Agatha Christie — The Hallowe’en Party (1969)

Preamble

If you’re interested in reading my academic work about detective and crime fiction (free PDFs available), check it out here. Or you can take a look at my short story collection of cosy mysteries featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!

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Review

As mentioned in my recent ECR Lorac review, I have generally not read much detective fiction from the twentieth century (appreciating that there is lots of it, and “much” may be a relative term!). But I have been meaning to read more Christie, and this appeared as free on my Kindle in the early days of January, so I took it up.

I am a little apathetic on Poirot generally, having only dim (but fond) memories of most of the David Suchet œuvre and questions about the John Malkovich iteration! Having checked the cast list for the 2010 Suchet version, I would gladly hunt it out and watch it in a quiet winter moment. I saw the Branagh adaptation (looser in its approach) and enjoyed that for all its melodrama. So, what of the book itself?

I think I prefer later Christie to earlier Christie, all in all, and the crime is an interesting one. There are quite a few mentions of crazed sex criminals running amok hurting children, which had an air (although very sedate and English) of the mid-century. The persistent interest in inheritances, forgeries, and concealed family relations nevertheless gave it rather a late-Victorian Sensational feel, and I enjoyed this juxtaposition. Ariadne Oliver, too, I enjoyed, although having Tina Fey squarely in mind when she is not quite concordant with the textual description, thanks to A Death in Venice.

There is very real peril here, and it is not schmaltzy about children and childhood. The dead teenage girl is a known liar and show-off whom most characters confess to having vaguely disliked. And yet, why kill her? There is a crime behind the crime, or maybe several. The final roadside adventure gave some thrills, but overall this was also quite a human story about people trapped in the cages of their social status and standing, as well as about the standing of those who are commonly marginalised in society, children, immigrants, and women.

I will gladly read this again after I’ve watched the David Suchet version!

See also

These lists capture other stories and characters that I thought of as I was reading this piece. I won’t explain why, to avoid spoilers, but they’re associations and not ‘if you liked this, then you’ll love…’ recommendations!

• A Death in Venice (film)
• The Pledge (Friedrich Dürrenmatt)

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Take a look at my short story collection featuring Victorian “lady detective” Meinir Davies; order now!