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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A classic murder mystery to celebrate Hallowe'en! Following another Hercule Poirot mystery adventure, this time Poirot must solve the murder of Joyce Reynolds who announced at a Hallowe'en party that she had witnessed a murder. Sparing all the details, Poirot must reconstruct poor Joyce's murder as well as all the suspicious deaths in the area to find the motive. The plot spins a web of deceit and lies, but Poirot will surely use his "little grey cells" to solve the mystery!
Shelved in Adult Fiction, this is a wonderful spooky October read for anyone who loves a good classic!
Shelved in Adult Fiction, this is a wonderful spooky October read for anyone who loves a good classic!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good old fashioned mystery although this time the victims are children which is a bit hard. Once the mystery is solved and the clues are revealed it all seems so easy to figure out, which of course it wasn't....
Not my fave Poirot. A bit much rambling dialogue, but still came together nicely at the end.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This isn't the best Poirot I've read but I didn't come up with the full solution, so Mrs Christie has outwitted me once again. I would like to have seen more of Ariadne Oliver and just a bit more character development...and may 2-3 less minor characters.
I had given up on reading mystery novels quite a long time ago, having found that most of the ones I read only prevented them from being predictable by giving the protagonist information that was obscure to the reader. It's possible that I was missing the point of mysteries in trying to work out the solution based on the content of the story... but if that wasn't the point, I couldn't figure out why on earth there was an entire subgenre of novel solely dedicated to the plot point "somebody gets murdered or done a mischief."
I have to admit to not having read any Agatha Christie before swearing off mysteries, and stumbling upon Hallowe'en Party in a Little Free Library the week of halloween made a convincing argument for revisiting the genre.
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the conclusion in the final pages and the culprit was who I had deduced - but not entirely expected - it to be. The book seemed to be building the case in a different direction, but I was sure there was logical support for my theory, and reviewing and reframing the clues in my head was the sort of mental exercise I had always thought a mystery novel should be.
The writing itself left a bit to be desired - there was a good deal of unnecessary repetition, especially of mundane information. Ariadne likes apples: it's a cute alliteration, but the point is driven home so hard, you'd have thought an apple killed Joyce. And there was an element in the reveal that Poirot discerned seemingly apropos of nothing, and while I was grateful it wasn't the very identity of the murderer, the fact that it was something that made absolutely no difference to the overall plot was almost equally frustrating. Also, there was a continuity error in which Poirot hears two characters use the same phrase independently, but mixes up the order in which they occur when explaining his solution.
EDIT: I went back and forth on whether I wanted to include this in my review, but any enjoyment I got out of the book was sorely spoiled by the constant and unquestioned expression, by multiple characters, of the belief that murder and other violent crimes are the acts of the mentally ill or unstable. There was certainly a vogue for this idea at the time of the book's writing, but it was as false and reductive a stereotype then as now, especially since it actually hinders the narrative by minimizing the motives Poirot deduces to actually indentify the murderer.
I have to admit to not having read any Agatha Christie before swearing off mysteries, and stumbling upon Hallowe'en Party in a Little Free Library the week of halloween made a convincing argument for revisiting the genre.
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the conclusion in the final pages and the culprit was who I had deduced - but not entirely expected - it to be. The book seemed to be building the case in a different direction, but I was sure there was logical support for my theory, and reviewing and reframing the clues in my head was the sort of mental exercise I had always thought a mystery novel should be.
The writing itself left a bit to be desired - there was a good deal of unnecessary repetition, especially of mundane information. Ariadne likes apples: it's a cute alliteration, but the point is driven home so hard, you'd have thought an apple killed Joyce. And there was an element in the reveal that Poirot discerned seemingly apropos of nothing, and while I was grateful it wasn't the very identity of the murderer, the fact that it was something that made absolutely no difference to the overall plot was almost equally frustrating. Also, there was a continuity error in which Poirot hears two characters use the same phrase independently, but mixes up the order in which they occur when explaining his solution.
EDIT: I went back and forth on whether I wanted to include this in my review, but any enjoyment I got out of the book was sorely spoiled by the constant and unquestioned expression, by multiple characters, of the belief that murder and other violent crimes are the acts of the mentally ill or unstable. There was certainly a vogue for this idea at the time of the book's writing, but it was as false and reductive a stereotype then as now, especially since it actually hinders the narrative by minimizing the motives Poirot deduces to actually indentify the murderer.
Normally i love Christie's books but this one really took me down. The murder wasn't really compelling, the first few chapters were sluggish. This one really made me end up in a slump.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A plot about serial child murders and packed with Christie's prejudices against the young, divorced parents, unmarried women, etc. -- not a "cozy mystery" at all.