YMMV / Cards on the Table

• Broken Base: One of the more divisive cases among Christie fans. Some enjoy the mystery due to its very unorthodox structure and the entertainment of watching Poirot teaming with a group of investigators. Others find the book meandering due to the fairly thin story, not helped by it being effectively a Clueless Mystery provided the reader isn't familiar with the game of Bridge.
• Funny Moments:
  • After Poirot buys expensive silk stockings to bait Anne Meredith with to test a theory, the girls at the counter gossip to themselves that he must be a Dirty Old Man being strung along by some girl.
  • Mrs. Luxmore is an amusing character, with her not even noticing that Poirot is very obviously humoring her romantic fantasies. It apparently counts as one for Poirot, as he bursts out laughing just after leaving her house.
• Values Dissonance: At one point, the sleuths meet to discuss what they've found out so far, with Poirot emphasizing the psychology of Shaitaina's murder, which took a hefty amount of risk-taking, quick-thinking, and daring to accomplish. Colonel Race then reveals what he found out about Despard's past and his apparent crime: shooting a man while deep in the jungle and conspiring with his native guides to hush it up. When Battle comments that Shaitana's murder seems to fit Despard's personality, Race insists thar Despard is innocent of the jungle shooting because "he's a white man", heavily implying that Despard's native workers were likely lying simply because they...well...weren't white.

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