It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett.
About the Author
Janice Hallett is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Appeal (a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, the Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year and winner of the CWA Debut Dagger award) and the Sunday Times bestsellers The Twyford Code and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. She lives in West London. Follow @JaniceHallett on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)
About the book
* The Cast of Sunday Times Bestselling The Appeal return for a festive Murder Mystery *
One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth? Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal.
But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.
Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?
Review
I've said this before, but it's definitely worth repeating, this author brings an entirely new vibe to fictional writing. It's fresh, innovative, will probably appeal to and bring in a wider audience. It's also worth noting that they are an author to watch.
This a novella length read, a 1.5 add-on to the novel Appeal, and the chaos has lost none of its charm. The focus, once again, is on the Fairway Players and their inability to stay away from murder and mayhem. In the midst of low-key tensions, jealousies and competitive drive, the Fairway Players take centre stage in this murder mystery - if they aren't careful they might start getting a reputation for always being in the middle of a scandal.
It's up to Femi and Charlotte to discern the lie from the truth, the malice from the merely incompetent, the eternally annoyed from the blatantly stupid, but most importantly they have to decide where the line is drawn between accident and intent.
As always it's the kind of read that keeps you reviewing the information you are taking on board, even if it means revisiting some details, because the answers are in the small details and sometimes they are in the turn of a phrase.
I thought the twist towards the end was intriguing, could this be a potential plot of a further Appeal? Please make the twist the villain in a new venture! Before I forget, can I just say kudos for the murder 'weapon' - I will never see, listen to or read that story without thinking of this rather unusual piece of evidence.
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