The end of last month when I was visiting friends in Chicago, I picked up a book at O'Hare Airport to read on the plane home. It was an Agatha Christie mystery. I had never read any of her books, although my mother was a great fan of her works. I finished the book last night.
The book was entitled "A Haunting in Venice", but in small print it says that it was originally published under the name of "Hallowe'en Party".
The story does not take place in Venice at all, but rather in a small English town. The title "A Haunting in Venice" is that of a 2023 movie which is VERY loosely based on "Hallowe'en Party". The novel was republished (under the film's title) to publicize the movie.
The book, which appeared in 1969, is one of Christie's later works. It opens as preparations are underway for a children's Halloween party. One of the children insists that some years before she had witnessed a murder. The girl has a reputation as a liar, and everyone dismisses her story as a fabrication. However, after the party, it is discovered that she has been drowned in the apple-bobbing tub. The famous detective Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the mystery.
I was not really impressed with the book. The ending still left a number of loose ends and did not seem convincing. The book did not receive good reviews when it was published. Critics called it a disappointment and said that it seemed as if the author had not edited it prior to publication. They did temper their criticism due to Christie's advanced age. (She was 79 years old at the time.)
Even though I did not think "Hallowe'en Party" was an especially good read, it did not put me off from reading some of her more famous mysteries in the future.
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