Twice in a row foiled by the passage of time haha. Its really difficult to future-proof books like this as more and more time passes, but at the same time its still annoying that vital clues are hinged on things that most modern readers won't know. First the similar uniforms of dentists and air stewards (which are both wildly different now), and now the rules and score implications of bridge (which relatively few people now play or understand). You gave it an excellent shot though.
You were right and wrong. You were right about Miss Meredith being a killer and that she was going to kill her friend, Rhoda. You were right about Dr. Roberts killing Mrs. Lorrimer. You were right in the beginning about Dr. Roberts killing Shaitana. However, you followed what Mrs. Christie was laying before you. We were meant to blame Miss Meredith. All signs pointed to her. When I read the book, I immediately took Major Despard and Mrs. Lorrimer off the list. Why? Well, Major Despard didn't care about the people or things around him. As for Mrs. Lorrimer, her attention was on the game because she won every hand. Miss Meredith messed up several times playing the game while Dr. Roberts messed up during a most important round in the game. I too thought Meredith did it until the death of Mrs. Lorrimer. That's when I switched to Dr. Roberts. Mrs. Christie always switches things up to fool us. I think you did great. I can't wait to see you try again.
This may have been the first Christie I read, and I was already a bridge player at the time. But the small number of suspects makes it a reasonable choice for the non-player. It was highly probable from the view of the scores that the murder was committed when it was, but it seemed also likely that declarer would have been surprised that dummy left the table just then.
Thank you for breaking that down. I'm not a bridge player (though this is one of my favorite Christies), and I've always wondered how much the bridge scores actually helped beyond what Poirot explains.
Your reaction at the end, is what makes the whole video. I laughed out loud. I appreciated the Downton actors as fill in for the characters in your powerpoint. You put in to much detail into trying to figure this out. Well done. These are charming to watch. Christie would be delighted by the effort you put in.
You don’t actually need to know a lot a bout bridge to solve this one. You just need to pick up on the fact that one round was very exciting. They all mention that that round was exciting in some form or other. So that’s the round the person who is dummy has the most oppertunity to commit murder without being seen by the others. The score card is important because the dummy is the one writing down the scores for the round, and it also shows that one of the rounds has some extreem values on it. You don’t need to know the rules, just be familiar with games in general. Any type of game. When sometinng unusual happens it’s exciting, and all the players get engaged. That’s it. That’s the clue.
This video is a delight! Cards on the Table is one of my favorite Agathas, and this breakdown was so fun to watch. 😊 Also, please give yourself a good amount of credit. You picked up on Anne Meredith being a sho' nuff murderer, and the bridge clues are not much help to us non-bridge players. Re other books: if you've not already read it, And Then There Were None is one of her BEST. Dark as hell and hard to solve (at least for me), but a joy of a puzzle.
Thank you so much for the sweet comment!🥰 and then there were none I’ve already read so sadly I can’t do a video like this on it, but I already ordered another Poirot mystery that I haven’t read yet..😍
Please, How is “ with a powerpoint presentation” not part of the title?!! 😂 it’s just too amazing. I would have selected a fancy Prezi presentation but I am just being extra 🧐
I’m glad you enjoyed the presentation☺️😇 and thanks for telling me about Prezi, I didn’t know about it…let’s see what I can do for the next one (maybe…no promises 😂)
I enjoyed the first video so much because it was so nice and cozy and I'm so glad you did another one. You're so fun to watch. And I'm so happy you plan on doing more of these.
that scared me so much when i read it as a teenager, that and sleeping murder are the only christie books I think are actually creepy, although maybe I'd feel differently if I'd been an adult when I first read them!
@@lilwinchester1417 Oh yeah I'd for forgotten about that one! By The Pricking Of My Thumbs as well, when the old lady says "was it your poor child buried behind the fireplace?" that gets me every time
I knew it wasn't the major when his background came up, the thing with the botanist. It just gave me a vibe that something different had happened there that wasn't quite what was being implied - plus, the major seemed mostly aloof regarding people's opinions of him and I never believed he'd kill to hide whatever had truly occurred. I has three suspects from there on, but when I thought about it I also discounted the older lady because she was too focused on the game to kill anyone, imo. Then when Mrs Whatever died, I decided the culprit was the doctor and not Miss Meredith for the same reasons as you, I just stuck to it regardless of the situation with Anne's 'friend'. (I don't understand bridge either.) (for some reason I remembered the stocking situation better than most of the book. wtf?)
So as a somewhat avid bridge player, the Dummy's role while in play is to make sure no one cheats in play or to get beverages. Also, there are several Christie stories that hinge around the bridge table, so you should learn how to play.
When I read, I knew nothing about bridge. But I do understand some psychology. If I were to play a game of monopoly with a group of three people and someone was in an armchair off to one side. If during a particularly exciting part of the game (say if someone had to pay £1500 rent to another player), I would choose to do murder then. Attention would be fixated upon the game enough. It would be a rash move, however.
Thank you! I know the game of bridge and the score did not seem odd to me, but it makes sense for Poirot to notice it is odd. The way they played the game, in the other room, the exact cards should have been played. Therefore your score is compared not to your table opponents, but the the people in the other room who were dealt the exact same cards you were dealt. It is normal for the others to notice the score of 1500 since that was not achieved in the other room. To achieve this score you also need to win a bidding phase, the person who wins the bid will be the dummy. Nice job, it was a pleasure to see this video :)
I really appreciate these videos. It's so much fun to see how other people engage with these books. BTW, on the letters, I think the point is that they weren't sent from Mrs Lorrimer's house at all
But Miss Meredith and the Major still got their letters, you think the doctor send them off somewhere else and the letters that the maid saw at Mrs. Lorrimer’s were something else?🤔
@@kinderegard8437 The doctor sent all the letters. I've read CotT many, many times, and the bit about Miss Meredith visiting Mrs. Lorrimer always bugged me (since, for the the life of me, I can't see what she was doing with it). If you figure that out, I'd love to know.
