Bridgette’s review of Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41) > Likes and Comments

I agree that her last couple of Poirot books are a bit lacking. Curtain is fantastic but she wrote it almost 40 years prior.

totally right, elephants can remember is badder

This is one of my favorites, perfect for Halloween.

I do not agree with you, I found it fantastic.

Sad Cypress and Five Little Pigs are among her best Poirot cases...

I've read about 15 of her books now, and I agree with you that this is the worst. Ugh.
I loved Seven Dials and really liked Sleeping Murder and Mrs. McGinty's Dead. But not this one.

Great review, and my thoughts exactly.

This is my first exposure to her writing and you are 100% correct. I am about a third thru and wondering how she became so popular. It's like I'm reading the debut novel of an adult who has spent their life sheltered by money.

It's left me wondering, honestly. But your review succinctly explains it. Thank you.

This is my first Agatha Christie novel and you are actually right - that's exactly the impression that I had! I guess I have to read any of her earlier novels next :) Thanks for the review!

Completely agree, terribly boring book with repetitive dialogue. The author has several characters repeating similar statements. So much of the book felt irrelevant, like she was trying to fill some kind of page quota, at times descriptions were so lengthy the book would feel at a snails pace. I fell asleep while reading it a number of times. I am new to the author's work but I hesitate to buy another... Maybe I'll borrow one instead.

This is my first Agatha Christie novel and I'm about 34 pages in. I have very quickly lost interest and decided to look at some reviews. I'm very glad that I found yours because I'm very bored with the characters and wondered if this is how all of her books were written.

She is so renowned that I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. I have a bunch of others and will attempt to read something else instead. Thanks!

Hello, Bridgette!
Have you ever read any Patricia Wentworth?
She is nothing like Agatha Christie and is my all time favorite!
Do yourself a favor and give her a try. :)

Give Patricia Wentworth a try.
I think you will be glad you did!

This is the first Agatha Christie novel that I'm reading. Your review is EXCELLENT, even though I'm only on chapter 2.

Take me back to 1939! 🤭

Great review! I couldn't have said it better. Halloween Party was quite distasteful.

Bridgette, I read this when it first came out in 1969. I was very disappointed. A second reading provides a better read, but still I can only give it 2 stars. One of Christie's weakest.

Thanks for the review. I’m 2/3 of the way through and wondering if I should skip to the end. You solidified it for me, because I feel the same as your review.

Thank you for your review. I was wondering what all the fuss was about for Agatha Christie. I had planned on removing And Then There Were None from my to be read list after struggling to read this book. After reading your review I may reconsider.

Dinah wrote: "Great review! I couldn't have said it better. Halloween Party was quite distasteful."

Dinah, EXTREMELY distasteful. Actually, horribly distasteful. The theme? Children being sacrificed so that "X" can maintain an evil presence and....I don't think most people get this book. It's semi-horror. Christie is just on the edge and just doesn't go there. She should have, she could have, but no publisher would have touched it.

Kimberly wrote: "Thank you for your review. I was wondering what all the fuss was about for Agatha Christie. I had planned on removing And Then There Were None from my to be read list after struggling to read this ..."

Kimberly, I've read about 45 Christie books. This one 3 times. I GET IT now...it's semi-horror and the reason it's not very good is that Christie just stays on this side of horror, and barely. IF she'd dared go full throttle this could have been a classic. But you gotta read "And Then There Were None". It's the best-selling mystery ever published. And deservedly so, if it weren't for the even better "Murder on the Orient Express". Or maybe "Murder of Roger Akroyd". Or maybe...anyway, she wrote about a half dozen that are truly, and in a literary sense, masterpieces.

Barbara wrote: "Take me back to 1939! 🤭"

Maybe a revised 1939 without...that Hitler mess? I find European literature between the two wars absolutely stupendous, often brilliant. Christie started writing at the end of WW1 and had been a part-time nurse. She knew the horrors. She and millions recovered and moved on....and then there was WW2. And AGAIN, Europe recovered. IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...there are a few weeks of college that I'd like to relive...mostly cause I forgot everything...

Petercsm730 wrote: "I agree that her last couple of Poirot books are a bit lacking. Curtain is fantastic but she wrote it almost 40 years prior."

"Curtain" is far better than it was ever credited for. Those twists at the end are just classic Christie. I'm reading the last five Poirot books backwards: Curtain (last one) to "Clocks" (fifth back) and I think by the time "Curtain" rolled around, no one paid much attention: what kind of wallpaper would Oliver have in this one?

Actually i liked it. I mean, yeah the end was kinda obvious but i really loved the atmosphere. It gave me a similar feeling like "the pledge". I mean it's not her best, I preferred "the murder of Roger Ackroyd" and "Murder on the orient express" but yet i think that this one's not bad and definitely better than many many other books of that genre

Great review, thank you. I have finished the entire Poirot collection now and this one sucked. Sorry, actually the 4 or 5 sucked. She gave up on poor old Hercule and I think she was just tired of writing. Who blames her..

Death on the Nile is my favorite. By far. The last chapter of Curtain was her best writing in my opinion.

