In 2021, Janice Hallett released her thrilling debut novel, The Appeal. The book follows the lives of an amateur acting group in a quiet, sleepy town as they host a fundraiser for the group leaders’ granddaughter Poppy, who has cancer, and are faced with the murder of a member of the group!
The book is written in epistolary form, using emails and texts to convey all the action, drama, and thoughts of each character. As a reader, you work alongside law students Charlotte and Femi, who have been given the same emails and texts as the reader, and read through these files to uncover what really happened and ensure the right perpetrator is charged. I usually lean towards crime thrillers, so whilst this detective-style novel was not too far from my usual genre, I have never read a book in this style, and was worried I would find it hard to engage with. However, after getting to know the characters better, the emails and texts became very quick to read, and the slower build up seemed worth it.
The Appeal shares every character’s perspective, bar a few who are intentionally left silent, and the reader is privy to their innermost thoughts – or what they want you to see. I found this to be really interesting compared to a typical third- or first-person narrative centred around one or two characters, as you get to see exactly what each character wants to reveal about themselves. There is also emphasis placed on what isn’t said, so you have to think carefully about what information may be omitted, or who isn’t given a voice of their own.
The novel is plagued with mystery, deceit, and confusion, which makes it a real challenge to join the dots. As indicated in the blurb, everyone is a suspect. However, the mystery is not just the murder, but also around the shady behaviour of Poppy’s grandparents, and the strange, deceit-riddled encounters between most of the characters. Being confused and very intrigued by the apparent lies of most of the characters is what kept me going and allowed me to read the whole book across 3 days, as I was desperate to see how it would all play out. Every time I thought I’d cracked the plot, another twist would happen, and I’d be left second-guessing, doubting what I had read and who was deceiving who. I was truly gripped by the time the book reached its climax, and it was well worth the wait. A few of the twists I had worked out, but not to the point that I thought this was an easy or obvious plot, which was a great balance in a detective novel.
The Appeal has to be one of, if not the, best book I’ve read so far in 2023. It is such a clever concept, and I’m surprised more modern novels haven’t been written in this format, especially with the rapid forms of communication enabled today by the internet and mobile phones. I want to read it again just to pick up on all the subtleties that I missed the first time around, and see what clues were staring me in the face! I would strongly urge anyone who wants a good read over Christmas to pick up The Appeal. Hallett has also released a Christmas-themed sequel, The Christmas Appeal, which would be the perfect accompaniment this Christmas. I’m yet to read it as it’s on my Wishlist, but I’m sure it will live up to the brilliance of its predecessor.