October 2014 Book of the Month: Hallowe'en Party

adminadmin Cuanza Norte, Angola
in All Poirot novels

It goes without saying that the title of this 1969 novel makes it the top candidate for October’s Book of the Month. 

Leave your thoughts, theories, questions and queries below.

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  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I like this book but It is not as good as ABC, McGinty and Folly, I like Spence and Elspeth who were left out of the Adaptation which wasn't brilliant, Anyway The Book is OK.
  • glalonzo0408glalonzo0408 Pennsylvania, United States
    I love this book and tv adaptation.  One of my favs.....
  • tanyadelliotttanyadelliott Hampshire, United Kingdom
    Am I the only person finding the book of the month difficult? No wonder there is so little input, I struggle to find it every time. Looking forward to reading Halloween Party, as I've not read it before.
  • RAhmadRAhmad New Jersey, United States
    The book strats off very strong but the ending is overly dramatic and a little romantic for a good mystery read. Poirot is a romantic character but it would have been better for the story to end within the village. Not in league with Murder in Mesopotamia, Murder on Orient Express, The Other Girl, The A.B.C. Murders, etc.
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I think you mean Third Girl
  • alanalialanali San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
    My first Christie book!
  • maryamalbulushimaryamalbulushi Oman
    I READ THIS both in English and Arabic and i liked it i mean it could have been better but over all it's a nice book ... by the way you guys celebrate Halloween on October right? 
  • glalonzo0408glalonzo0408 Pennsylvania, United States
    maryamalbulushi said:
    I READ THIS both in English and Arabic and i liked it i mean it could have been better but over all it's a nice book ... by the way you guys celebrate Halloween on October right? 
    Yes, October 31st. 
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I agree, It could have been better but all in all a good book.
  • tudestudes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    It's a very good book and very unusual. The plot has a different type of victims and the motive is not very common in AC's books. The whole story is very odd (in a good way) and that's why it catches the attention and it's so good.
    Also, it's very interesting the references about others stories (Cat Among the Pigeons, Mrs McGinty's dead) and about a greek tragedy.
    I'm very fond of this book and I think it's one of the best Ariadne/ Poirot books.
    Besides, the tv adaption is very well done.
    Certainly, it's a book to read and a film to watch.
  • GriseldaGriselda
    What is so good about this book for me is the social history detail, and also the giveaway clue which leads Poirot to solve the crime. (The one about the murderer would have to have been _ _ _ afterwards.  I won't say it - as it's a spoiler)  It is so obvious really, that it is amazing all readers did not spot it. The idea of having one character who has seen the significance of an event - as Poirot has - is also one which added distinction to the plot.

    The only thing which is a little odd, and which I have found odd in other AC works, is the seeming lack of affection on the part of the murder victim's siblings. It wasn't very convincing I thought, but maybe we live today in more sentimental times.
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    Yes, we are more Cuddleyish now.
  • maryamalbulushimaryamalbulushi Oman
    I didn't get that sign @Griselda and now I am really curious I wanna know.. Come on. Reveal it :D put a spoiler alert and then write about it ^_^
  • GriseldaGriselda
    OK maryamalbulushi,  well, in the book, the headmistress has guessed too. SPOILER ALERT. The murder victim is a child who is SPOILER ALERT submerged, head first, in an apple bobbing barrel. The assumption is that one of the Halloween Party guests has done it - or possibly someone from outside sneaking in. To have carried out such a horrible act - even with a young teenager or pre-teen would have involved a lot of struggling and - due to the circumstances - getting covered in water. One of the characters has conveniently got themselves covered in water ostensibly by doing something else and having a small accident with it. Stupid me, didn't see the significance of this when first I read it.

    I like the neatness of this plot device. It is simple. It is so obvious to see, in hindsight, who it would have been.

    Thinking on the story afterwards, the characters and how they behave seem completely convincing.

    I love reading the social historical details. Flaming raisins which you grab with your fingers and eat. That tradition has died out. 
  • maryamalbulushimaryamalbulushi Oman
    Lovely @Griselda now I get it ,thanks dear ^_^
  • GriseldaGriselda
    Maryamalbulushi, did you like the lesser characters in Halloween? I'm not sure what I think about them. They didn't make a very strong impression, I think.
  • maryamalbulushimaryamalbulushi Oman

    @Griselda , yeah I do agree with you they're not that much special so they'll remain in your memory and leave a impression but I was attached - I don't know why- with jouis's younger brother- though he doesn't appear in the book a lot until his death I felt sorry for him . BTW you can call me Maryam no need for al bulushi because it my sir name ^-^

  • GriseldaGriselda
    Thanks, Maryam!  I am going to have to re read Hallloween, because I have lost my copy, and the details are not all there in my mind. I really did find the murderer convincing - that is clear in my mind. I find it very satisfying to see how AC reveals the hidden depths in  fairly ordinary people which give them capacity to murder. AC is so shrewd.
  • taliavishay-arbeltaliavishay-arbel
    I found this book enthralling! especially because of the characters. The bad guys are very different from most of the murderers, both AC's and other writers, and yet their characters "make sense" - you believe in them and their motivations as you read about them. And the girl who almost becomes the fourth (or fifth?) victim is lovely, inside and out. Again, it is interesting to make comparisons - this time to "Flight of a witch" by ellis peters. There too there is a "lady of the manor" who runs everything in sight, a husband who is almost invisible (in Halloween the husband is dead in a car accident, and may well have been murdered - hence "fourth or fifth") and a pure, unearthly young girl, and the dominant woman and unearthly girl are pitted against each other, and both books end with the unearthly girl accepting responsibility for another person's crime and welcoming death at the hands of the killer, only to be saved at the last moment, as the killer turns his weapon on himself. However, the plot is completely different, as are the secondary characters. 
  • maryamalbulushimaryamalbulushi Oman
    I just finished rereading it couple days ago ,can't believe I didn't guess the murderer correctly every single clue is pointing at " spoiler" the murderers obviously ,but I guess it's all about how you see the clue ^_^
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