Hallowe'en Party

A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

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.

©1969 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2002 HarperCollins Publishers

the incomparable Hugh Frasier

One of Christie's best books is performed by Frasier, who is without peer in voicing these characters. Highly recommended

classic Christie

A classic Christie Mystery, taught with several twists and turns. Very enjoyable over the course of a few days.

Amazing

This was the very first audio book I've ever listened to, and I am not disappointed. I've wanted to read this book for ages, and it was a great listen, though I wish the Halloween theme was more prominent.

The narrator did a fantastic job, and I loved the voice he gave to Poirot. I definitely recommend this.

Good story. Great storyteller.

Entertaining story by Agatha Christie. Hugh Frazier does an excellent job of making the story come to life. David Suchet *IS* Hercule Poirot. Hugh made him seem to be there.

I loved humor around the apples!

Agatha Christie is a master story teller and has an amazing ability to weave the pieces together in the most creative ways!

A Mixed Bag of Hallowe'en Mystery

With autumn upon us and Halloween around the corner, the timing felt right to give this Agatha Christie a seasonal listen. If there’s someone who could take the unlikely premise of a teenager’s murder at a holiday gathering after declaring to a disbelieving crowd that she’d witnessed a murder herself in front of a famed author, it would be Agatha Christie. And whom better to investigate it that Hercule Poirot, yes?

Which makes it a shame that Hallowe'en Party is something of a mixed bag.

Don’t get me wrong: all the ingredients are there. The village full of secrets that both Poirot and Ariadne Oliver come into as outsiders feels like classic Christie. So, too, does the wide-ranging cast of characters (and suspects) that occupy the village. The opening chapter or so, building up to the party and the murder, offer a blurry snapshot of it all and get the ball rolling solidly. Everything that should make this a solid offering are here.

Yet something feels off about the whole novel. Perhaps it’s seeing Poirot in the 1960s (with Ariadne Oliver even comparing him to a computer, which feels both apt and odd at the same time). Alternatively, it could be the repetitive debates the detective has with numerous characters about the changing social mores of the 1960s or mental health. Or, ultimately, that all the ingredients might be present but the eventual solution and the identity of the murderer feels under-cooked. Christie could certainly write to capture changing times (The Pale Horse at the start of the decade, a favorite of this reviewer, proves that) but Hallowe'en Party is a novel that feels out of time.

Dare I say, this might be a case where the adaptations (both featuring David Suchet on television and the ground-up reworking of it for actor/director Kenneth Branagh) are the better versions of this? In both cases, the ingredients and the recipe could be tweaked into something more cohesive. It’s still worth seeing where the inspiration for both came from, even if the source novel isn’t quite the sum of its parts.

Mostly Mystery…Less Halloween

Can you imagine being murdered while bobbing for apples? I never understood that game. Now, I’ll never think of it as a game again!

Hugh Frazier did another amazing narration. This mystery held my interest. However, it wasn’t one of my favorites. My experience over the last 50, or so years, is that all Christie novels are worth reading. But some of them shine brighter than others.

I enjoyed this one and give it 3.75 stars.

Excellent for Halloween

This book was cozy without being “fluffy.” The characters and dialogue are intelligent, and there’s a decent twist ending. It’s well paced and easy to listen to,

4/5

Good story, but I was able to guess the ending halfway through and the voice actor's fake female voice for Ms. Oliver was underwhelming.

Fantastic story

Agatha Christie always intrigues the mind and her characters are fantastic. Hercule Poirot is an amazing character and very fun to read about.