Agatha Christie Reviews
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Cards On The Table
In The ABC Murders, Poirot asks Hastings to describe a "creamy" murder. Ever the romantic, he gives what Poirot calls "a very pretty resume of all the detective stories that have ever been written".
Challenged by Hastings, Poirot then describes his own choice: something simple, something intime. Four people play bridge, while a fifth sits out by the fire. Later, he is found dead. One of the other four, while dummy, has stabbed him. Hastings thinks that rather dull.
A year later, Christie actually wrote that one, and it certainly isn't dull. The odious Mr. Shaitana sets up a little dinner party with eight guests. Four represent detection: Poirot the private investigator; Mrs. Oliver, the noted mystery writer; Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard; and Colonel Race of the secret service.
The other four guests are what Shaitana has proclaimed - to Poirot only - as
successful and unsuspected murderers. In one case at least he was certainly right: at evening's end, Shaitana is dead, stabbed while drowsing by the fire.
On the surface, none seem likely to be a killer, past or present. The pretty young girl; the celebrated explorer; the respectable, elderly widow; the fashionable doctor.
This is one of the most restricted mystery novels ever written. The killer can be only one of the four who were playing bridge in the same room with Shaitana. The matter ought to be a simple one.
Yet that is far from being the case. When we are surprised at the end of a novel where the murderer is unmasked, it is because the author has very deftly directed our attention to the wrong person.
Christie's sleight of hand (or mind) has never been better than in Cards On The Table. With only four suspects to work with, she sends us on a mind-bending route that, at the very least, leaves us uncertain, and at best, makes us suspect the innocent.
Innocent of Shaitana's murder, though there may be a little black spot in the past of more than one character. Dame Agatha brilliantly weaves past and current events to keep us guessing right up to the end.
An end that will see two more deaths before the resolution is reached. Cards On The Table is a quiet tour-de-force that will please any Christie fan. It is also a pleasure to re-read this one and watch how, seemingly without effort, she bamboozles us once again.
Challenged by Hastings, Poirot then describes his own choice: something simple, something intime. Four people play bridge, while a fifth sits out by the fire. Later, he is found dead. One of the other four, while dummy, has stabbed him. Hastings thinks that rather dull.
A year later, Christie actually wrote that one, and it certainly isn't dull. The odious Mr. Shaitana sets up a little dinner party with eight guests. Four represent detection: Poirot the private investigator; Mrs. Oliver, the noted mystery writer; Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard; and Colonel Race of the secret service.
The other four guests are what Shaitana has proclaimed - to Poirot only - as
successful and unsuspected murderers. In one case at least he was certainly right: at evening's end, Shaitana is dead, stabbed while drowsing by the fire.
On the surface, none seem likely to be a killer, past or present. The pretty young girl; the celebrated explorer; the respectable, elderly widow; the fashionable doctor.
This is one of the most restricted mystery novels ever written. The killer can be only one of the four who were playing bridge in the same room with Shaitana. The matter ought to be a simple one.
Yet that is far from being the case. When we are surprised at the end of a novel where the murderer is unmasked, it is because the author has very deftly directed our attention to the wrong person.
Christie's sleight of hand (or mind) has never been better than in Cards On The Table. With only four suspects to work with, she sends us on a mind-bending route that, at the very least, leaves us uncertain, and at best, makes us suspect the innocent.
Innocent of Shaitana's murder, though there may be a little black spot in the past of more than one character. Dame Agatha brilliantly weaves past and current events to keep us guessing right up to the end.
An end that will see two more deaths before the resolution is reached. Cards On The Table is a quiet tour-de-force that will please any Christie fan. It is also a pleasure to re-read this one and watch how, seemingly without effort, she bamboozles us once again.
posted by Nightowl, 10:37 PM
