Even though "Hallowe'en Party" was written later in Agatha Christie's career, and some might believe it to be somewhat of a letdown from earlier works, it retains all the trademarks of what make Christie's intricately woven, delightfully detected mysteries so endearing and timeless. With Hercule Poirot serving as the sleuth who steps in to solve the murder, "Hallowe'en Party" is quick-paced and filled with a cast of characters who seemingly all have something to gain, or hide.
When a young teen is found murdered at a Halloween party, Hercule Poirot is called in by a visiting mystery writer. She is troubled by something that the girl had said during preparations for the party. The young victim claims to have seen a murder committed, and Poirot is quick to believe that she was murdered in order for that murder to remain unknown. He soon sets himself to the task of interviewing a wide cast of the town's inhabitants, raising questions about not only present events, but those in the past that just might be connected to the tragedy. When another murder hits too close to home, Poirot knows that he must convince the lawmen in charge that he has fitted the puzzle together correctly.
"Hallowe'en Party" is plotted out to perfection; the solution, and the requisite explanatory chapter in which Poirot explains how he solved the crime at hand, is as ingenious as it is 'right before your eyes' if the reader is paying close attention to the clues. As always, Agatha Christie has fashioned a delectable mystery that has remained timeless in its plot (even if some of the language, and fashions mentioned for that matter, are a bit dated). Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
The story begins innocently enough - a children's Hallowe'en party. One of the adult guests is Ariadne Oliver, the famous crime novelist. One of the children at the party, in order to impress Mrs. Oliver claims to have seen a murder committed. No one takes any notice, dismissing her story, until the girl turns up dead at the end of the party. Horrified by the tragedy, Mrs. Oliver turns to her old friend Hercule Poirot for help, despite her belief that women should be running Scotland Yard! Poirot begins investigating and realizes that the child was killed in order to prevent discovery of another, much older crime. But raking up the past is dangerous as it can cause a killer to strike again...very chilling mystery, notable for its air of subtle menace and cruelty. Although the identity of the killer was fairly obvious midway through the book, I think Christie afficionadoes will like the psychological analysis of the motives for the crime, as well as of the criminal. Another good Poirot mystery.
Agatha Christie was a true mistress at presenting unique mystery plots and shocking conclusions! Although Miss Jane Marple is my favorite of her series detectives, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is just as engaging and worth getting to know. His gentle arrogance and wit alone are well worth taking the time to try one of the instalments in this particular series, not to mention his brilliant deductive powers. "Halloween Party" is one of Christie's Hercule Poirot works, ranking up there with "Death On the Nile," "Murder On the Orient Express," and "The ABC Murders." The only minor complaint for me is that Captain Arthur Hastings does not appear in this book.
This particular instalment involves Poirot's friend, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, who is helping a friend prepare a halloween party for preteens of the country village. The party is a huge success until one of the girls, who has a habit of revealing more information than she should, is found drowned in the apple bobbing tub. She had told people earlier in the day that she had seen a murder being committed a year or two earlier. Could someone at the party have heard her and decided to silence the girl before she revealed what she knew? Ariadne Oliver enlists the help of Hercule Poirot, and his brilliant "Little Grey Cells" begin their work. This mystery has a chilling undercurrent, because Christie uses the horrific occurrence of a child being murdered, and Poirot must confront a truly sociopathic killer who will stop at nothing to remain in the dark.
The audio verssion of this book is superb, and features John Moffat as narrator. He originally played Poirot on several BBC radio productions of the series, and does well portraying different characters. I thoroughly recommend the book on a long car ride or while working around the house. It will make the time go much faster.
Agatha Christie presents readers with another gem! As with mostly all of her books, this one certainly does not disappoint. Please give it a chance. Happy reading!
One of the later Hercule Poirot novels, this book is deftly written and keeps you guessing until the end. Everytime I thought I had it figured out something popped up that made me question my conclusions.
This book has all of Agatha Christie's usual flair for plotting out a plausible solution to a seemingly unsolvable crime. In a few places the narrative seemed a little drawn out, but this was more than made up for by an exciting ending and Christie's excellently descriptive writting.
Highly recommended for fans of Agatha Chritie and mystery novels in general.
This is one of Christie's easier mysteries to figure out but the murders are just nasty enough to be almost comical. The drowning of children shouldn't be funny but here, I think Agatha was in a dark, black comedy mood. Besides, the 2 victims are rather obnoxious... so it makes it more humorous. While you'll guess the whodunit right away (how can you not?), she does throw in a few twists at the end that only Poirot could have unravelled. Not a great book, but not bad either. After all, Christie did write it and she seldom wrote a bad story in her career. Good stuff, as one reader mentioned, to curl up with in autumn weather.'
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