Review: The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

Synopsis: This immersive holiday caper from the “modern Agatha Christie” (The Sunday Times, London) follows the hilarious Fairway Players theater group as they put on a Christmas play—and solve a murder that threatens their production.

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.

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Written along the same style as The Appeal by the same author, this was a more engaging read as it was, quite simply, more concise that the first in the series.

Again, the author uses all the "modern day" electronic forms of communication to set out and ultimately solve this little christmas mystery.

Review: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

Synopsis: Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels, the cult that brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared. 

Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the true-crime scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail. As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.

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Two rival crime authors must collaborate to seek the truth about a mysterious cult. Who will live to write about it and will all be revealed or hidden once again.

The story format is told by way of more modern forms of communication - whatsapp messages, texts, emails, sticky notes, transcribed interviews etc. We don't actually "meet" the to rivals in the flesh, so to speak. I am not really a fan of this style of narrative - and found myself taking longer to read than I usually would. However, the story was engaging enough that I was compelled to read on until the mystery was solved.

Review: The Appeal by Janice Hallett

Synopsis: The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that a killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

Interesting take on an investigation into murder using an email / text based narrative to drive the storyline. Once you get into the rhythm, you find yourself drawn into the private conversations between the various cliques within and surround the acting troupe before various scenarios are worked through to discover the final truth.

Very solid debut novel.