A Haunting in Venice... A Truth to be Boasted

	As a maturing adolescent, I have always been advised by my parents to be mindful of what gushes out of my mouth. Similar to little Joyce Reynolds, I was quite a boaster. Whenever I didn’t receive the attention I expected from those surrounding me, I felt the urge to yap. I would yap about anything I found very illuminating to my innocent eyes, and make it more melodramatic than it was. The 1969 classic, A Haunting in Venice, by Agatha Christie, is another one of her noted tales in the Hercule Poirot Mystery collection, where Monsieur Poirot is requested by famous detective novelist, Ms. Ariadne Oliver, to solve the dreadful murder of thirteen-year-old,  Joyce Reynolds, at a Halloween Party. The scenery of the novel is depicted in the English countryside of Woodleigh Common- a place where everyone knows everyone’s business.

	In the beginning scene, we are introduced to Mrs. Oliver (novelist), Mrs. Rowena Drake (hostess), and other Woodleigh Common folks, who are preparing for this indelible event. Here, we also meet little Joyce, who is quite a pathological liar. I know… I sound like an asshole, saying this about a little girl, but to be fair, this unfortunate trait that she possesses, in my opinion, is a huge factor that led her to a homicidal death. During this scene, Joyce was boasting about a murder she had witnessed when she was only a youngling. She never acknowledged it as murder back then, but over time, she allegedly claimed to have realized that what she saw was an act of homicide. No one believed her. Knowing that Joyce was so full of herself, everyone immediately considered the statement to be bullshit. I mean, I would too. If what Joyce said was indeed the truth then why did she not instantly inform someone about it, once realizing what she witnessed was in fact a murder? She was found in the library room with her head in an apple-picking pail. By the looks of it, someone had drowned her. For heaven's sake, who would do such a gruesome deed? Who possesses a reckless heart that has the urge to simply drown an innocent (yet ludicrous) little girl? Now, this is where we get into the juicy stuff. Once the word had spread that Joyce Reynolds had died, the big question I kept asking myself was, “Who dunnit?” This is where mastermind Detective Monsieur Poirot takes the lead in this haunting case. All the way from London, Poirot travels to Woodleigh Common in search of the one at fault for this demented deed. After grasping an overview of the series of events that took place prior to and during the party, Poirot (with the guidance of Mrs. Oliver) has developed a theory that whoever that person is who killed Joyce, may be the person Joyce had witnessed killing someone else. Wait… but wasn’t what Joyce said about murder all a bunch of crap, you might ask. Well… at first yes. But now, it seems unlikely that it would be a coincidence for Joyce to blabber about murder earlier that day and then that same night get murdered herself. Unless it was a coincidence, then man… karma’s a real bitch. 
	
	Anyways, throughout the novel, Poirot interviews every person at the preparations of the party starting with the hostess, Rowena Drake, and even finding himself getting a close perspective from the children at the preparations like Joyce’s brother, Leopold. Over the course load of the interviews witnessed in the book, not only do we continuously learn about what a pretentious brat Joyce is, but we also learn about murders and uncovered mysteries that took place prior in Woodleigh Common. One main mystery the book gets into is the disappearance of Olga Seminoff, an au pair who worked for the late Mrs. Lewellyn-Smythe. She was claimed to be involved in the act of fraud, by being accused of forgering a Will under Mrs. Lewellyn-Smythe’s name and dosing her on drugs. As a result of these accusations, Olga vanished out of thin air. Before I continue, I know what you’re thinking… “Kenan, why are side-tracking from the murder case?” Well, first of all, I am not, as the disappearance of Olga Seminoff has a crucial connection to the death of Joyce Reynolds. And second of all, I might have undiagnosed ADHD. Besides the point, as we dive deep into the book, we learn more about Olga and her role in Woodleigh Common. Other than that I am not going to spoil the rest of this amazing read. There is so much more to talk about, and so many other characters to mention that have a crazy impact on the story, but I am going to let you guys get into the jist of this mystery novel yourselves.

	Agatha Christie has done it again! This novel is definitely one of her top murder mysteries. Overall, I give this book an 8/10! I finished it in under a week! This novel had me awake in the middle of the night wondering who on earth killed that snobby little girl. I won’t say who but my predictions were semi-correct. I never really liked that character, to be frank. Personally, I loved the fact that Christie had made us solve two mysteries in one! I will say it was definitely mind-boggling, but in the end everything made sense. Not only was this book a good read, but it also taught me about the dangers of child trafficking. There are so many lunatics out there that lure children into their cars, causing them to never see any broad daylight ever again. If you are concerned about this book being too action packed with this sort of topic of discussion, do not be alarmed. Yes, it does mention it a few times, here and there, about children being abducted by psychopaths, but it is not emphasized as much.  

	If you have this sudden urge to read a mysterious thriller, definitely read A Haunting in Venice. You won’t regret it!