Let's Bust a Recap : Hallowe'en Party

You knew it was coming, right? As soon as Kenneth Branagh announced his newest Poirot adaptation earlier this year, I was faced with a conundrum: I already had The Murder of Roger Akroyd on my 2023 book list, but now, obviously, I needed to read Hallowe'en Party before seeing A Haunting in Venice. On top of that, shortly before hearing about the movie, I came across the book in a Little Free Library and had just added it to my collection. Literally. In February. Of this year. What's a girl to do? 

Come October I nearly had a fit. I strayed from my list freely and often this year, and, as evidenced by my little self-imposed check-in at the beginning of September, I was feeling the crunch to actually read the books I had put on my list. So I sat down with The Murder of Roger Akroyd and figured I'd just get to Hallowe'en Party whenever I actually planned to watch the movie. 

Well, the same friends who had us over to watch Death on the Nile notified me immediately after seeing A Haunting in Venice come available on hulu that I better get to reading, because we were going to have another watch party. 

Naturally, I obliged. 

In this slim mystery, Hercule Poirot is called by a spooked Ariadne Oliver after she attends a Hallowe'en party where a child is drowned in an apple bobbing tub. The famous author of detective novels is a personal friend of Poirot's, and she begs him to come investigate the crime(s) for himself. The child had declared earlier in the day that she witnessed a murder and so Poirot's mission is twofold: solve the murder of the child, and determine if the dead child really did witness a murder and solve that one too. 

Clever. 

Hallowe'en Party is one of Agatha Christie's much later novels published in 1969 and while it still had her telltale stamp of misdirection and numerous suspects, there was a maturity to this mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first Christie novel I've read where I definitively figured out the whodunnit before the actual revelation, but the whydunnit still eluded me making the resolution as satisfying as any of her other books. Reading this one so close to The Murder of Roger Akroyd, I couldn't help compare the two, and this one was by far my favorite. 

The movie on the other hand was the most ridiculous adaptation yet. In Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh did a great job developing the suspects and laying out the mystery, but then royally screwed up the ending. In Death on the Nile, he dragged us through a horrendous adaptation but managed to end it perfectly. In A Haunting in Venice: it was a total free-for-all. Branagh basically took the character names from the book, lifted a few plot devices (like the actual Hallowe'en party, and the separate past and present murders), but then just made his own movie. Like, why? 

I mean, honestly, why?? I really can't get over it. It was awful. 

Even setting the novel aside, the movie just wasn't great; although, much to my own surprise, I enjoyed Tina Fey in the role of Ariadne Oliver. While it's certainly not how I imagined her as I was reading the book, Fey did a great job with the role. While I cannot in good conscience recommend that trainwreck of an adaptation to anyone, I would definitely recommend reading Hallowe'en Party. I will warn you that there are several child victims in this one, but if you can deal with that, this is a great mystery. 

And to end on a fun note: Agatha Christie dedicated this little novel to author P.G. Wodehouse. Because they enjoyed each other's books. You know I'm a sucker for a good dedication and this one made me smile real big. How fun.

Still waiting for your Miss Marple recs over here!