By now I've read every Janice Hallett book and she's become a favourite author. The Christmas Appeal is no different. It was so good to go back to these characters in the aftermath of the events of The Appeal. Sometimes when authors revisit a popular story it can be hit or miss, but in this case I loved it. And that ending! always explosive.

3.5 stars rounded up.

The Appeal 1.5.

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 someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtains go up. Of course, there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could have possibly has the victim on the naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine emails and pour over police transcripts. Will the show go on?

There is just about as much drama off-stage as there is on it. It did take me a little while to get into the story, as there was no action for a good chunk of the story. I took off half a star for that reason. Once I got into the story, it was actually quite a pleasant and simple mystery. Like The Appeal, it's once again written mainly in emails. We also get a catch-up with some of the characters too. There is some humour in this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #SerpentsTailViperProfileBooks and the author #JaniceHallett for my ARC of #TheChristmasAppeal in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, I’ve done it, used the C-word in October! But only for a very special reason, you understand. To talk abuot The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett. This charming novella is an accompaniment and follow up to her best-selling murder mystery, The Appeal.

If you’re not familiar, The Appeal is a very clever murder mystery centred around the escapades (including a murder) of an amateur dramatic group, The Fairway Players. And, as it turns out, they are in a spot of bother again.

Like all of Janice Hallett’s books, The Christmas Appeal is structured as a modern epistolary novel, with the story told through primarily emails and texts. I had such a good time reading this. It’s just so very funny and tongue-in-cheek in tone, it absolutely does tip into slapstick territory at times but in the very best way. It embraces the very British sense of humour when it comes to small town passive-aggression, personal grudges and Christmas traditions.

The Fairway Players are putting on their Christmas pantomine and, as she is newly leading the group. Sarah-Jane wants it to be spectacular. She decides on a panto classic, Jack & the Beanstalk and hires a huge 3D beanstalk for the occasion. Imagine her horror when a dead body is found inside it… just who was the body, and how did it get there?

As this is not a full length novel, it isn’t a true sequel to The Appeal but there are lots of direct references and subtle hints to life since the events of that book.

If you want to put yourself firmly in the Christmas spirit, you must read this funny, touching mystery that’s all packaged up with some festive good cheer – what’s not to love? Bring on the mince pies.

This is a really short read that follows on from The Appeal. So you will need to read the original book before you read this one. To know what has passed before. I really like the writing style of this book and it was nice to revisit the characters from the previous book.

an absolute delight, the perfect one sitting christmas read. was so good to be back in this world. my only issue was a little bit of a struggle remembering who characters were from the appeal, but it was completely necessary so i don’t mind!

Excellent, excellent, excellent! She's done it again! What a joy it was to be back with The Fairway Players and it was absolutely hilarious too. The way Janice Hallett captures those small village relationships and the gossiping through mixed media is just utter magic.

I devoured this festive read in about 1.5 hours - and I'd say that even though it's a festive read, and is about the pantomime, it's not like Christmas is rammed down your throat. You could read this anytime of the year.

Fabulous!

Only slight criticism (which doesn't affect a 5* rating) is that having read this and The Twyford Code on Kindle, I do think Hallett's books are best enjoyed in physical format rather than ebook. I think the formatting is sometimes slightly off and actually, something about her books make me want to flick back and check something I've previously read which isn't easily done on Kindle.

It’s Christmas in Lockwood and for the Fairway Players that means panto season! They’re rehearsing hard to make sure their performance of Jack and the Beanstalk is the best yet so they can raise money for the church roof but as always there is underlying tension. Sarah-Jane is now chair of the group and trying to fend off aggression from disgruntled parties as well as rumours that the beanstalk is full of asbestos. In amongst all this there’s the small matter of a dead Santa. Can Charlotte and Femi get to the bottom of it?

“The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett is due to be published on 26 October 2023 by Viper Books and I received an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

I read “The Appeal” back in January 2022 and really liked it so I was very happy to receive this eArc and be back with the Fairway Players, although as I started to read I realised I’d forgotten a lot of what happened in “The Appeal”. Some of it did come back though.

I love Hallett’s writing style. This one is very similar to “The Appeal” in that we don’t really know much about the crime that has occurred and we are uncovering the story piece by piece through emails and messages exchanged between the main parties involved in the Fairway Players. I love getting to feel like I’m joining in with the search for the truth and it also makes for a very quick read as the pages aren’t packed with writing and I’m always so gripped.

It did feel a little short and the ending felt slightly rushed to me as a result. There were a couple of threads that kind of didn’t really go anywhere and I would have liked to have seen some more time given to those.

Overall this is a fun, festive mystery and I’m sure fans of Hallett’s work will love it!

