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Encyclopedia > Cards on the Table
Cards on the Table
Author Agatha Christie
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Hercule Poirot
Genre(s) Crime novel
Publisher Harper Collins
Publication date 1936
Media type Print (Hardcover)
ISBN NA
Preceded by Murder in Mesopotamia
Followed by Death on the Nile

Cards on the Table (published in 1936) is a whodunit mystery novel by Agatha Christie. It features the recurring characters of Hercule Poirot, Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle, and novelist Ariadne Oliver who makes her first appearance in a Christie novel, after earlier appearing in a short story in Parker Pyne Investigates. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890—12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... In political geography and international politics, a country is a political division of a geographical entity, a sovereign territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation and government. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in The Dream Hercule Poirot (pronounced in english ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... ISBN-13 represented as EAN-13 bar code (in this case ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0) The International Standard Book Number, ISBN, is a unique[1] commercial book identifier barcode. ... Murder in Mesopotamia (published in 1936) is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. ... Death on the Nile is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie published in 1936 featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. ... A whodunit or whodunnit (for Who done it? and sometimes referred to as a Golden Age Mystery novel) is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is paramount. ... Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890—12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in The Dream Hercule Poirot (pronounced in english ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. ... Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Parker Pyne Investigates (published in 1934), also known as Mr. ...

Contents

Plot summary

At an exhibition of snuff boxes, Hercule Poirot meets Mr. Shaitana. The extravagant Shaitana claims that he collects items that may be of interest to Poirot. When the Belgian detective inquires what these items are, Shaitana reponds that he collects the finest specimens in the world of crime: the people who commit a murder and get away with it. Shaitana proceeds to invite Poirot over for dinner in order to meet his 'collection'. Snuff can refer to any of the following: Fine-ground smokeless tobacco, intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose Swedish snus tobacco, used between the cheek and upper gums American moist snuff, or dipping tobacco, placed between in the teeth and lower gums. ... David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in The Dream Hercule Poirot (pronounced in english ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. ...


Upon arrival at Shaitana's house, Poirot is met by a number of other guests. Mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver, Scotland Yard's Superintendent Battle, Colonel Race of His Majesty's Secret Service, Dr Geoffrey Roberts, Mrs Lorrimer, Major John Despard, Miss Anne Meredith and Poirot converse as dinner is prepared. At the dinner table, conversation turns to the topic of murder. Shaitana discusses the thought that if he were to commit a murder, he would make it simple: a domestic or a shooting accident. He also mentioned that poison was a woman's weapon and about a doctor's opportunities. These comments leave many guests uncomfortable and the party adjourns to a game of bridge. Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. ...


Dr Roberts, Anne Meredith, Mrs Lorrimer and Major Despard sit down to a game in a small room, while Shaitana leads Poirot, Mrs Oliver, Race and Battle into an adjoining room where the four begin a second game of bridge. Shaitana claims that bridge is not his preferred game and returns to the first room. The evening progresses and when Poirot and his company prepare to leave, they move to say farewell to their host, who is sitting in his chair in the first room. Upon inspection, it is quickly discovered that he has been murdered, stabbed with a small stiletto. It becomes apparent that no one has entered the first room since the bridge games began, immediately pointing to the four members of Shaitana's 'collection' of murderers as the suspects.


The four 'sleuths' (Poirot, Oliver, Race and Battle) interrogate the four suspects, all of whom, to their belief, have killed before. Upon finding very little from their interviews, the 'sleuths' prepare to go about their own ways to determine who murdered Shaitana.


Characters in "Cards on the Table"

Detectives

Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie. ... Colonel Race is a fictional character created by British mystery novelist Agatha Christie. ... Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. ... David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in The Dream Hercule Poirot (pronounced in english ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. ...

Victims

  • Mr. Shaitana

Suspects

  • Dr Roberts, an avuncular Harley Street specialist
  • Mrs Lorrimer, an elderly bridge enthusiast
  • Major Despard, an explorer
  • Anne Meredith, a pretty, but quiet, young girl

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The book was adapted as a stage play in 1981, although without Poirot. This followed Christie's trend of adapting Poirot novels as plays, but without Poirot as a detective, as she did not feel that any actor could portray him successfully. ITV adapted the story into a television programme starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver, which aired in the US on A&E Network in December 2005 and, in the UK, on ITV1 in March 2006. Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... David Suchet OBE (born May 2, 1946) is an English actor best known for his television portrayal of Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot in the television series Agatha Christies Poirot. ... Zoë Wanamaker CBE (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born English actress. ... Biography is one of A&Es longest-running and most popular programs. ... ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ...


Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

This article has been tagged since May 2007.

In a previous novel, (The A.B.C. Murders) Poirot mentions to Hastings his vision of an ideal case. It is in fact the plot of this novel. The A.B.C. Murders (published in 1936) is a detective novel by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp. ...


In the course of the novel, Poirot offers to show one of the characters a knife given to him "by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits". In describing this knife, he reveals the solution to Murder on the Orient Express: a most unusual example of Christie's occasional references to Poirot's former cases acting as a spoiler. Murder on the Orient Express (London: Collins, 1934) also called Murder on the Calais Coach (New York: Dodd Mead, 1934) is a 1934 novel by Agatha Christie. ...


At the beginning of the novel, when introductions are made, one of them has heard of Poirot's work on The A.B.C. Murders. The A.B.C. Murders (published in 1936) is a detective novel by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp. ...


External links

Agatha Christie
Detectives: Hercule Poirot • Miss Marple • Tommy and Tuppence • Ariadne Oliver • Arthur Hastings • Superintendent Battle • Chief Inspector Japp • Parker Pyne
Novels: The Mysterious Affair at Styles • The Secret Adversary • Murder on the Links • The Man in the Brown Suit • The Secret of Chimneys • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd • The Big Four • The Mystery of the Blue Train • The Seven Dials Mystery • The Murder at the Vicarage • The Sittaford Mystery • Peril at End House • Lord Edgware Dies • Murder on the Orient Express • Three Act Tragedy • Why Didn't They Ask Evans? • Death in the Clouds • The A.B.C. Murders • Murder in Mesopotamia • Cards on the Table • Death on the Nile • Dumb Witness • Appointment with Death • And Then There Were None • Murder is Easy • Hercule Poirot's Christmas • Sad Cypress • Evil Under the Sun • N or M? • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • The Body in the Library • Five Little Pigs • The Moving Finger • Towards Zero • Sparkling Cyanide • Death Comes as the End • The Hollow • Taken at the Flood • Crooked House • A Murder is Announced • They Came to Baghdad • Mrs McGinty's Dead • They Do It with Mirrors • A Pocket Full of Rye • After the Funeral • Hickory Dickory Dock • Destination Unknown • Dead Man's Folly • 4.50 From Paddington • Ordeal by Innocence • Cat Among the Pigeons • The Pale Horse • The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side • The Clocks • A Caribbean Mystery • At Bertram's Hotel • Third Girl • Endless Night • By the Pricking of My Thumbs • Hallowe'en Party • Passenger to Frankfurt • Nemesis • Elephants Can Remember • Postern of Fate • Curtain • Sleeping Murder
As Mary Westmacott: Giant's Bread • Unfinished Portrait • Absent in the Spring • The Rose and the Yew Tree • A Daughter's a Daughter • The Burden
Short story collections: Poirot Investigates • Partners in Crime • The Mysterious Mr. Quin • The Hound of Death • The Thirteen Problems • Parker Pyne Investigates • The Listerdale Mystery • Murder in the Mews • The Regatta Mystery • The Labours of Hercules • The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding • Poirot's Early Cases • The Harlequin Tea Set
Plays: Akhnaton • The Mousetrap • Witness for the Prosecution • Verdict • Rule of Three • Fiddlers Three

  Results from FactBites:
 
Cards on the Table - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (407 words)
Cards on the Table (published in 1936) is a whodunit mystery novel by Agatha Christie.
It features the recurring characters of Hercule Poirot, Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle, and novelist Ariadne Oliver who makes her first appearance in a Christie novel, after earlier appearing in a short story in Parker Pyne Investigates.
Shaitana, the host, sits with the other group of four in the outer room away from the bridge table by a fireplace.
Card Games: Hand and Foot (4936 words)
Usually the complete piles of seven cards are kept in front of one member of a partnership (along with red threes), while the other partner keeps the incomplete melds of three to six cards.
These cards must all come from your holding and the top card of the pile - again you are not allowed to make use of other cards you are about to pick up from the discard pile to satisfy the requirement.
Cards left in your hand or in your Foot count against you and are subtracted from your score.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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