The only thing that could get me more excited than a new Janice Hallett book is a new Janice Hallett book that is also festive!

The Christmas Appeal finds us back in the world of the Fairway Players, as lawyers Femi and Charlotte are once again tasked with going through the documents relating to a murder in the Players’ dramatic milieu.

I thoroughly enjoyed being back with these characters again, and the novella length makes it ideal for curling up with on a winter’s afternoon to read in one sitting. And that cover!

All in all the perfect festive murder mystery to give as a gift this Christmas (or to keep for yourself).

If you loved The Appeal, you'll relly love The Christmas Appeal. The gang are all back and in a rollercoaster of a story about life in the local am-dram society.

I absolutely devoured it and stayed up way passed bedtime to finish it.

Janice Hallet has knocked it out of the park again.

Highly recommend

I mean, is there a more coveted book out this winter time?

It is fascinating how easy this format becomes to read. When I first read The Appeal, it took a little while to figure out, especially as it was a digital ARC so the formatting wasn't 100% as it would be in the book. And then The Twyford Code, which became a little easier. And then the Alperton Angels, which became second nature. And now with this, which is again written in email and message form. And I instantly got to grips with it. It's such a unique form of writing, one I'd never thought of before, but now I can't think that any of these books could be written in any other way. It's a stroke of genius.

I was also a bit worried that, because The Appeal came out a couple of years ago, and I've read a lot of books since then, that I wouldn't remember the characters or the context anymore, but you just immediately get absorbed into it. I can't explain how, but it's like you know these people personally and like you've never been away from them.

Janice wonderfully sets the scene, with over half the book gone before the dead body appears. This might have felt drawn out, a bit slow, but it's expertly done. It gives us the context and we really get invested so that when THE THING happens, we're fully in it and desperate to see what happens next.

We find most of the old cast - the loved, the liked, and the disliked - but there are also some new additions which help freshen it up. There are a lot of characters but none seem to overbear the others (unless that is their character's trait). Enough time is given to each, even in a book this short, and I have really grown to love them.

It is a short book at just over 200 pages, and only took me a couple of hours to get through. It's the ideal read for a cosy winter evening (even if I did read it when it was 28 degrees outside)! She manages so much in such a short time but it never feels lacking in any way.

I generally don't like long books as I never feel they warrant being that long and therefore feel too much effort to read. But I would have gladly read more of this, even double the length, because it is so easy to read and just thrilling.

I have no doubt that Janice will continue with this winning streak of books. She's one of the most unique, original and fantastic writers around, and a new release is always cause for celebration, and so far, I haven't met a Janice Hallett book I didn't immediately love. And I do believe there is a new book due out in September 2024, and I'm already ticking off the days.

Janice Hallett is an author to look out for, her books are without exception a joy to read. Fun and unusual, it’s rare to come across writing that keeps you engaged throughout.

Whilst this book includes characters from her original book The Appeal, there is no need to have read this first, although I suspect if you haven’t you will be off to buy it straightaway!

I really enjoyed this book which I whizzed through far too quickly, I was disappointed when it ended! I loved The Appeal but you don’t strictly need to read it first, although there is somewhat of a spoiler and I think you get more out of it if you know some of the characters. Janice Hallett excels at delivering such distinct voices through text messages and emails that you know who you are reading immediately and means you can become completely immersed. Definitely a good festive read or ideal Christmas present.

For those of you not in the know - Hallett is a genius author who manages to write amazing crime books in alternative format (emails, text messages, interview transcripts, audio transcripts and more). And her plotting is so Mensa-level she has me hooked and completely unable to guess who did it. Seriously - read her books.

TCA is a short story sequel to her debut fiction, The Appeal, and it pulled me out of a reading slump (thank you!!) This one takes you back into the madness and chaos of The Fairway Players - with our legal duo reviewing documents for the retired Roderick Tanner KC surrounding a death. Was it murder? Who they think is the likely suspects? Are there other dodgy dealings afoot?

Whilst very much a continuation of its predecessor, we come across more characters, more mishaps and more chaos. I loved getting back into this world. Hallett had me chuckling along and again desperately trying to work out the solutions - but again failing miserably. And when we had the reveal - it was just genius. Recommended reading!!

I'd meant to put off reading this as long as possible since it's (still) summer-ish. However I wanted something light and enjoyable plus I loved The Appeal.

I loved this Christmas edition as well, if not more. Its certainly funnier than the earlier novel. This is a nice short, festive romp back to the original book and is written in the same style - texts, emails etc. Mr Tanner (the retired QC) has set another puzzle for the trainees which involves a lot of the same players as before.

The rivalry between Celia/Joel (OBE) and Sarah-Jane/Kevin is ramped up another notch as all things are at Christmas. Sarah-Jane us determined to gave a classier production of the Christmas play although she's chosen a 1970's rendition of Jack and the Beanstalk so that's unlikely.

