In this new mystery, Hercule Poirot is reunited with his good friend Ariadne Oliver,Crime writer Ariadne attends a children's Halloween party where young Joyce Reynolds boasts about witnessing a murder. The Woodleigh Common locals, including her stepmother refuse to take her seriously. However, when Joyce is found drowned in an apple-bobbing bucket that very same evening, Ariadne asks Poirot to investigate. There are many suspects - any one of the guests could have slipped out during a game of Snapdragon. Amid rumours of a curse on the village, Poirot knows it is only a matter of time before the k iller strikes again.