A unique and gripping story told via emails which will have you, the reader, trying to uncover the truth!
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
432 Pages
Out Now
Description
Dear Reader – enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood, and ends with a tragic death.
Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What’s more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed.
Throughout the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick’s life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered.
Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth?
Review
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love it when a book tells a story in an unconventional way. In this case the story is told via emails, Whats App messages and police reports, where you the reader are put in the hot seat, as you attempt to solve this case and I was completely obsessed.
Despite the majority of the book just being snippets of email conversations, Janice Hallett still manages to tell a story that will reel you in and have you desperate for the truth. There are no chapters but large chunks of emails are broken up with Whats App exchanges between the two law students who are reviewing this case (alongside yourself of course) as they discuss what they think has happened. I loved these sections as it was good to see if you were kind of on the right track with your own thoughts.
I don’t want to give too much away but the story revolves around a local drama group, where the organisers and prominent family in the community begin to fund raise for their daughter who has been diagnosed with cancer. We then begin to see how all these characters are linked and the events that take place all via their email exchanges.
Overall this was such a unique book, different to anything I’ve read before and I loved how you were completely involved at trying to solve this case. If you’ve always fancied yourself as a detective then make sure you give this a read!
A Cup of the finest MrsJTea! 