Since reading ‘The Appeal’ three years ago I have adored the works of Janice Hallett and eagerly await her latest releases. To my absolute delight I was approved this morning to read her newest book ‘The Christmas Appeal’ before publication in October.

I was hooked from the start and to my dismay, I had finished reading within just 3 hours! I am such a big fan of Hallett’s use of the epistolary format (sharing the story via emails, texts/WhatsApp messages and police transcripts). The story was interesting and it was nice to reconnect with a few of the characters from the appeal. I’m glad that Femi, Charlotte and Roderick Tanner, KC came along for the ride. I especially liked the surprise correspondence from a familiar face towards the end!

My only criticism of this book is that it finished far too soon. It felt like the story was really starting up when the incident happened at the show and then it was all over!

I really hope that you will pay another, much longer return to the Fairway Players again Janice!

A differently themed seasonal book, not the usual romance you might expect. The first one I’ve read by this author and will be on the lookout for others.

Published 26 October 2023. Another winner for Janice Hallett. This short novella takes us back to the Fairway Players - we met them in The Appeal - and once again the plot is moved on through emails, round robins and text messages. We are in pantomime season and there is very little Christmas spirit. There are moves afoot to sabotage the pantomime. Celia's emails are juicily spiteful and snarky and it's a wonder there are not a heap of bodies with all of the backstabbing. We might have to wait for a while for the dead Santa to appear, but the build up is wonderful. The script for Jack and the Beanstalk that is being used for the production was written in 1978 before 'woke' came into existence and so character names etc are so politically incorrect. There is also a drive to recruit new members to the theatrical group - but according to some members, they must come from the right side of town. And as for the giant beanstalk - even that causes an argument. As with The Appeal, Mr Tanner who is a retired QC) has set another puzzle for Femi and Charlotte, his trainees and we are given the chance to spot the clues with them. This is funny, farcical and a quick, fun read. I loved it.

This is the first book I have read by this Author and I just didn't enjoy the style of telling a story through texts ,emails and round robin letters ,for me it spoilt the story but I know other reviewers simply love it .Nevertheless it was quite a funny old fashioned story and quite short .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

The Fairway Players are back! And this time it's the annual panto, filled with the usual issues over who plays which part, and how the scenery will get in place. There are some new people in the Players, but with Sarah-Jane now the chair things have moved on a little. The new estate is causing some issues in town, there's confusion over the sweets for the kids in the audience, and the day of the show is getting closer.

It's the same format as The Appeal, so if you enjoyed that then you will enjoy this. The cast of characters has changed slightly, but there's still the enjoyable aspect of working out who knows more than they're saying, and wondering what is going to come apart first. I genuinely laughed out loud at some scenes, and overall it's a very enjoyable book.

Having read and loved The Appeal, it was amazing to be back with The Fairway Players as they prepare for their Christmas Panto. This Christmas themed sequel still has all the charm and wit of the original and when a dead body turns up it also brings the suspense of the first book too. It's laid out in the same way, with emails and memos etc creating a timeline of events, and Femi and Charlotte make a welcome return as the lawyers raking through it all to find the culprit. I highly recommend, my only complaint is that it was too short!!
Thanks to Viper, Janice Hallett and Netgalley for the ARC.

Yes, I read a Christmas book in September, but every month is a Janice Hallett month for me. I loved rejoining the Fairway Players for this mystery novella. Told again using emails between the amateur dramatic group during pantomime season, we have a dead Santa, a huge beanstalk and a whole bunch of hysterical moments. I read this super quick and loved every second of it.

I had so much fun with The Appeal by Janice Hallett and I recommended it to all of my friends and family. It was one of my top books of 2022. When I heard that there was a second book, I was desperate to read it. Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for providing me with an E-Arc of The Christmas Appeal.

The beauty of Janice Hallett books is that, from page one, you are thrown straight into the story. Short, mixed media conversations are loaded with information in a very well crafted way. Characters are instantly recognisable from even the shortest interactions and you know exactly what their "angle" is. You don't need to have set foot near an amateur dramatics association to recognise this particular aspect of British life, of British people, is well depicted.

This is a short book but I had so much fun with it.

A wonderful follow up to The Appeal which I absolutely adored.

We are reunited with the Fairway Players are they are getting ready for their festive pantomine. Obviously things don't go to plan when a dead body is discovered in the beanstalk stage prop.

Roderick Tanner QC has put together another puzzle for lawyers Femi and Charlotte from correspondence/text messages and emails in the lead up to the pantomime and has asked them to name who has been murdered and who was the culprit.

I really enjoy this type of book, completely different and very refreshing and in my haste to enjoy it, I think I completely missed a lot of the clues dotted about although did solve some of the mystery.

Brilliant, funny and full of laughter!

