Agatha Christie has the epithet the “Queen of
Mystery,” but perhaps she should be called the “Queen of Mystery Titles.” From classics such as The Body in the
Library and And Then There Were None to her more subtle affairs like
Nemesis or Sparkling Cyanide.
Cards on the Table is another of those wonderful titles with
double and triple meanings and is yet one of Christie’s lower key affairs. A man is murdered at a dinner party while his
eight guests play bridge, four of the guests are detectives, four of the guests
are suspects, and one of them is the murderer.
Like many Christie’s, our victim is killed early on, but Mr. Shaitana
may be one of her absolute best victims, if not a problematic character. He’s described as oriental, remember this was
the mid-1930s, with absolutely no truth given as to his country of origin. His name is linguistically related to Satan
and the character is often described as a Mephistophelian figure which is at
least partially playing into certain yellow fever tropes. There are the foreign eccentricities as well
as a very clear amount of coding.
Especially close readers will notice certain aspects of coding that may
or may not have been intentional or just influenced by pop culture of the time
that Christie would have been consuming.
Yet with all of these aspects the character is fascinating to watch in
the early portions of the novel and discover quite a bit of his character
through how our suspects react throughout the novel.
The title of Cards on the Table refers to the
two games of bridge and the fact that each suspect has their own hand. Our four detectives are characters Christie
has used before: Superintendent Battle from The Secret of Chimneys,
Colonel Race from The Man in the Brown Suit, Ariadne Oliver from the
short story “The Case of the Discontented Soldier,” and Hercule Poirot. While this is labeled as a Poirot novel, the
other three sleuths share equal screen time and work together to solve the
case, each fitting a stereotype of the time.
Poirot, of course, is the careful and anal detective you would have come
to expect from the character, but his observations are nevertheless welcome and
perhaps the most down to Earth since by this point he was Christie’s most
popular character. Ariadne Oliver is the
standout character. A clear pastiche of
Christie herself, there’s something so assuring that Christie understands her
flaws and foibles as well as the idea that as a novelist she would be a
terrible detective is genuinely hilarious.
Of course Oliver ends up giving Poirot and the other sleuths runs for
their money accidentally but also bares her issues in detection on her
sleeves. She still discusses motives
directly with suspects which allows them to gain her trust and she’s the best part
of the novel. Battle and Race are
standard policeman and spy characters in particular, Race being a spy without
the James Bond charm. The suspects are
also archetypes: a doctor, a major, a widow, and an ingénue and going into who
they are may give the game away as Christie’s forward to the novel is clear
that the reader can figure things out.
Overall, Cards on the Table may be out of the
norm for a Hercule Poirot mystery, but that often means Christie is on top form
in playing out the game. The characters
are honestly some of her best, so much so Ariadne Oliver finds herself reappearing
in several Poirot novels (and one novel on her own). The final twist to reveal the murder and
subsequent deaths that occur are also nothing to scoff at that it’s kind of a
shame it hasn’t had its time in the spotlight.
10/10.
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