Suffice to say the build up is funny, the play is a wonderful farce and the aftermath is interesting.

Loved The Appeal. Love this. The publisher mooted this as a quick Christmas read so hats off to Ms Hallett for rising to and surpassing the challenge.

Thanks very much for the Christmas gift Netgalley, Atria Books and Rachel Quin for the advance review copy. This would make a great stocking filler/quick Christmas read.

In exchange for an honest review, I received a free copy of, The Christmas Appeal, by Janice Hallett, from the publisher and Netgalley. The Fairway Players are back with another play and another dead body.

I am a massive fan of The Appeal and the creative way it was told through emails, messages, and written notes. This sequel continues with the same premise much to my delight. I love mixed-media books! I also enjoyed returning to these characters and their inner drama, the build-up to the dead body was very well done.

I must admit I was disappointed with the dead body itself as well as the resolution, until then I was very invested in the story.

Four stars!

If you loved The Appeal and want a daft, funny and festive dopamine hit this is for you. The Fairway Players are putting on a pantomime and there are all kinds of nefarious activities getting in the way. Old rivalries and scores must be settled and murder lurks in the wings. I'm not a fan of Christmas, but it's much more tolerable with a body count.

In 'The Christmas Appeal' by Janice Hallett, lawyers Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd are sent a batch of documents by retired KC Roderick Tanner relating to a crime that took place amongst The Fairway Players during their staging of the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. Sarah-Jane McDonald the leader of the players, and Celia Halliday (a woman who believes she should be the leader of the players) are caught up in a power struggle, beautifully displayed through text messages, emails, and police transcripts. Amongst the hilarity of an amateur pantomime and the demands placed on the players by the community (e.g. gender neutral sweet bags), the power struggle leads to the Halliday's taking actions that reveal a hidden crime.

Hallett's epistemological style works brilliantly as always, and nicely highlights the difference between what is said in public and what is said in private. There were many times I laughed out loud and with recognition. The story is probably lighter and more linear than other Hallett stories, but this makes it ideal for a cosy Christmas read. My only sadness is that I've already read it, and can't enjoy it next to the Christmas Tree!

Having recently read The Appeal, I was happy to continue with this Christmas sequel, for The Fairway Players are back and Femi and Charlotte have been given another bundle of messages to peruse.

The characters were still fresh in my mind, and although it was slightly odd to be reading a Christmas story at the tail end of August, this was an enjoyable and fun mystery. Sarah-Jane and Kevin are jostling for position with Celia and Joel (OBE) but, as always with small communities and groups, everybody knows each other’s secrets, weaknesses and faults and plays them well. Celia and Joel (OBE) are miffed that their suggestion of a farce was not taken up by the amateur dramatic group and Celia is equally miffed that Sarah-Jane is keen to recruit new members from a housing estate that she considers beneath her social level. Meanwhile, the next production is the annual pantomime, a Seventies production of Jack and the Beanstalk, utilising a prop from bygone days – a huge beanstalk which has to be moved into the church hall.

There is, obviously, a crime to content with, involving a body, drug deals and a never to be forgotten night on stage, as well as some old, new and returning characters. Good fun for the festive season. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This was a compelling read. I loved the Fairway players. They were such a diverse bunch. The death of a father christmas was a real who dunnit. The usual politics were playing out in the amateur dramatic group. Femi and Charlotte were really thorough in their investigation of who killed santa. Loved it.

Rating: 4.0/5

Books written by Janice Hallett are always likely to divide opinion and I am sure that this one will be no exception. For those who are not familiar with this author's work, she takes extracts from e-mail communication and other similar media to construct the story, rather than the more usual prosaic approach. This is something that will not appeal to everyone's taste and those individuals may simply find the process of trying to read it too grating to be enjoyable. Personally, I am very much an admirer and I love this fresh approach to constructing a novel, which still contains all of the key components that you would expect from a classical mystery that you might associate with the likes of Agatha Christie at its heart.

"The Christmas Appeal" revisits some of the characters that were first introduced in Janice Hallett's debut novel, "The Appeal". However, I will stress that whilst it may be beneficial to be familiar with "The Appeal" prior to reading this one, it is certainly not essential. I would also point out that, in spite of the seasonal title and setting, there is absolutely no reason that the reading of this novella should be restricted to the Christmas period. That said, I would, however, suggest that you need to be British - or at least pretty familiar with the British tradition of pantomime - to really derive the fullest enjoyment from this book.

"The Christmas Appeal" is much more of the cosy mystery variety than Janice Hallett's previous three novels, with the comedic element being far more front and centre than has previously been the case - but the story is no less appealing. As ever, there is a sound mystery structure underpinning the narrative, the characters and behavioural observations are wonderful and the humour works consistently well on a variety of levels.

If you have read and enjoyed Janice Hallett's work before, then I am sure that you will find this to your liking too. If you are a newcomer to the author, then this shorter, novella format may well be the ideal way to get a taster of her style and see if it has the necessary appeal for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I absolutely adored "The Appeal" by Janice Hallett and was extremely excited to see that another instalment was coming up.

