Hallowe'en Party is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. This book was dedicated to writer P. G. Wodehouse.
The novel features Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and the mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver, who begins the novel in attendance at a Hallowe'en party. A girl at the party claims to have witnessed a murder, which at the time she was too young to realize was such. Disbelieved by those around her, the girl then is drowned in an apple-bobbing bucket, and Poirot must solve a two-pronged mystery: who killed the girl, and what, if anything, did she witness?
Synopsis
While everyone is preparing for a Hallowe'en party at Rowena Drake's home in Woodleigh Common, 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds tells everyone she had once seen a murder before. When the party ends, Joyce is found dead, drowned in an apple bobbing tub. Ariadne Oliver, attending the party while visiting her friend Judith Butler, calls on Hercule Poirot to investigate. With help from retired Superintendent Spence, Poirot makes a list of deaths and disappearances in the last few years in Woodleigh Common:
Rowena's aunt, Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe, died suddenly, and her au pair, Olga Seminoff, disappeared when a codicil that favoured her in her employer's will was found to be a forgery.
Leslie Ferrier, a lawyer's clerk, was stabbed in the back by an unknown assailant.
Charlotte Benfield, a 16-year-old shop assistant, was found dead with multiple head injuries.
Janet White, a teacher at Elms School, was strangled to death.
Poirot learns a few interesting facts:
Judith's daughter Miranda was Joyce's closest friend, and the pair shared secrets.
Joyce was known to be a teller of tales to gain attention.
Elizabeth Whittaker, a mathematics teacher, witnessed Rowena become startled and drop a vase of water outside the library while the party-goers were playing snap-dragon.
Ferrier had previous convictions for forgery, and many suspected that he and Olga were working together to steal Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe's fortune.
A one-time cleaner of Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe had been witness to her employer making the codicil.
A beautiful garden built within an abandoned quarry was designed by Michael Garfield, a narcissistic man, for Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe.
The victim's brother, Leopold Reynolds, has become flush with money of late.
Leopold is found dead. Rowena informs Poirot that she had seen him in the library the night of the party, and she believes he witnessed his sister's murder.
Poirot advises the police to search the woods near the quarry. The search finds Olga's body in an abandoned well, stabbed in the same manner as Ferrier. Fearing another murder, Poirot sends a telegram to Mrs Oliver, instructing her to take Judith and her daughter to London. Miranda meets with Garfield, who takes her to a pagan sacrificial altar with the intention of poisoning her. However, he commits suicide when two men, recruited by Poirot, save her life. Miranda reveals that she had witnessed the murder Joyce claimed she had seen; she saw Garfield and Rowena drag Olga's body through the quarry garden. Miranda had not been present at the preparations for the party, so Joyce tried to seek famous Ariadne's attention by claiming she had seen the murder.
Poirot tells Mrs Oliver what he has learned. While her husband was alive, Rowena began an affair with Garfield. Her aunt discovered this affair, and as a punishment, she wrote a codicil that left her fortune to Olga. When the pair learned of this change, they plotted to discredit Olga's claim, hiring Ferrier to replace the codicil with a clumsy forgery, ensuring Rowena inherited everything; the codicil was later found. Both Olga and Ferrier were murdered to conceal the deceit, but Rowena suspected someone had witnessed the disposal of Olga's body. She killed Joyce when she claimed she had witnessed a murder, unaware that she had appropriated Miranda's story. The dropping of the vase which Mrs Whittaker witnessed was to disguise the fact Rowena was already wet from drowning Joyce. Leopold was murdered because he witnessed Rowena murdering his sister and blackmailed her.