Hallowe'en Party (BBC Audio Crime) by Christie, Agatha on 09/01/2006 New edition

BBC Radio 4 Poirot

by Michael Bakewell

John Moffatt stars as the great Belgian detective in this BBC Radio 4 dramatization. Famous crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, visiting her friend Judith Butler in the little town of Woodleigh Common, is invited to a Halloween Party put on by society hostess Mrs. Rowena Drake for the local teenagers.

During her preparations for the party, the conversation turns to Ariadne s grisly novels. One of the teenagers, Joyce Reynolds, boasts that she once witnessed a murder, although she didn t realize at the time what she d seen. Convinced that she is just trying to attract attention, no one believes her but later she is found tragically drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Distraught, Ariadne decides to call upon the services of her old friend Hercule Poirot to solve the case.

Assuming that Joyce was killed because of what she said, Poirot knows he must find out if the teenager was telling the truth. If so, there is not just one death for him to investigate, but two."

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Crime, Cozy Mystery

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Michael Bakewell (7 June 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British radio and television producer and radio playwright.

His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.

He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.

Reviews

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of Agatha Christie's later Hercule Poirot installments, so others mention Poirot's age, but no matter to Hercule. He is as sharp as ever and even more proud of his moustache and his fashion sense. Halloween Party didn't have as much intensity or twists and turns as earlier Poirot novels, but it was still an enjoyable, solid read.

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it.
Too many characters to try and keep straight and couldn't understand a lot of what was being said because of the really thick English accent.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, Agatha stumped me. It's a quick read, not as curious or interesting as others, but I read it on Halloween so that made it extra special.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now THAT was a weird resolve to the mystery. :P Oh, Agatha Christie, you can be strange. Still, I do love these BBC full-cast productions. Just wish they were longer!

[Akilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, I love a full-cast audio production except for when it ruins my page count for the year. Sigh. And there's no way to log this as a paper book because it is an abridged version of the book, turned into a radio play. That said, I still love that it was full-cast audio and have no regrets.

This was fun to read, mostly because I was super interested in what changes were made for the recent Kenneth Branagh movie. (The answer is A LOT, too many to account for here.) I will also say that Branagh's Poirot and the voice actor who did this one have pretty much the same take on the accent, so kudos for that. Anyway, I do appreciate the eye for diversity the current adaptations have because that makes them more fun in some ways. But that's beside the point.

This was a fun listen and plenty macabre. It would have been a better Halloween read than Christmas because, even though technically it's a cozy mystery, it did not feel cozy because of how many young girls were murdered in this one.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ariadne Oliver is caught up in the distasteful murder of a young girl at a Halloween Party and needs Poirot's help. Not the only Oliver/Poirot adventure involving the death of a girl (see Dead Man's Folly). This production is plagued by a cacophony of high pitched voices. Meh.

[-ˏˋ D ˊˎ- · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The past is the father of the present.”
-Hercule Poirot, from Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

[micki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. BBC Dramatisation.

I liked it but didn't love it. I always give anything Agatha Christie related 5 stars though.

[Jina · Rating 5 out of 5]

BBC Dramatization is ALWAYS so good!! This story isn’t my favorite though.

[Lucinda Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun listen. Great cast and immersive, I wish it had been longer.

[Reading Fanatic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Story

This is another short, sweet Hercule Poirot mystery. A young girl is killed after she announces that she'd witnessed a murder some years earlier. Once again, Poirot works his magic to unravel the mystery. I have to say, though, that the end result of this book was a little strange. Happy reading!

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ariadne Oliver, Poirot’s friend and mystery novelist, is at a party where a murder happens. Appletrees is the home of Rowena Drake. Joyce, the thirteen year old victim, had bragged earlier that she’d seen a murder but everybody laughed at her. She was known to be a braggart but someone must have taken her seriously. She did say it was some time ago so they start by investigating any deaths that weren’t solved or weren’t tagged as murder at the time.
In the small village, there are only three: a rich old woman, a law clerk, and a young female teacher but there is also a missing au pair.
***
Naturally, the horrid Joyce has an equally horrid sibling, Leopold, who listens at doors and has recently come into some cash.
Poirot is intrigued by the garden built into the local quarry where he meets the ethereal Miranda, daughter of Judith Butler, a local widow and Ariadne’s friend.
There is one scene where the local witch’s cat sits on Poirot’s lap and all I can hear is purring. Well done, radio4.
This one was genuinely creepy; travelling from children’s games to nursery rhymes to very adult themes.
Naturally the missing au pair is relevant.
Not one of her best. Too many things come from left field. The garden designer Michael Garfield turns out to be Miranda’s father - Judith was a single mother, not a widow. If you were wealthy I suppose you could hide it in those days. Mrs Drake is the murderer and drowner of children while her lover Michael is the stabber. They did it for the money in the old lady’s estate. Michael wants to make a greek island garden and needs a lot of cash to buy one. Book readers don’t know if she is arrested - here they fixed that in one line. (I used to own the paperback.) But we do know her husband died. Did she kill him as well? It’d be likely.
The emphasis on names: Miranda, Judith, Ariadne and mythology is a little heavy handed. Stone circles and sacrifices? What the…
3 stars

