- Paperback: 84 pages
- Publisher: Samuel French Ltd (31 Dec 1982)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0573115400
- ISBN-13: 978-0573115400
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.4 x 0.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,882,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Poirot - Cards on the Table
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Product Description
Review
“The finest murder story of her career… Mrs Christie has never been more ingenious”
Daily Mail
Review
"The finest murder story of her career! Mrs Christie has never been more ingenious" Daily Mail
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A bridge party. 4 detectives. 4 successful murderers. 1 corpse. An Agatha Christie classic this one, and rightly so - it's very contrived but very clever.
Cards on the Table is not as leisurely as some of the longer adaptations, like Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express, so we don't get nice long slabs of conversation and as satisfying a sense of character and setting, but what it lacks in these areas it makes up for in pace. There is often a voiceover from Poirot with single lines of dialogue from the characters in between, so we get a great deal of information in a little time. Sometimes it seems a little hurried, but usually it works well.
Because of the simplicity of the set-up and the pace, this adaptation of Cards on the Table is very true to the book, which will please all us fans. The characters voices are also very apt - except for Major Despard who surely should have been less stuffy and more sexy. John Moffat as Poirot is brilliant though - he gets the sense of self-deprecation and fun in Poirot brilliantly. Donald Sinden as Colonel Race is a delight - not much like what you expect from reading the books, but his throaty exclamations are a hoot. 'Oh I say Poirot - he's been MURDERED!'
These BBC full cast adaptations are generally very well done and this one is one of my favourites, although it only gets 4 stars because the 5 star treatment is reserved for those longer leisurely adaptations which are just brilliant.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very unusual Poirot novel in that it has an equal number of suspects and detectives (four in each case). Poirot is invited to dinner by an eccentric acquiantance, Mr Shaitana, who promises to introduce him to four murderers who have got away with their crimes. When Poirot arrives at Mr Shiatana's he finds three other detectives there, enigmatic Superintendant Battle, Colonel Race of the Secret Service, and Mrs Ariadne Oliver, an eccentric writer of detective fiction. The four murderers are elderly widow Mrs Lorrimer, bluff Doctor Roberts, dashing, adventurous Major Despard, and Anne Meredith, a young girl. The two parties, murderers and detectives, settle down to play bridge in separate rooms, and Mr Shiatana sits by the fire in the murderers' room. In the course of the evening he is murdered, but which of the four is responsible? The four detectives set out to solve the crime. As always in Christie's novels there are plenty of humorous touches, one of my favourites is where Superintendant Battle calls for one of the suspects: "I should have kept him to the end" said Mrs Oliver. "in a book, I mean," she added apologetically. "Real life's a bit different" said Battle. "I know" said Mrs Oliver "badly constructed." In the course of the book the detectives find out all the can about the suspects, and learn about the murders they commited earlier (one suspect turns out to be innocent of any murder). There are lots of exciting twists to the plot and you are kept guessing right up until the end. It is apparently possible to find out the identity of the murderer by studying the bridge scores reproduced in the book, if you understand bridge that is. I don't but it doesn't matter, this is an intriguing and clever mystery, definitely one of Mrs Christie's best.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
real page turner, keeps the suspense going and throws lots of red herrings at you. liked the idea that all the suspects were not quickly eliminated. fast paced easy to follow.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1 in 4 chance? Fancy those odds?
There are four suspected murderers in one room playing Bridge.
There are four investigators in one room playing Bridge. Read more
There are four investigators in one room playing Bridge. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joanne D'Arcy
Poirot and Oliver - together again!
Hercule Poirot's pal Ariadne Oliver chews on apples "i'm addicted to them" and writes murder mystery with her Swedish sleuth as the hero. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Don Wardell
Disapointing
A distinctly average book according to the high standards usually set by poirot mysteries. Christie is trying somthing new here by presenting a case 'without evidence' that Poirot... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dan Crawford
I like most of Agatha Christie Audio books
Cards on the Table was good to listen to as a dramatisation, it made a change from one voice throughout. The culprit was not obvious from the start as it can be in some drama's. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Anne
Another clever mystery for Poirot to solve
'Cards on the Table' is the second book I've read recently based around the game of bridge, and as a modern-day reader I found it useful to read up on the game to understand what... Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
Brilliant and unusual! Don't be put off if you don't play bridge.
This story has an excellently and unusually constructed plot, well drawn and unusually complex characters and a brilliant surprise ending. Read more
Published 17 months ago by A Customer
Poor packaging
CD cases delivered damaged. One was cracked, one broken and the third was in splinters.
Published 21 months ago by cornwall
Delightful
This was the first of the BBC radio adaptations of Christie's novels I had heard. I enjoyed it very much, a good and faithful adaptation which is well acted and passes by very... Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by Iain C. Davidson
A good read !
This is an absolute treat for observant Agatha Christie fans as it features four of her superb creations namely Hercule Poirot , Supt Battle , Mrs Oliver and Colonel Race . Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2008 by Mr. Mg Reynolds
A Lot Better Than I Expected
This book was one of Agatha Christie's books that seemed interesting and different, it could have been great or very bad, it is the former. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2007 by I AM ME
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