When Sam and Kel Greenwood move to Issy Burke’s town after a long stint volunteering in Africa, they find themselves quickly taken under the eager young nurse’s wing. Issy has long felt isolated at the hospital where she works, so hopes to build strong bonds with her new co-workers. To this end, she introduces them to the Fairway Players, the local theater group of which she’s an incidental part. She appeared in their last production of Oscar Wilde’s Blithe Spirit, and has high hopes of getting another part in their upcoming staging of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. Hopefully, Sam and Kel will get parts too so they can spend all their time together running lines, as Issy fervently hopes.

Sam and her husband quickly integrate themselves well with the troupe, and prove invaluable when young Poppy, the granddaughter of founder Martin Hayward, is diagnosed with an inoperable and highly aggressive brain cancer. Poppy’s only hope is in an expensive American drug that has yet to be approved by the NHS. Privately funding the treatment will cost the Haywards over a quarter of a million dollars, a prohibitively expensive sum even for the town’s wealthy first family.

The Fairway Players quickly spring into action to organize fundraising efforts for Poppy’s treatment. In addition to helping with a gala ball and various smaller drives, Sam offers to run a half-marathon to benefit A Cure for Poppy, as the appeal becomes known. Sam is the kind of solid, helpful person who has a passion for doing the right thing. Unfortunately, Sam’s moral certitude combines with an inquisitive streak that has her asking uncomfortable questions when things start not making sense to her medically-trained mind.

As Sam begins to take a closer look into what’s going on with the fundraiser, she runs into a figure from her past, oncologist Tish Bhatoa. Tish is in charge of Poppy’s treatment, which only heightens Sam’s suspicions as to where the money she’s helping to raise is really going. As two outside observers discuss via What’s App:

QUOTE
<b>Charlotte</b>
I’m not cynical or making excuses, but what do they expect? Crowdfunding campaigns are built on trust. You never really know where the cash goes. We’ve all contributed to friends’ campaigns without asking questions.

<b>Femi</b>
Also, Martin contacts Clive Handler despite being assured that he’s a time-waster. Is that because he’s desperate for money or because he doesn’t trust Tish Bhatoa? Sam suspects Bhatoa, and I’m inclined to value her view as it’s an outsider’s perspective.
END QUOTE

Is Sam just being paranoid given her unhappy history with Tish? Or is something truly sinister afoot, something that could cost one or more of the Fairway Players their lives as Sam seeks to expose the truth?

This dazzling epistolary novel is presented in the form of texts and emails between the various people in the orbit of the Fairway Players and Poppy’s appeal. It’s not only a cleverly constructed murder mystery but also an incisive and often hilarious look into the social dynamics of small towns, exploring what would drive some to pursue the truth no matter the cost as well as what would drive others to kill. Readers don’t even discover who dies till about two thirds of the way in, after which it’s a race to uncover the identity of not only the murderer – if a murder it truly was – but also the true faces of the people responsible for the many letters and missives included here. So many of the writers obscure both their identities and the truth in often desperate attempts to present themselves the way they want to be seen, and only sometimes for criminal purposes.

The Appeal is also a love letter to another kind of masquerade, to acting even in amateur dramatics. As Issy writes to James Hayward, Martin’s son and the play director, who’s called away to his heavily pregnant wife’s bedside ahead of the opening night performance:

QUOTE
The audience will be coming in soon and there’s that frisson of anticipation in the green room. Like Martin says, this is exactly how it is at the National Theatre or when <i>Coronation Street</i> does a live episode. It’s what actors felt like in Shakespeare’s plays (when he was alive), and back in ancient Greece where theater started. It doesn’t matter that we’re just a little amateur drama group in a church hall. An audience is an audience. It’s times like this I don’t know if I love this or hate it. Or both.
END QUOTE

Even without the palpable love of theater, this novel hit all my appreciation points as it invites readers to unravel the truth cunningly concealed within its pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this intelligent, inventive and heartfelt novel. Written in a modern, engaging manner, this was my first five-star (of five stars) read of the year.

4 Epistolary Stars

For mystery fans that are open to trying a new format with a book – this one is filled with messages, texts, social media posts, and news articles – but has all the trademark elements of a case to solve. There’s a murder, a wide cast of characters, and lots of details to read!

We learn about a young child sick with cancer and a miraculous drug only available in the US. Soon “the appeal” is underway – play performances, sponsoring running events, raffle tickets, and a whole host of ways to raise money to pay for this drug. There’s a theater group, The Fairway Players, and much of the emails reference auditions, rehearsals, and the performance itself.

It is good to pay close attention in this one although after a while the characters do come together, and the plot becomes easier to follow. It was interesting to read something in a different format, although I think it did get a bit long.

I was not a good detective in this one, but I did enjoy trying to figure things out along the way! I loved the way this one wrapped up, very true to character!