Another layer of trickiness is found in the television adaptations of the Poirot stories (with the incomparable David Suchet as the man with ‘ze little grey cells’) because in some cases the producers put in an additional twist so that the outcome would surprise even devoted Christie fans. There is a very interesting one in the Cards on the Table adaptation, which I think you would enjoy!
Sadly, I had read Cards early, before learning bridge toward the end of high school, so I can't honestly answer what I would have made of what seems in retrospect like a glaring clue. It remains on my top tier, though, for Poirot psychology. He starts everything off not by investigating technical details, but by figuring out what motivates these people at their core.
Wow, it really is interesting to see how everyone with bridge knowledge picked up on the vital clue quite easily while I completely missed it…😅😅 I gotta brush up on my Poirot-contemporary knowledge, so I can hopefully get the next one right🙈
Gosh, you're very good at it! I know you didn't get either, but you figured out so many details correctly, I'm very impressed! If you haven't already picked the next book, I think from memory third girl (one of the most modern ones) or one two buckle my shoe don't have any historical details which might throw you off, or evil under the sun which has lots of fun little historical curiosities, but none of them impact the solution particularly, they're just nice flavouring! Whatever book you pick, I'm subscribing to make sure I don't miss it, I'm not normally a booktube watcher, but these videos are really fun (And if you're interested, the flower you didn't know is pronounced cree-san-the-mum, but it's one a lot of native english speakers struggle with as well so you're definitely not alone!)
This was so much fun! I've watched all of the Poirot TV episodes years ago, but it's been so long, I've forgotten a lot of the solutions, so watching these videos is like experiencing the mystery all over again! :)
I just read this book too... I thought the killer was going to be a fifth person we hadn't even considered, so I was way off! Great video, please make more!!!
The nice thing about Agatha Christie is that she does actually give all the information one needs. That being said, I've read all of her murder mysteries, and only solved one ahead of time (Sleeping Murder).
I love your video, your summery and deductions. When I read a crime novel I don't even try to guess, because if I'm right and guess who/how/why or at least who and how I consider the book poor. From Agatha Christie novels the only one I guess correct is Peril at End House
im loving this videos, its so funny get into your detective thought process hahaha would love to follow you trying to solve my 2 favorites: murder at the vicarage and of course murder on the orient express
I’m glad you enjoyed the videos! I’ve already read both your fav novels and even though right now I can’t remember who was the murderer at the vicarage I would probably remember at some point… but luckily there are still lots of Agatha Christie books that I have not yet read, so there will be more to come🙏🏼❤️
Brilliant video! I love how you read the books with such close attention to detail and take so many notes. An absolute pleasure to watch. Why can’t all of RU-vid be like this, for Pete’s sake?!
Incidentally I just read this book a few days ago! I also do not get Bridge at all . . . SPOILER . . . . . . I guessed the murderer strictly going by the psychology - like how he was the one who everyone said that was the most likely to take high risks out of the four of them. But not gonna lie, especially the murder attempt against Anne's roommate did make me think I was wrong.
Yeah. They telegraphed that she would try to kill Rhonda or whatever her name was and I started second-guessing myself though I was completely sure it'd been the doctor all along the after Mrs Lorrimer died...
Every rubber consists of several deals, and each deal has a bidding phase where everybody plays. It is only after the bidding is done that one player becomes the dummy. So it is not like one player would have remained passive for a a third of the night.
Only book of hers I managed to guess the killer of even without knowing a bloody thing about bridge. Tried to google the rules but only got more confused wheww
I think this is one of the few Agatha Christie books I did actually solve. The doctor was the only one who looked around at everything in the room, so he would know where the dagger was to use it, and psychologically speaking, he was the least interested in the other people in the room, so he was the most brutal.
I just finished reading this book too! Loved your video, it was excellent. I always watch the Poirot adaptation once I’ve finished a book to see how they handle it. It was quite different to the story with the little sideline plots. Have a look at that out of interests sake.
Thanks for the rec, I didn’t even know there was an adaption! But that’s probably because I’ve only watched stuff with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot but with him there are only a handful of movies☺️
@@kinderegard8437 totally yes! Try solving or just reading Death on the Nile. Takes place in Egypt. it's one of my favourites too, since it's set in my country haha
An absolute classic! I’ve already read it so I sadly can’t do one of these videos on it..😢 I’m sooo excited about the new movie adaptation coming out soon😍
Someone may have already pointed this out but colonel is pronounced like "kernel" because English is weird. Also you were close with chrysanthemums, the emphasis is on the second syllable. Kris-SAN-thi-mums
omg thanks for pointing that one out, i knew of i military position called "kernel" but i had no idea it's the same as 'colonel' - you simply write and pronounce it so differently haha
May I ask you what your native language is? Your accent sounds different from what I'm used to in media (english is a third language for me so I can't pin-point an accent)
Do By the pricking of my thumb and And then there were none if you havent read them. I read them when I was little and dont remember the solution but I remember that I really liked them@
