend party at the home of a wealthy gentleman. After dinner the guests play bridge and at some point in the evening the host is discovered dead in his chair by the fireside. Obviously, he was murdered. Inspector Poirot and Superintendent Battle work together and of course the culprit is found out.

There's a lot of discussion about bridge, which I don't know a thing about, so I did skim a word or two but enjoyable nonetheless.

...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Book Concierge rated it liked it

Shelves: audio, england, series, detective, library

I am on an Agatha Christie kick lately and enjoying the audio versions of several of her mysteries. This particular audio is actually a recording of the BBC cast performance. The different actors make keeping the characters straight a little easier.

It is typical Poirot, using his “little grey cells” to solve the murder of Mr Shaitana, committed in full view of a roomful of guests playing bridge. Interestingly enough, he had boasted to Poirot about his collection of murderers, and had invited Po ...more

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