REVIEW: The King of Clubs (Agatha Christie)

The King of Clubs
Author: Agatha Christie

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 Book 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. Some things are removed....and other things added. But, all in all, a very good adaptation of this story! 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!