This one might be her worst.

I just finished this & it actually was my first Agatha Christie mystery. I didn't hate it but found it similarly boring & predictable. Your review has convinced me to give her another go.

I agree about the book. Another author who wrote around the same time as Ms Christie is great. Ngaio Marsh writes great mysteries!

Excellent. This was the first of her novels I’d read and I found it meh and was wondering what the fuss was for. I’ll try another.

This was my first book of hers too, I was worried since I thought it was “ok” thank you.

Everyone is commenting that this one is the worst...have you read The Big Four? ;)
I actually didn't mind this one. It was a different style - almost like she was trying it out. I'm kind of interested to see the live action.

Thanks for this review. I wanted to read this one since it’s almost Hallowe’en but, just 21 pages in, I fled to the internet to figure out if it’s truly as awful as it seems.

I’ve been taking part in #ReadChristie this year so Agatha’s talent is clear in my mind. My last read was ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’, full of fun, and dialogue that sparkled like a PG Wodehouse comedy. When I saw this one was actually dedicated to Wodehouse, my expectation was high.

Only pages in and I totally agree with your comment, it’s as if someone else wrote it. Whole paragraphs about pumpkins and apples? Utter drivel. The thought of wading through the repetitive dialogue you described fills me with dread. And not in a good, Hallowe’en way.

I haven’t decided to put it aside completely but if I skip sections (or even jump right to the end!) I won’t feel bad about that. Life is too precious for bad fiction ☺️

Its my first Christie read and I don't find it bad at all!

I really enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express and thought I'd enjoy this book too. I actually liked how the suspense was building up at the end, but the end was disappointing. It was quickly wrapped up, and I think the twist you were referring to didn't make sense. I also noticed the whole everyone blaming the mentally ill stuff and was just wondering if it was a product of the time? I kind of dismissed it for the locals just hearing the worst on the news and couldn't imagine there being a motive for killing a kid

Just finished and I agree with you. And then there were none is terrific! But this one, it had everything to be interesting and the ending (the characters involved the analogies with greek mythology) is not bad but how it got there was…meh. It lacked more things to make it more interesting.

I completely agree! This is the first book I’ve read by her that I didn’t love.

I wish I had seen this review earlier

This was my first A.C book. It was a DNF and I don’t want to go back for more.

Kerri wrote: "I completely agree! This is the first book I’ve read by her that I didn’t love."

I didn't like it the first time. But on third read I got it: this is as close to horror as Christie wrote. It's her "Rosemary's Baby" imo. Movie opens in two days!

Losttrekman wrote: "Great review, thank you. I have finished the entire Poirot collection now and this one sucked. Sorry, actually the 4 or 5 sucked. She gave up on poor old Hercule and I think she was just tired of w..."

Did you see the recent Death on the Nile film? Very good, better than the 1980's version, imo.

Thanks for that information, I’ve never read Agatha Christie and i will take your advice and read what you suggested .

Thanks for the review. I am currently reading this for my book club never having read an Agatha Christie before. I am nearly halfway through, it OK-ish but from the start I was struggling to believe this was by one of the most noted crime writers. There is a lot of repetition, you are right, and it does get quite tedious. I will finish the book but will definitely try one of your recommendations to get a better idea of Agatha Christie.

Curtain , although not published till the 70s, was written in the 1940s

I’m sad to say I agree with everything here. I also guessed the murderer wildly early and I don’t even feel that I can add this one to a (relatively short) list of “Agatha Christie books I’m proud to have guessed correctly” because this one felt so out of character for her.

Not to mention the fact that I was excited to settle into the Halloween season with a spooky themed Christie novel and quickly realized that the Halloween elements were over by the second chapter.

very well said

Brilliant review. My thoughts exactly.

Thank you for saying all this! This was my first AC book and I struggled for the first 100 pages with the repetition! It got better, but I was still a little disappointed. I’ve added all your suggestions to my list and will be reading them. ☺️

Macey wrote: "Thank you for saying all this! This was my first AC book and I struggled for the first 100 pages with the repetition! It got better, but I was still a little disappointed. I’ve added all your sugge..."

Yeah, I think I would have been turned off from reading her completely if this work was my first exposure.

Yep. Just finished reading this for a book group having just watched the recent Branagh film adaptation (if you can even call it that - they kept a couple of names, changed the setting, and gave us a much more interesting storyline) and it's my least favorite Christie ever. Which makes me sad, because I love all things Halloween.

Oh no, I already regret starting with this book even though I have never read an Agatha Christie.

I wish I’d have read your review before I read the book. As I was reading your review, I was literally shaking my head ‘yes’ to every word of it. This was my first AC book, and I was almost scared off. Reading your review, I decided to take note of the other books you listed, and I will try them. I felt exactly the way you wrote about this book. Ugh. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I gave it three stars because it was interesting, but just not what I’d expected. I loved the narrator of the book, and I think he is what kept me going. Ariadne’s voice by him was so wonderful! Reminded me of Julia Child lol. Thank you for your review! I only hope everyone reads it first!