Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Welcome to our discussion of Hallowe'en Party, by Agatha Christie, which is part of our Fall/Winter Collection Group Reads. Your discussion leader is Lisa.
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Summary

A teenage murder witness is drowned in a tub of apples... At a Hallowe'en party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the 'evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...

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Hi everyone, and happy October! My favorite month - I love spooky season! I have my copy of Hallowe’en Party in hand and will be starting in the next couple of days.

I read the Hallowe'en Party in August; I enjoy reading Agatha Christie's books every now and then ...

I've got the book. Will start sometime this week.

I got it the other day and have read the first six chapters.

What is lemon barley water? I’ve never heard of it.

I have read only two Poirot mysteries (ABC Murders & Roger Ackyrod) and watched Peter Ustinov in three movies. I’m not sure if I will like Poirot or not.

I’m about a third of the way in. I love the setting, and it’s quite an unusual murder mystery where the victim is a 13 year old girl. Ms. Christie seems to be quite ahead of her time, with the meta element here of including a mystery writer in her story, and with the name Ariadne no less. Also, taking in her social commentary on the disintegration of the quality of parenting, the shift toward leaving more toward the schools, the increase in violence among young people, and the deescalation of mental illness care (although these things are spoken about in less-politicaly-correct terms), I wonder what she would think of the things that are going on in society 50 years later.

I had to look up lemon barley water (I sort of want to try to make it) and the game Snapdragon. I also had never heard of yellow pumpkins before.

This is only my third Poirot, having read ABC Murders (one of the books that kicked off this great group) and And Then There Were None. I read and loved The Sittaford Mystery, which is Christie but not Poirot. I’ve heard Roger Ackroyd is fantastic.

I too had to look up how the games were played.

I've read a lot of Christie's books, Poirot and Miss Marple. This one is the next to last Poirot book that she wrote.

Agree Roger Ackroyd is fantastic.

This was not one of my favorite Poirot stories.

Finished last night. I would agree, Sheri, not one of my faves. It was a short book, and still took me a while to get through.

I really liked the first part - the description of the party, the unusual games and traditions, the Halloween-y atmosphere. And an unusual victim - a young girl. But then the story got so mired in digging through past stories and events, and I was having a hard time keeping characters straight. And some of the twists and turns (view spoiler)[ like Michael being Miranda's father, and him trying to sacrifice her at the end, (hide spoiler)] were just sort of weird.

More convoluted and less fun than the other Poirot/Christie books I've read. And there were some other odd elements, like the frequent mentions of Mrs. Oliver liking apples so much, or Poirot's tight and uncomfortable shoes. On the latter, I felt like I didn't get much of Poirot's personality and style coming through in this one, and that the theme of his shoes being tight was serving as a stand-in for character development, representing that he is getting older and holding on to his vanity. An effective example, but not to be leaned on so hard as the whole mechanism to convey this idea.

Agree. Glad I read it though.

Lisa wrote: "Finished last night. I would agree, Sheri, not one of my faves. It was a short book, and still took me a while to get through.

I really liked the first part - the description of the party, the un..."

Lisa,

I have to agree with what you posted, including the spoiler. I am still going to try other Poirot mysteries. I would like to get a better since of who he is.

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ wrote: "This was not one of my favorite Poirot stories."

Sheri, What are some of your favorites?

Nancy a few favorites.

Murder on the Orient Express
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Death on the Nile

I recently saw Murder on the Orient Express at the Milwaukee Rep, and it was fantastic! Great book, too. I need to read Roger Ackroyd asap.