A new Janice Hallett book is always a must-read - she is excellent at creating a complex mystery told entirely through documentary evidence, in this case mainly online messaging, academic records and emails.

In The Examiner, the external examiner for an MA course in Multimedia Art, suspecting that something sinister has befallen one of the course's six students, is gathering evidence mainly gleaned from their messages on the university's internal messaging system. The course, running for the first time, is the brainchild of course tutor Gela Nathaniel, who's desperate for it to succeed, and aims to connect the study of art with the world of work, increasing students' employability.

The six students quickly emerge through their messages. Young Jem, ambitious and confident,is a force of nature. She's admirable in some ways, insufferable in others. A revelation about her towards the end is a genuine surprise. There's also Patrick, owner of an art supplies shop, undertaking a formal course for the first time; established artist Alyson; graphic designer and stressed single mother Ludya; Jonathan, whose family owns a gallery; and burnt-out executive Cameron. Not to mention the course tutor, Gela. All strangers to each other, apparently, but as the course progresses, connections and alliances begin to emerge, and it is clear not everyone is what they seem...

While there are some enjoyable characters, the story is ultimately more of a puzzle to be solved than anything more emotionally engaging - but it's an excellent read, as always.

Janice has done it once again. This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC on netgalley. (Thank you, Netgalley).

This is one of the best books I've read this year, maybe even my new favourite.

We follow 6 students who have been hand selected for an MA degree in Art. They all have their own personal and secretive backgrounds. The twists and turns that this book took, I swear, gave me whiplash. Once, I thought it was going in one direction, and I was figuring out what was going to happen, it went totally somewhere else. The revelations around 70% had me hooked.

To be fair, the whole book gripped me, it's so easy to read as it's all in multimedia, even though I found it hard to follow at times (a me problem not the book) I just went and reread it 😅

Such an intense and gripping read. Go read it. Well, when it's out on 29th August 2024!

I truly enjoyed this book! I love a mixed media book as it makes for really easy reading and fun too.

I really enjoyed each character and their different personalities, which made it really easy to follow and not get confused amidst the amount of people in the groups.

I went in not having a clue what was going to happen or what twists we would find and really liked how unpredictable I found it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpents Tail/Viper/ Profile books for this advanced reader copy!

The first for me by this author and despite a terrible arc I loved it!

An unusual method of delivery which was compelling, I couldn’t wait for the next Doodle message so read the book quickly.

Six students study for an MA on a newly devised course. The course is led by Gela, and she is desperate for it to succeed as she is losing all her classes. A diverse bunch, handpicked by Gela, there are some members of the course who are less devoted than others and not everyone is quite who you think they are. Plus there are secrets, plots and shenanigans galore! It’s hard to review without spoilers, but suffice to say it’s a cracker of a read!

I will purchase when published to enjoy the book in its correct format and will definitely go through Hallett’s back catalogue now.

Thank you NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail/Viper.

I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoy the authors writing style and the pace of the book. Much like The Appeal the story is told through messages and art assignments. I find that this style of writing is quick and easy to read. I did not work it out until the end and I couldn’t put this book down.

This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2024! And it didn't disappoint!

I certainly enjoy Janice Hallett's style of writing. It is always entertaining. If you've read any of her previous books you'll know not to expect a linear timeline with simple prose. The Examiner takes this style to its farthest degree with texts, messaging and group messaging alongside reports made by members of the art group, tutors, support staff and examiners all coming into play.

WOW!!!

Where do I start?

This is the fifth book by Janice Hallett I’ve read, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect but WOW, the author managed to exceed my very high expectations with this well-plotted and intriguing story. It made for compulsive reading from the start with the tension initially building gradually until, by the time I reached the last quarter, the story suddenly exploded and rushed forward with shocking revelation after shocking revelation. And just when I thought I had all the answers, Hallett had another trick up her sleeve; one that will have me thinking and wondering about this book for some time to come.

Like Hallett’s previous books, the story is told in email messages, texts, and essays as the narrative follows a diverse group of students in an art master’s programme where nothing and nobody is as it appears to be at first glance. Also as in her previous books, we have a small cast of main characters. There is Gela who needs students for her new master’s programme before her funding is cut. She ends up with a hand-picked group of six students who couldn’t be more diverse. From the very first day the students are nothing but trouble, but it isn’t until Ben Sketcher, the external examiner who has access to all the communications between the university and the participants, starts asking questions that it becomes clear exactly how worrying the situation is. Ben is convinced one of the course participants is in serious danger or possibly, already dead. From the start there are growing tensions between the course participants. Messages between the participants individually or between Gela and one or another of the students imply that there’s stuff going on behind the scenes the others, and therefore the reader, aren’t aware of.

