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Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)

Agatha Christie

Start date: October 1, 2016

Finish date: October 31, 2016

Discussion: Group reads

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Group reads

* November 2025 group read - Winner!
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last updated Sep 17, 2025 08:43AM

* Sept 25: Lonesome Road (#3 Miss Silver Mysteries) by Patricia Wentworth
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What Members Thought

Oct 15, 2016 Christine PNW rated it really liked it

Shelves: vintage-women, halloween-bingo-2021

I previously rated this 2 stars?? What the hell was I thinking? It has both Ariadne Oliver and Superintendent Spence. I think I ate too many snapdragon raisins - this is 4 stars at least!

2021 Re-read:

It's Halloween Bingo 2021, and I am revisiting this old favorite to fill the Halloween square. I love Ariadne in this one, although not quite so much as I love her in Mrs. McGinty's Dead, which may be the ultimate and quintessential appearance of Ariadne Oliver.

...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2022 Kavita rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, uk

I skipped Third Girl because once is enough for that clusterfuck. But Christie gets better with Hallowe'en Party. Very creepy! This is yet another book with Mrs Oliver, a character that Christie appears to have taken to later in her career. I enjoyed this book and the plot was well-developed, but the kids were all annoying in different ways.

Mrs Oliver attends a Halloween party for children whilst staying with a friend. An attention-seeking girl boasts of having seen a murder and is dismissed lig ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2020 Frances rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-series

This was probably my least favourite Poirot so far in my read-through of the series (and I'm pretty close to the end). Too much Psychologizing, somewhat disjointed plot, Ariadne Oliver was featured but she was even more dithery and annoying than usual, Poirot was his usual self, but all the comments about his age and questionable cognitive impairment wore thin. However Christie is the Queen, and the occasional lapse is certainly forgivable. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 01, 2016 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing

A Halloween party for local teenagers, attended by Mrs Ariadne Oliver who has helped organise it, results in the murder of one of the young guests. Everyone come sunder suspicion and Mrs Oliver, not unnaturally, calls on her friend Hercule Poirot to come and investigate. Poirot soon discovers that the victim - Joyce - is not well liked. She had announced shortly before her death that she was the witness to a murder but when everyone laughed at her she had refused to say any more about it. Was sh ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2020 Tracey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poirot, agatha-christie

Enjoyed the party and some of the characters, but didn't think too much of the actual mystery. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2019 Vanessa rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery, 1960s, cozy, halloween, holiday-cozy

The mystery is still solid but this is missing a little of the usual Agatha Christie magic. I think quite a bit of the problem is that the red herrings involving psychology just aren't that fun. The story doesn't leave enough space for the characters to really shine. I loved scenes with Ariadne Oliver, the local witch, and two teenage boys, but I am used to a Christie novel having more characters that standout in the cast. The mystery is a bit too predictable. There weren't enough possible culpr ...more

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