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tamara_joy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Murder
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“There’s always a local witch, you know, in most places. They don’t always call themselves witches, but everyone knows. They tell a fortune or put a spell on your begonias or shrivel up your peonies or stop a farmer’s cow from giving milk and probably give love potions as well.”
TITLE—Hallowe’en Party
AUTHOR—Agatha Christie
PUBLISHED—1969
GENRE—mystery
SETTING—midcentury England
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Halloween, murder, xenophobia, Golden Age syndrome, stigma & prejudice against mental illness, “suburban” social conservatism, fairy gardens, Narcissus & the water, standing stones
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—particularly interesting incorporation of the themes of classism, xenophobia, and mental illness stigma & prejudice; also Poirot is a *hoot*
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“A lovely spot, and yet in some way, Poirot felt as he had felt before, that it could be a haunted spot. There was a kind of pagan ruthlessness about it. It could be along these winding paths that the fairies hunted their victims down or a cold goddess decreed that sacrifices would have to be offered.”
I really enjoy Agatha Christie’s writing style and her characters. I like how the mystery is always a psychological one, i.e. where the reason a person resorts to murder is the focus of the story, and that at any one time, any of the characters seem like they could have done the deed.
This was also a fun seasonal read with all the Hallowe’en imagery with the party, as well as lots of little English folkloric nuggets from witches to fairies to pagan gods. The setting of the quarry garden was also really beautiful and fae-sounding and there’s even a standing stone circle at the end. Also why are murder mysteries featuring interesting child characters so enthralling?
“Yes—he had become mad, perhaps. Whom the gods destroy, they first drive mad.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
TW // murder of a child, g-word slur, xenophobia, characters holding problematic ideas about mental illness—itself a main theme of the book: “Who is truly “insane” or “inhuman”? Who is truly dangerous?” (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- Crooked House, by Agatha Christie
- The Last Séance, by Agatha Christie—TBR
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
- The Summer Book, and The Woman Who Borrowed Memories, by Tove Jansson
- Sarah Waters—TBR
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Xenophobia, and Murder
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