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A dark and stormy night. Mist billows in the darkness. Dreadful women, crazy old bats, mummy's boys and a vicar abound. The opening to the latest Poirot story, Hallowe'en Party, is a classic, with an all star cast including Julian Rhind Tutt, Sophie Thompson, and the welcome return of Zoe Wanamaker in the role of Poirot’s friend and mystery writer Mrs Ariadne Oliver. The murder in question is that of Joyce Reynolds, drowned in the apple bobbing bucket at a children’s Hallowe’en party while dressed as a bumble bee. She is found, of course, in the library. To be honest it’s a bit of a relief that Joyce is the victim as she promised to be a very irritating character. It would appear that she was killed because she witnessed a murder years ago, but who was killed? And by who? It must have been someone at the party…
Enter Hercule Poirot, complete with his impeccable clothes, his perfect moustache and his impractical shoes. His almost moral outrage at Mrs Oliver’s suggestion that he get some nice rubber-soled boots is priceless. As per usual, he charms the villagers, despite being foreign, and alienates the policemen. Of course, in the end they beg for his help, but it always does to put up a bit of a fight.
Poirot needs to work this one out quickly, especially after a second death and the likelihood of another, but anybody could have done it. Mrs Drake (Deborah Findlay) has suitably crazy eyes. Perhaps it was Michael Garfield, the gardener played by Rhind Tutt whose versatile face can easily change from affable and strangely attractive to really rather creepy in a moment. Could it have been the dodgy vicar who has a weakness for foreign au pairs? Or maybe it was Joyce’s weird brother or even her mother, Thompson’s overly pious Mrs Reynolds whose lodger died a few years ago in mysterious circumstances. Naturally, this is not a problem for his little grey cells.
The plot of this tale is so full of characters, twists, turns, fake wills, suspicious deaths and closet lesbians (unusually racy for Agatha Christie) that it was hard to keep up at times. I did have to concentrate much harder than I would have liked, which meant that I couldn‘t make myself a cup of tea in the breaks for fear of missing bits. On the plus side, I couldn’t work out the whole truth on my own so I felt like I got my money‘s worth. Of course, I had an inkling, one always does, but I wasn’t sure until the end, which is what makes a good whodunnit.
The wonderful David Suchet (the definitive Poirot) was excellent as always (which hardly needs mentioning), and the rest of the cast put on a very good show. On the whole, my only real criticism was the absence of Hugh Fraser’s lovely Captain Hastings. Fair enough, he wasn’t included in the book either, but I’m very fond of him.
See 'Hallowe'en Party' on ITV Player until 25th November.
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