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Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot, #15)

Agatha Christie

Start date: May 1, 2019

Finish date: May 30, 2019

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: Continuing our buddy reads of the Poirot books.
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What Members Thought

Oct 23, 2012 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

In this classic mystery, Poirot is invited to a dinner party with a difference by the slightly unsavoury Mr Shaitana; a rich man addicted to parties and gossip. He wants Poirot to come to dinner to meet his exhibits - murderers who he claims have "got away with it." Although Poirot finds his hobby dangerous he agrees, leading to a dinner party with four sleuths (Poirot himself, Colonel Race, who works for the Secret Service, Superintendent Battle from Scotland Yard and our old friend the detecti ...more

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Aug 14, 2017 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore rated it really liked it

Shelves: british, agatha-christie, murder, ariadne-oliver, hercule-poirot, superintendent-battle

Hercule Poirot is invited to dinner. When he arrives, he finds there are eight guests, four, people new to him but the others, himself included, are connected with the world of crime detection in one or the other way―Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, Col. Race (connected with the Secret Service), and Ariadne Oliver, author of detective fiction. Their host is Mr Shaitana (the word “shaitan” roughly translates to devil/satan or evil), a man who takes pleasure in the power he holds over other Hercule Poirot is invited to dinner. When he arrives, he finds there are eight guests, four, people new to him but the others, himself included, are connected with the world of crime detection in one or the other way―Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, Col. Race (connected with the Secret Service), and Ariadne Oliver, author of detective fiction. Their host is Mr Shaitana (the word “shaitan” roughly translates to devil/satan or evil), a man who takes pleasure in the power he holds over others with the secrets he knows about them or even manages to worm out of them. Mr Shaitana has told Poirot something that none of the other guests know―that among them that night is a murderer, perhaps more than one. After dinner when the guests devote their attention to bridge (two tables in separate rooms have been set up―one of the detectives and one for the others), Mr Shaitana finds he may have overbid in real life, and is found with a dagger in him in the room in which the “murderers” or supposed murderers were playing their game. All four did leave the table at one or the other point in the game but there was no sound or other sign to indicate when the crime took place. All the detectives begin to look into the matter, Battle handling the official investigation of course, but we essentially follow Battle, Mrs Oliver, and Poirot. Col. Race operates off-screen so to speak and only contributes a little to the investigation. They look into the backgrounds and movements of the four suspects, and each of them it seems has much to hide, things in their past they’d much rather no one knew about. This made for a pretty exciting mystery with plenty of revelations and uncovering of secrets, right up to the denouement, where it is Poirot who solves the case, but not before another surprise twist just when you think you have the answer.

This was an interesting read both in terms of the mystery itself (I certainly didn’t guess whodunit), and the investigation―one can see the contrasts in the methods the three detectives use, Battle his more conventional skills of investigation, Mrs Oliver, her intuition, and Poirot, his grey cells. Well, aside from his grey cells, he uses ordinary conversation, about things other than the murder, the bridge games played, the suspects’ observational skills, etc. to elicit information as to their characters and find the answer. Battle, Mrs Oliver, and Col. Race are of course characters we run into in Christie’s other books as well, and it is nice seeing them work together in this one. In Mrs Oliver, AC pokes a bit of fun at herself and at the process of writing a detective novel―creating a detective from a country she knows little of (in Mrs O’s case the Finn Sven Hjerson), throwing in an additional murder or two to lengthen a book, and the process of coming up with a plot―one can see the work that goes into it of course, but I enjoyed the humour that she injected into it. (Incidentally, in this book Poirot barely knows Mrs O., while in subsequent ones, she actively seeks his help in solving cases and appears in some on her own as well.) People who play bridge would enjoy the details of the game much more than I (complete ignoramus as far as this goes) did but the lack of knowledge doesn’t come in the way of enjoying the mystery. Another minor issue I thought was the backstory of one of the characters which seemed to be told to us a little abruptly towards the end rather than coming out through investigation like in the case of the others―again, nothing that spoils the story but would have added another layer of complexity. But a very good read nonetheless.
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Dec 10, 2019 Kavita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, uk, golden-age-mystery

Cards on the Table is another underrated masterpiece of Christie. It's not a novel that you often hear about but the plot here is unusual, and I found it quite thrilling too. Poirot is not the only sleuth either. With him are Superintendent Battle (usually seen in standalone mysteries), Colonel Race (seen in minor capacities in other mysteries), and my favourite Ariadne Oliver.

May I mention how much I love Ariadne Oliver? An attempt by Christie to poke fun at herself, Ms. Oliver is an author wh ...more

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Jul 18, 2019 ShanDizzy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Poirot answered 'I agree with you, Battle. I have always disapproved of murder.'
'What a delightfully droll way of putting it,' said Mrs. Oliver. 'Rather as though it were foxhunting or killing ospreys for hats. Don't you think there are people who ought to be murdered?'
'That, very possibly.'
'Well then!.'
'You do not comprehend. It is not the victim who concerns me much. It is the effect on the character of the slayer.'
'What about war?'
"In war you do not exercise the right of private judgement. Th ...more

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Sep 25, 2022 Lady Wesley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-golden-age-or-similar

I have watched the TV adaptation but never actually read this book. All along, I was confident that I remembered the ending.

Boy was I wrong.

Hugh Fraser’s narration is sublime.

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Dec 25, 2022 Ellen added it

Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot, #14) by Agatha Christie.

This was one of the top Agatha Christie books. I enjoyed it very much. Hugh Fraser performed the reading and did an excellent job.

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Jan 14, 2017 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Four of Agatha Christie's detectives combine to try and solve a murder at which they were present. The mysterious Mr Shaitana collects objects and people. He invites a select group to a Bridge party including Hercule Poirot, Mrs Ariadne Oliver, Colonel Race and Superintendent Battle. There are also four people who their host believes have committed murders and escaped detection. Mr Shaitana is murdered during the strange gathering and the four sleuths - official and unofficial - are set to solve ...more

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Jan 11, 2019 Pranit rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, hercule-poirot

What starts as a fantastic dinner, soon turns into a big mystery; diving deep into discovering past murders. Private Detective, Scotland Yard, Secret Service & Fiction put their minds & efforts to figure out the criminal. One of the best AC novels in my opinion!

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