I am reading through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and writing a review on each one.
Cards on the Table
1936
Description
A flamboyant party host is murdered in full view of a roomful of bridge players…
Mr Shaitana was famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he was a man of whom everybody was a little afraid. So, when he boasted to Poirot that he considered murder an art form, the detective had some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana’s private collection.
Indeed, what began as an absorbing evening of bridge was to turn into a more dangerous game altogether…
My Thoughts
This is the 27th book by Agatha Christie and the 14th Poirot Mystery
How does someone kill another person in a room with 9 people and no-one sees the murder being committed, not even the great Hercule Poirot himself.
There is no noisy atmosphere, no moving around because 8 of these people are playing bridge while the murder victim sits quietly and watches his guests.
We are faced with the secrets the bridge players are hiding from the world.
We are faced with the idea of a strange weapon that one of them could possibly have had with them.
We are faced with the problem of how Poirot will be able to interview the suspects when so little is known and so little happened that could be asked about.
We are faced with the dilemma "Was it spontaneous or premeditated?"
Definitely a difficult teaser for those little grey cells our favourite detective is always talking about.
But I felt there were just too many coincidences among the lives of players.
That was the one part of this novel that makes it not one of my top Christie books.
If you would like to know more about this book then click on the title or picture above.
Here is a link to a list of her novels on Amazon
Books by Agatha Christie
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