Janice Hallett has returned to her very best form in this book, revisiting many of her beloved previous characters. It was so well-paced with lots of twists and turns along the way in addition to plenty of funny moments and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I particularly appreciated the way the plot unfolded through a range of documents to find the solution and it was extremely clever. A definite five-star read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of The Christmas Appeal in exchange for an honest review.

I've never been so excited to receive an ARC of a book - having absolutely adored the unique writing style of The Appeal, I couldn't wait to see what The Christmas Appeal had in store.

It didnt disappoint - we head back to The Fairway Players who are planning their Christmas Production = Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. With some real comedic moments, pretty much everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. When a body is discovered - pretty much everyone is a suspect, so we head back to Femi and Charlotte, who are given the challenge of examining the emails and police transcripts in an attempt to solve the case.

Whilst it can be a little tricky to read this on a kindle (I prefer to see the layout of emails on a physical book) it was a pleasure to read, held my attention well and made me laugh out loud in parts.

Did I love it as much as the original? Not quite, but is it worth reading.- absolutely! Another great addition to Janice's book collection!

Oh, what fun it is to read about a one-corpse, sweet-filled play!

What a treat! This short instalment from Janice Hallett revisits lawyers Femi, Charlotte and Roderick Tanner KC and The Fairway Players, who fans of the author will remember from her extraordinary bestseller ‘The Appeal’. It’s three to four years since the events of that book and it would appear that the amateur dramatics group are still battling on with their productions. As ever, we find that the sniping, conniving and duplicity continues through WhatsApp and emails and we also meet new characters ready to lend a hand with the 2022 Christmas pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk.

Fans of Janice Hallett’s previous novels will already be familiar with the highly original format; I still very much enjoy following the plot through the correspondence of The Fairway Players, police interviews, newspaper articles, plus Femi and Charlotte’s observations. The plot is fun, with a gentle sprinkling of social and moral issues to provide food for thought – the book starts with a quote from Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ after all. If I had to provide any criticism it’s that I didn’t find the sweets plotline added anything particularly, but I can see that it makes for a few comic moments.

That said, nothing but five stars for this Christmas cracker, a delightful ‘amuse-bouche’ while we eagerly await the new full-length book from Janice Hallett in 2024!

My thanks to Rachel Quin and the elves at Viper for the advance copy on which this review is based.

Everyone loves a Christmas Special and this is definitely something special for this Christmas.

I’m not shy about my love for amateur theatre, so it’s great to be embroiled in yet another mystery involving The Fairway Players – although surely signing up new members is going to be a challenge after yet another murder.

The perfect boxing day read. This book is more than just a stocking filler, it’s a wonderful Christmas treat.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant - I loved returning to the Fairway Players in this fun novella. I found the style of the book just as interesting and innovative as when I read The Appeal. I liked that it was mostly the same characters with a few new faces.

Really enjoyable!

I absolutely loved Janice Hallett's 'The Appeal' so it was a joy to be given access to 'The Christmas Appeal' - a chance to rejoin the Fairway Players as they grapple with a pantomime, plus an unexpected dead body!

As with 'The Appeal', we're given access to emails and messages that fly between members of the amateur acting society, with occasional commentary on the documents by Charlotte and Femi, the lawyers we met in the first novel who are tasked with unravelling the case. It's fair to say that I missed a lot of clues - but the documents are a joy to read as there is a much more humorous (and obviously festive) focus to this book.

This story follows the Fairway Players as they prepare for a Jack and the Beanstalk charity panto evening in aid of repairing the church roof. There is definitely a power struggle at the helm of the group - the way that Celia undermines Sarah-Jane is cleverly-written and often hilarious (bat patty made me snort out loud!) Throw in a few misunderstandings, some very quirky characters, outlandish rumours and this is the perfect recipe for a fun, festive read. Yes, some of it is kind of incredible and played for laughs (a bit like the panto itself!), but I absolutely loved it. Janice Hallett presents the different voices and perspectives brilliantly - and with a real comic touch.

A lot of the characters will be familiar to fans of 'The Appeal', but there is also fresh blood for the Fairway Players from the new housing estates in the area - cue a lot of snobbery from Celia, of course. Events from 'The Appeal' are referred to, but I don't think you would necessarily need to have read it first - 'The Christmas Appeal' does work as a standalone (even if it would provide spoilers if you then wanted to go back and read the first book).

If you're looking for a fun, Christmassy read, then this is the book for you. It lacks the depth of mystery of the first book (as this is quite short in comparison at about 200 pages), but it makes up for it with Janice Hallett's clever skewering of characters' pretensions and hidden motivations.

Well, this was a lot of fun.

Getting into the Christmas spirit, with mystery murder and mayhem.

If you enjoyed The Appeal, I'm sure you will love this.