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Schriftstellerin Ariadne Oliver, bittet Poirot, als guten alten Bekannten, in einem Mordfall zu ermitteln, dessen Zeugin sie unfreiwilig wurde. Bei einer Kinderhalloweenparty gab es einen Mord. Während der Partyvorbereitungen prahlte die dreizehnjährige Joyce Reynolds damit, dass sie vor einigen Jahren einen Mord beobachtet hätte, damals aber nicht gewusst hätte, dass es ein Mord gewesen sei. Keiner will ihr glauben, denn Joyce ist bekannt dafür, zu prahlen und gerne mal aufzuschneiden. Als Ariadne ertränkt nach Abschluss der Feier in der Bibliothek gefunden wird, bekommt ihre Aussage ein ganz anderes Gewicht. Poirot ermittelt nun in zwei Mordfällen, einem lange zurückliegenden, den Ariadne beobachtet haben könnte und dem Mord an Ariadne selber. Schon bald pflastern weitere Leichen seinen Weg.

Wieder ein extreme verwickelter und auch deutlich überkonsturierter Fall. Hier sind so viele Morde und Verbrechen miteinander verwoben, dass es schwer ist, noch durchzusteigen. Zwar wird dem Hörer nicht verschwiegen, aber dennoch ist es auch nach der Auflösung noch schwer, ohne einen Knoten im Hirn zu bekommen, all diese Verwicklungen und ihre Konsequenzen zu durchschauen. So gesehen, ein spannender Fall, aber auch wenn nichts verschwiegen wird, hat meine keine Chance auf diese teils sehr entfernten Zusammenhänge zu kommen. Die Vielzahl der Personen, die oft nur kurz auftreten oder nur erwähnt werden ist schwer zu überblicken, vor allem weil viele Stimmen sehr ähnlich sind. Hinzu kommt, dass die Abgebrühtheit von Joyce Bruder, Leopold, mehr als irritierend ist, er weint seiner Schwester keine Träne nach, trauert nicht einmal, während die Mutter wenigstens ein Tränchen verdrückt.
Kein Meisterwerk, aber ein gutes Kriminalhörspiel aus dem Jahr 1993 mit John Moffatt als Hercule Poirot.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forgot at this reading that this one is not my favorite Agatha Christie, a fact that I did eventually recall not too far into the book but I couldn't remember why exactly, and so read on. Thanks to Goodreads, now I can record forever what bothers me about this one and thus spare myself from having to read it again. Unless, for some reason, I want to...

The murder itself, the victim, the method, the time and place, is all just a little too ghastly for me to find much entertainment in. I also felt like Agatha repeated herself unnecessarily often in this one, repeating viewpoints and opinions until you just want to bang your head against the wall and say, "I get it, really, I do." This is not a reaction I have often to Agatha's books, and so I continue reading them, but I did find this one to be a bit much for me.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Moffatt narrates this Christie mystery with enthusiasm. The distinction shown between characters is terrific. With Halloween approaching, I wanted something to get me in the spirit. This story was perfect. I really like murder mysteries that toy with the imagination. I don’t really need to “see the murder” to appreciate the intrigue. I especially love it when the clues are present all along to solve the mystery, although I never do. This story fit the bill perfectly. I felt like I was watching a Hitchcock flick. This story made me really want to host a Halloween bash next year, maybe just without the murder! Of course, like many of Christie's stories, this one was pretty corny. I love corny, however.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not as Halloween-y as I was hoping, it focused more on modern murder motives than on the setting of this particular one. I did have the satisfaction of correctly guessing who did it, although my mind did not quite follow the same logic as Poirot's. I listened to the audiobook, however I just realized that I didn't get the one that I wanted, which was the full-cast version. Overall it was fine, but I tired of listening to the same clues being examined and reexamined. It was very smart, and classic Christie, but in the end it was not one of my favorites.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While at a Halloween party a child reveals that she had witnessed a murder years before, no one believes her. When she turns up dead, Ariadne Oliver , mystery writer and friend of Hercule Poirot decides to call her old friend and see what he thinks.
Another interesting and enjoyable read by Agatha Christie.

[Richard Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ariadne Oliver is my favourite recurring character in Dame Christie's Poirot books and the voice actress gets her right in this, one of the Dame's most disturbing mysteries. Agatha Christie's murderers are often motivated by revenge, love or avarice but are rarely wholly evil. The murderer in Halloween Party is.

[Iman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Christie's best good but still loved it. As usual everything ends up falling into place and I'm in awe of Christie's writing.
Gave it 3 stars because things took a little too long to happen and lacked a little twists and turns in my opinion, and because I was able to guess who the murderer is.

[Alyssa]

SO many people came back together for this! I love the water nymph character, she's so awesome. This is a murder mystery, a girl with loose lips, (sinking ships), was drowned in an apple bobbing bucket. Poirot is on the case! Agatha Christie's usual amazing and exciting standard.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

They jettisoned some characters, but overall the radio dramatization did well at condensing the story while still keeping the mystery.

[Bookkitten (collector of nice things) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it very much, but a Poirot without a French (Belgian, oui, I know, Monsieur) accent is just a good detective, but no "real" personification of Poirot for me.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful audiobook performed by a live BBC cast. A fun little mystery surrounding a murder at a Hallow’een party. Short and sweet to set the mood for the season. Hercule Poirot to the rescue!