Although I took pages worth of notes while reading this story, I don’t want to say anything else about what happens for fear of spoiling it for other readers. Suffice to say that nobody in this story is who they appear to be. Much to my delight I was able to answer one or two questions before the author spelled the answer out, but I have no idea if that was Hallett’s intention or if I’m getting better at solving some of the mysteries in her story. What’s more, finding those answers only threw up new questions because the full mystery wasn’t unravelled until the very end. As it should be.

The writing in this book is excellent. All the main characters have their own, distinctive voices and I was impressed with how the art the candidates create comes to life on the page and becomes visible to the reader. This story hooked me from the start and never released its grip. Just when things appeared to become a little clearer everything turned more obscure. The format means the reader doesn’t get all the information, only that which the characters want you to know, and that meant I was kept guessing for the longest time. Every time I thought I had a grip on what was really going on, something happened to make me rethink everything I thought I knew.

In my review of The Appeal I wrote: ‘After having read all three of Janice Hallett’s currently available titles I have to conclude that she is something of a genius when it comes to slow reveals and misdirection while still giving the reader all the information they need to keep up with the investigators.’ The Examiner has only strengthened that opinion. I’m in awe at how Janice Hallett managed to tie everything in this story together and answer (almost) every question the reader might have. One question remains unanswered, though but that perfectly fits the complexity of the story as far as I’m concerned. It also ensures that this is a book I will be thinking about long after I finished reading it.

I certainly enjoy Janice Hallett's style of writing. It is always entertaining. If you've read any of her previous books you'll know not to expect a linear timeline with simple prose. The Examiner takes this style to its farthest degree with texts, messaging and group messaging alongside reports made by members of the art group, tutors, support staff and examiners all coming into play.

We are introduced to the story by the examiner explaining that the course work for a small group mixed media Masters degree is enclosed along with the fears that some harm has to come to one of the students. What follows is a generally linear story about the group, their origins, their coursework and the interaction between all of them.

It sounds complicated but I'm very easily distracted and I had no problem working out what was going on. My advice - just go with it and it'll all become completely clear very quickly.

The story is based on fact but that's all I can say or it'll give the game away. Authors constantly amaze me with their inspiration for stories like this. The characters are real characters - certainly Jem stands out as being particularly nosey and irritating, Patrick is a typical people pleaser, Ludya is constantly distracted by her home life and poor Gela (short for Angela) seems like she's trying to knit fog in her attempt to get her small group to work cohesively.

All I will say apart from having enjoyed it immensely and only getting a little list near the end, is that the plot and characters aren't at all what they seem - this becomes apparent very quickly. It is fast paced, clever, funny and thought provoking.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail/Viper/Profile Books for the advance review copy.

I have loved all of Janice Hallett’s books and have been eagerly awaiting this one. It’s told through messages and letters that tell the story of a creative art MA course, through the assignment feeeback and group messages sent between the students and course-leader. There’s an investigation under way and all is not as it seems. Lots of twists and turns that kept me speeding through the chapters. Several twists that I did not see coming at all. I raced through it. However, I did find the most ending quite far-fetched and not too relatable. Still enjoyed it and would recommend.

Hallett is a master of the “found document” mystery, in which a sleuth or group is given a set of emails, transcriptions etc and asked to try to uncover a mystery. Everyone is a unreliable narrator, and the fun is in being surprised by the layers Hallett sets up in such a easy entertaining style. The Examiner is set in an art school with an unlikely course group of mature students, and demonstrates a fine familiarity with the milieu. From romance to high tech to graphic design and sabotage. Recommend!

I always enjoy the alternative approach that Janice Hallett takes with her books, giving the reader the same chance to solve the mystery as the characters reading the documents for the first time so I was intrigued to see what this might look like in a higher education setting. As Hallett cleverly indicates, there are always tensions running high in academia and particularly when there are elements of competition involved. In The Examiner we join the external examiner and course admin staff as they read through the the online message board and multimedia coursework that the students and tutor have been involved with over the year but it's not clear whether everyone has survived to celebrate finishing.

At times, I found the premise that they're always communication through Doodle (the online environment) was a bit of a stretch and it would have been nice to have more of a mix of 'sources' to get to know the different characters and see them from perspectives outside of the group (eg. more testaments from Griff the technician). I would say that the plot itself is on a par with her previous books but won't say any more to avoid spoiling the various twists.

Royal Hasting University has a new MA arts course. It wasn't advertised, and the six students were hand-picked by lecturer Gela.

An extremely odd mix of people,even for an arts course, things do not go right from the start.

But the strange occurrences really ramp up after the road trip to the tech company that the six are building an installation for as their final project.

Jem, the youngest of the students, begins to suspect that one of her classmates has disappeared...

...and the external examiner thinks that a student was murdered...

Extremely compelling and complicated - you really won't see the ending coming.

Brilliant