Review: Cards on the Table

Everyone knows ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is Agatha Christie’s most famous novel, but she has many underated masterpieces. One of which gives a fresh perspective on the story of a mysterious dinner party turned dangerous game, with unpredictable moves and players, as no player is willing to put all their ‘cards on the table’.

When the famed detective Hercule Poirot learns an old quantinece, Mr. Shaitana, sees murder as a art form, Poirot accepts an invite to his percuilar dinner party. He grows wearier as the other guests, appear to barely know each other at all. A simple game of bridge becomes sinister, when a player impulslevly murder their host using their own possession, without anyone noticing. Poirot forms a group of detectives and crime writer to solve the murder. The aftermath of the party begins to unravel, as it appears Mr Shaitana discovered his guests’ darkest indescrections, meaning any guest had motive to kill him. After all, some people will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the past stays the past.

What’s interesting about the crime is that the bridge players were mere metres away, from where their host was murdered. It happened right behind their backs, and then they return to their normal lives. Christie slowly but carefully builds up the suspence as each suspect begins to take action, thinking that their past actions are bout to be revealed. There are alot of intriguing aspects to keep you hooked on this mystery, in that the reader is shocked with the many false relevations that the murderer has been found; as Poirot and the reader have to go back and re-evaluate the clues, as relationships formed between the suspects after the murder, begin to come to light.

Mystery aside, the use of flawed complicated female characters in this story wasintelligently well written and went against the typical stereotypes of women in the 1930’s. Mrs Oliver, Anne Meredith, Rhea and Mrs Lomminer, are complex characters with hidden pasts, proving that they don’t need men in order to be interesting and engaging characters. There is a importance in flawed female characters in a mystery crime novel, as it makes a character more releastic, more human and it proves that female protagonists don’t need to be perfect to led a mystery, and they are just as capable as male characters of being the mastermind behind the mystery.

Cards on the Table is the murder mystery that has truly earned its place, in the category of the murderer who almost got away with it, making for a compelling read that will leave you shocked and astounded by how the mystery ends.