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Cover of Cards on the Table
The 1930s · London, 1930s

Cards on the Table

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Four sleuths and four suspects play bridge at a strange host's house

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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story6 of 15
  • Chronological13 of 33
  • Everything14 of 38
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

The eccentric Mr Shaitana invites four detectives (Poirot, novelist Ariadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle and Colonel Race) to dinner along with four people he believes got away with murder. Afterward the two groups play bridge in separate rooms. By the end of the evening Shaitana is dead in his armchair, stabbed, and nobody saw a thing. Poirot studies the bridge scores to read each suspect's mind. Mrs Lorrimer confesses and is soon found dead. Young Anne Meredith drowns while trying to kill a friend. In the end Poirot proves the killer is Dr Roberts, who also murdered Mrs Lorrimer.

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2 what changed on screen

What changed on screen

  1. ReferenceA detectives' summit

    Besides Poirot, the table holds novelist Ariadne Oliver in her first case with him, Superintendent Battle from The Secret of Chimneys and Colonel Race from The Man in the Brown Suit.

    source ↗
  2. Behind the scenesA warning up front

    In the foreword Christie warns that there are only four suspects and that the answer lies in their psychology, not in physical clues.

    source ↗
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