Editing Cards on the Table (section)

{{Short description|1936 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox book| 
| name          =  Cards on the Table
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = Cards on the Table First Edition Cover 1936.jpg
| caption       = Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
| author        = [[Agatha Christie]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| series        = [[Hercule Poirot]]
| genre         = [[Crime novel]]
| publisher     = [[Collins Crime Club]]
| release_date  = 2 November 1936
| media_type    = Print (hardback and paperback)
| pages         = 286<ref name="BLcat">{{Cite web |url=http://primocat.bl.uk/F?func=direct&local_base=ITEMV&doc_number=000696449&con_lng=eng |title=British Library Item details |website=primocat.bl.uk |access-date=23 February 2021}}</ref>
| preceded_by   = [[Murder in Mesopotamia]]
| followed_by   = [[Murder in the Mews]]}}

'''''Cards on the Table''''' is a [[detective fiction]] novel by the English author [[Agatha Christie]], first published in the UK by the [[Collins Crime Club]] on 2 November 1936<ref>''The Observer'', 1 November 1936 (p. 6)</ref> and in the US by [[Dodd, Mead and Company]] the following year.<ref>{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Cooper |first2=BA |last2=Pyke |title=Detective Fiction – the collector's guide |edition=Second |pages=82, 86 |publisher=Scholar Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-85967-991-8}}</ref><ref name="US">{{cite web |url=http://home.insightbb.com/~jsmarcum/agatha20.htm |title=American Tribute to Agatha Christie |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> The UK edition retailed at seven [[shillings]] and [[British sixpence coin|sixpence]] (7/6)<ref name="CC">{{cite book |author1=Peers, Chris |author2=Spurrier, Ralph |author3=Sturgeon, Jamie |title=Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions |publisher=Dragonby Press |edition=Second |date=March 1999 |page=15 |isbn=<!-- NOT CORRECT, CAN ANYONE FIND CORRECT VALUE? TAKEN FROM RESALE LISTINGS ON LINE BUT NOT FOUND IN WORLD CAT OR ANY LISTING 1 871122 13 9  -->}}</ref> and the US edition at $2.00.<ref name="US"/>

The book features the recurring characters of [[Hercule Poirot]], [[Colonel Race]] and [[Superintendent Battle]], with the crime writer [[Ariadne Oliver]] making her first appearance in a Poirot novel. The four detectives and four possible suspects play bridge after dinner with Mr Shaitana. At the end of the evening, Mr Shaitana is discovered murdered. Identifying the murderer, according to the author, depends wholly on discerning the psychology of the suspects.

The novel was well received, the critics noting its humour, the subtlety and tightness of the writing, and the good clueing. A later reviewer considered the book to stand at the very top rung of her novels, while another appreciated the brilliant surprise ending.