The Fairway Players return and this time they are preparing for their Christmas pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. All is not well, however, with Sarah-Jane finding that not all of her fellow actors are pleased that she is the new Chair and the piece de resistance, the beanstalk, may actually contain asbestos. When a body is found, the whole performance looks like being memorable for all the wrong reasons! We join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they examine the evidence, trying to ascertain who has something to hide.

Janice Hallett has become one of my favourite authors as I love her use of text messages, emails and other documents to tell the story, leaving the reader to piece together what has happened and, hopefully, solve the crime. In The Christmas Appeal, we once again meet The Fairway Players who we first met in the author’s best-selling debut, The Appeal. It was good to see what had happened in the time since that book and how the events had impacted upon the local community. You do not, however, need to have read The Appeal in order to enjoy this short book, indeed, this is an ideal book to introduce Janice Hallett if you have not read any of her previous work.

In The Christmas Appeal, we have a great mystery and a fascinating array of characters, many of them with secrets they want to stay hidden, but do any of these secrets involve murder? The story is told with humour and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, as mixed messages nearly cause a huge catastrophe!

This is a perfect book to read on the approach to Christmas and will definitely be another huge hit.

Sarah-Jane and her husband, Kevin, are in charge of the pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. The Halliday’s are still unhappy to have been ousted and will do whatever it takes to ruin this year’s panto.

The Fairway Players are planning to raise money to fix the church roof but will all be plain sailing?

Femi and Charlotte are reading the round robins from the group, the police transcripts to work out exactly what did and didn’t happen at the pantomime.

I enjoyed this short story and found myself laughing a lot. The author has written a great Christmas tale which kept me immersed from start to finish.

Interesting and plausible characters & I have to admit that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting at the end!

My thanks to Serpent’s Tail and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Appeal, Janice Hallett’s celebrated crime debut, is the one book of hers that I’ve not yet read. Having read and loved The Christmas Appeal, and knowing that it is set in the same madcap world of the The Fairway Players, I must make catching up with that very first book a priority. The characters, the set-up, the humour, intentional or not, were absolutely fabulous and right up my street.

Now I grew up in a family where it was almost a right of passage to join the local amateur dramatics groups. It started with the very local group who once a year, in the February half term, would put on the annual town panto, so you probably understand why this book resonated with me so much. I mean, it was never this dramatic, but still. The Christmas Appeal, as you might expect from the title, is set amongst the rehearsals and ill fated performance of this most traditional endeavours, the pantomime, with The Fairway Players putting on a charity performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in order to raise funds for the church hall roof.

Panto is not something that is meant to be taken very seriously, and Janice Hallett taps into this perfectly with a story which is lighthearted and tongue in cheek, with all the madness and farce of the best panto productions, amplified to such a degree that you might be forgiven for thinking someone may have been product testing some of the “sweets” that are purchased for the children attending the show.

Rivalry between fellow players over who should really be the chair of the group, adds a constant display of oneupmanship, in its own right comedic and chuckle some. We’ve all met a Celia Halliday in our lifetime, the Hyacinth Bucket of The Fairway Players, and the am-dram thesps, who would do anything to secure that best part, could be literally any of a number of work colleagues – we all know the type. They are strangely authentic and each one brought a smile to my face for different reasons.

This wouldn’t be much of a mystery if it was all just about the jealousy of one family (the Hallidays) towards another (the MacDonalds). This is definitely a story of double-crossing, secrets and pent up frustrations, and nothing is quite what it seems. From the most innocent of misunderstandings, to a very high stakes error in judgment, right through to a drunk pantomime horse and the unexpected early appearance of Santa Claus, much to the delight of the children and the horror of the cast, this story entertained from the start.

Told in the authors original style of a series of emails, statements, and text messages, and with interludes as the legal eagles, Charlotte and Femi try to decipher the case files sent to them by Roderick Tanner, this is a fast paced, fun, highly witty foray into the dangerous world of pantomime, and I loved every minute of it. Definitely recommended,

I was chuffed to have been approved for this on Netgalley. Especially as my first book on there 😍

It takes place a few years after The Appeal and features the return of some familiar characters.

Charlotte & Femi are given another set of transcripts to look over and see if they can source the corruption.

The relationships between characters are funny, dramatic and complex. There were times where I was laughing out loud, wincing & rolling my eyes.

This book is much shorter than The Appeal, I think it’s classed as 1.5 in the series, but it is not lacking.

The context is the same, texts and emails, making it quick to read. However I still found it an effort keeping up with who was sending to who.

Charlotte & Femi’s sleuthing skills seem to have evolved and it was great seeing them come across so confident.

I loved the Christmassy feel and it definitely got me excited for the cold evenings and festive performances that December brings.