I originally found it hard to keep track of all the characters but as the story line develops you learn who you should really be paying close attention to.
I thoroughly enjoyed the format of the book and how it was told via emails, text messages, news articles, and police interviews.
I felt like a detective whilst reading this book and it came across very well done as a great whodunnit.

The Appeal by Janice Hallett was such a fun read! It is like if a murder mystery dinner were morphed into a book. A murder is committed, though the reader does not know who or how until over half way into the book, and there are 15 suspects who all know each other through an amateur drama group. The reader is put into the shoes of the investigator, sifting through email and text correspondences between this odd group.

I loved it. It was such a unique take on the standard murder mystery. Nothing was predictable and I honestly had no idea what was going on half the time, but that is part of the journey. The ending surprised me and made me giggle.

4.5 stars!

What an intriguing, captivating way to write a novel! Told via emails and what’s app messages between the characters, this is a whodunit murder mystery without equal. The main characters are many, but throughout the book, I felt like I got to know them well as they revealed things about themselves and each other via their correspondence. Thus, in a very creative way, the characters were fully developed and the plot raced to a stunning conclusion. I was guessing all the way through about who would die and who would be responsible, and I must admit I kept guessing incorrectly. I really enjoyed the riddles established by the investigator, with people not being who they seemed and one person not existing. Wow! Mind-blowing and so totally engaging! I could not get through this book fast enough to satisfy my own curiosity and since this is a debut novel, I sincerely look forward to more from this author. The winning combination of mystery and deep revelations of character was a perfect way to entice me to keep reading until the very end. It was like reading an Agatha Christie novel in epistolary form, so good and such a welcome respite from the same mysteries that I usually read. Loved it and highly recommend it to mystery lovers everywhere!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This was a fun one! I love whodunnits. This book follows the correspondence of a group of performers in a community play. They are banding together to raise money for a member’s child who is diagnosed with a rare brain cancer, and then one of them is found dead. The entire book is written in emails, texts, and document format, which was a fun change of pace, but it requires careful attention as hidden clues are easily missed. It took me a while to keep all the characters and their relationships straight in my head, but trying to figure out their motives and personalities through email correspondence was a blast, Recommend for fans of cozy mysteries and Agatha Christie!

In The Appeal, a British family’s two-year-old granddaughter, Poppy, has brain cancer. Her doctor has recommended a new US treatment not yet approved for NIH use. It costs a staggering $350,000. The family’s friends set up an online appeal. They run events to raise money to save Poppy. But something seems fishy to nurse Sam.

The novel is completely epistolatory with emails, texts, and notes keeping the plot moving. It is also a mystery with possibly multiple guilty parties. Is the doctor scamming the parents? Is the family scamming their friends? What secrets are about to be revealed about multiple people within the book? There are many truly unique characters populating The Appeal. The book seems almost Christie-like in its look inside people’s minds. 4 stars!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

When I started reading this book, I was worried I wouldn’t like it because of the style of writing, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

This story is told through a collection of emails, texts, letters, and other communications between a local theatre group that were entered as evidence in a murder case. It started out a bit slow, but as I got to know the characters and their roles in the story, I became more intrigued.

The majority of the book focused of Martin Haywood’s granddaughter, Poppy, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Along with the rest of the theatre group, they rally together to raise money for an experimental treatment that may save Poppy’s life. But as time went on, the true nature of each character was revealed. By the end, I was shocked by just how devious some of them were, and I was so wrong about those I made assumptions about.

While the style of writing isn’t conventional, the story flowed surprisingly well and I had no trouble following along. Highly recommend this suspenseful murder mystery!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4476907992

I like how this is a suspense book written in a completely different way - you get to experience it through the email and message exchanges between a group of people, so you can learn about what happened through multiple points of view. It was fun to read and slowly understand what happened. It’s a book that will make you want to go back and re read some parts too.

It is really tough to know how to describe this novel both in general and without spoilers, and this is definitely one where it is better to go in blind so I don’t want to say too much!

Basically, the entire book is in the form of emails, text messages, memos, etc. It starts with a note from a lawyer handing over a file to two junior/trainee lawyers, telling them literally nothing about the case but asking them to read the enclosed correspondence which is in chronological order and see what they think. (Which by the way would never happen in real life, but just have to go with it.) The messages are all between various members of an amateur theater group and various people they know, with much of it revolving around fundraising for treatment for the two year old daughter/granddaughter of some of the members. And that is pretty much all I will say about the plot, as I think part of the fun is seeing it unfold and trying to figure out what exactly is happening and what the book is even about!

While the book slowly becomes a suspense/mystery as you start to get the sense that various hinky things may be going on - and eventually discover what the case the lawyers are working on is about - it is definitely an extremely slow burn so be warned if you don’t like those. But I loved how it kept me guessing and how unique it was. And I’m definitely a sucker for books with unconventional formats!

