The King of Clubs audiobook

The King of Clubs is one of those fun Poirot shorties where he discovers what really happened but the police never do. A family is playing Bridge together when a famous dancer, Valerie Saintclair, dramatically bursts through the door and collapses after saying, Murder! Apparently, she was supposed to meet with a (rather nasty) theater producer at his home, and instead, stumbled in on a hobo killing him.Her fiancee, a young prince, implores Poirot to make sure there's no scandal so their names aren't dragged through the mud.THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

The King of Clubs is the third Hercule Poirot short story. It was first published in the UK on March 21, 1923 as "The Adventure of the King of Clubs'' in the magazine The Sketch. It made its way across the pond to America in November 1923 where it was printed in The Blue Magazine.Hercule Poirot reads about a murder in the local paper one morning. A rather seedy wealthy impressario was found dead in his house. Henry Reedburn's skull was bashed in. A famous dancer found the body and ran to the house next door, crashing their bridge party with a dramatic cry of "murder!'' Poirot is soon on the case to discover the facts.I like this story....it's a bit different. There's a lot going on in the background. I read and listened to it twice to be sure I caught all the nuances. Simple...and a bit complex at the same time. This sort of tale is why I love Agatha Christie.The long-running television show, Agatha Christie's Poirot, starring David Suchet presented an episode based on this short story in Series 1 (episode 9) back in 1989. The television version keeps the barebones of the story, but makes several changes to flesh it out into a regular length episode. The woman is an actress instead of a dancer....the setting involves a film company, main characters become actors, etc. Some plot points are removed....and other things added. But, all in all, a very good adaptation of this story! I don't recommend using the television episodes as a replacement for reading the actual stories....as they can be quite different!! But, I love the show! I watched the episode on BritBox, but the episode is also available on YouTube. I am having the best time reading, listening, and watching these stories by Christie! On to the next story: The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim!

I really enjoyed this one. I hadn't read it before and I did not figure out the culprit. So I was happy cruising along with Poirot and Hastings with this one; and let's just take a moment to appreciate Dame Christie's use of cards throughout her stories?

3.5 - 4 starsIt's Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot. What more do I need to say?

Poirot is hired by a Prince to investigate who killed a man - his fiancee, Valerie, is under suspicion. Valerie left the murder scene and went to a nearby house where she burst into a room while bridge was being played. She said "Murder " and fainted. She is recuperating and very stressed. She claims a vagabond was in the room where she was talking with the deceased and killed him.Poirot makes inquiries around the scene of the crime as well as of the family where Valerie took refuge. He discovers some discrepancies between the stories being told. He also tells the Prince that Valerie could not have killed the man and that the vagabond will probably never be found.Who done it? (view spoiler)[ Valerie's brother. The family she took refuge with was her own, though she had changed her name and insinuated she came from other parts. Valerie took her brother with her to talk with the blackmailer, the brother smashed something on the blackmailer's head, Valerie fainted and her brother carried her home. The story about bridge assumed that the four people of the house were playing and Poirot not only got discrepancies, but the King of Clubs was left in the card box. (hide spoiler)]

The story starts off with Poirot snarking at Hastings for lack of Tidy Newspaper Handling and Hastings deciding he’s magnanimous enough to rise above some other jabs, and THIS, this is what Hastings is good for. They’re a perfect pair of sitcom roommates.The mystery itself is fine. Poirot’s stories are not the type that the reader can solve alone, but there are a few clues you can try to pick up on and figure out at the end if your own guesses were in the right track.

** spoiler alert ** Poirot says to Hastings, “I have cramped your style.” So priceless. Was this written last week or 100 years ago? Crazy how these stories hold up. I have to say that this one wasn’t quite as clever as the others I have read but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I found the clues somewhat lacking in terms of how he figured out that the lady’s tale was false. Once he explained that she was the daughter it all made sense, of course, but I thought that his coming to that conclusion was a bit of a leap.

As old-timey mystery stories go, I place Agatha Christie in the middle of the pack. She writes well, but there's not enough room in a short story to develop her characters or the plot line much. (Expect this identical review in each Agatha Christie short story I've read to far -- unless I find a real stand-out.) Poirot, however, is quite an interesting, though repetitive, character.

A fun and fast moving Piorot.

Quite good - if for no other reason than the unending and amusing veiled references to sex and scandal. The dialogue in this one is a winner!

I don’t really understand this one.

Good Great short story that has a twist at the end that results in solving who killed the victim and why.

Another good short story with Poirot at the helm.

And another short HP story. It is all in the family.