3 stars…

I’ve never read an Epistolary novel before filled with *only* emails/texts/messages, however my inquisitive side loves when this format glimpses into regular novels, so I was very intrigued.

Unfortunately, I found this one to be: too extensive, unnecessarily drawn out, and filled with irritating characters (ISSY!!!!). I got to the point where I felt like I was doing homework just to finish – and well, that’s never a sign you’re enjoying something. I did appreciate this unique format, and will be looking into reading more Epistolary novels.

Thanks to the publisher for my gifted copy – out 1/25!

Summary: We follow a group of amateur theater performers as they hold a cancer fundraiser and deal with a murder of one of their own. It is told through emails, messages, and police reports.

Overall: This epistolary novel builds little suspense.

Characters:3/10 I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. There was not any sort of physical descriptions. It may be handy to tab the cast of characters page if reading a physical copy.

Uniqueness: 8/10 I haven't read a crime book in the form before.

Plot: 5/10 I wondered how it would end, but getting there was painfully slow for around 80% of the book.

Concept: 8/10 I appreciated that we don't know who died until well into the book.

Absorbing: 2/10 I was tuning out the repetitive nature of the emails/headers.

Keeper/Re-Readability: 2/10

Enjoyment/Entertainment: 3/10 this was a great premise, but it wasn't for me.

WOW! The description does not do this fabulous book justice! The Appeal truly kept me up all night as I needed to know who was the murdered (and who was murdered) and why!

I love a book that includes letters/emails/ snippets of clues and The Appeal does this and so much more -
-there's murder, mystery, intrigue, drama and you are immersed in it all as an active sleuth.
The setting includes a law firm passes on a large amount of recovered emails and paperwork and asks law students Femi and Charlotte to read through and discover the read murderer. There is little more information than that and the journey begins. As you read through the recovered documents ,the personalities of the participants are made real. It's not until the end of the book that you find out who is murdered and the real fun begins!

Do you like murder mysteries? Do you solve the mystery before the book ends? Test yourself with this novel ! You will not be disappointed ! PS If you rarely get it "right" like me, you will love this book too. #NetGalley #theAppeal #Atria #Atriabooks

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley fir an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.

At first I wasn't sure about a mystery thriller written in an epistolary format. It took a little bit for the story to really get going and to learn who is who and what is going on. In the end I did really enjoy this book. You really can learn about characters in the messages they write. While the surprise twists weren't too hard to figure out, and maybe Janice Hallett intended us to think "oh I know where this is going," it was was still an exciting read.

Recommended if you're looking for a fast paced, fairly light read!

Oof. Well good concept bad execution. Half way in I was soooo bored and didn’t much care what was going on. I figured out much of the deception early on but there were too many characters and with the letters I just never cared about any of them.

The Appeal was such a unique whodunit thriller. I’ve never read a book where the dialogue was only through email, texts and transcripts. Like other reviewers said, it felt like a game of clue where everyone had a motive and the detectives had to solve the case.

However, at times, this book felt like it was dragging on. When you finish, you’ll see that every page needed to be included for the ending to make sense, but when you’re reading, it doesn’t feel like it. Also, I get that the author wanted all the conversations to be through writing but nowadays people don’t email thattt much in comparison to texts or phone calls. Some emails are even sent when people are in the same room, which I found made the story more unrealistic. Finally, I found the main character Issy quite irritating.

I think the last 30 percent was a five star read. However, when thinking about the complete reading experience, from start to finish, I’m giving this book 3⭐️. Still, The Appeal is worth the read as it’s unlike anything else I’ve picked up. The drama and suspense will totally suck you in.

Read if interested in:
-Epistolary style novel
-British mysteries
-Acting/ plays
-Clue
-Medical drama
-Lots of supporting characters

My biggest issue with this book was that the cast was WAY too big. I had such a hard time keeping up with them and keeping them straight. I probably should have realized this before but that was hard to get through this book.

I know that I am an outlier here but although the premise of this novel was interesting and its format unique, I found the novel long with too many characters to follow. I like epistolary novels and mysteries, but this novel did not do it for me. I could not fully engage with the story and thought the story could have been shorter.

Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for an early reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Appeal is an addictive epistolary novel of serious satisfaction keeping one guessing who done it!?!?  I felt it almost reminded me of the drama of Instagram 😂😂😂😂 minus the death bit. HAaaa Ha!!!!! At first @inspired.j.reads and I were daunted by the fact that it's letters from SOOOO many characters. (34+ in total from correspondence). But once one gets into the flow of the writing, much like that of Shakespeare, one becomes immersed!

We kept trying to piece together the clues left in messages and solve the mystery. Who is the culprit in the end? The only thing I can tell you is my hats off to those of you who figured it out because this was intense! Its a lot of puzzle pieces to fit together that only GOD could understand I domt day that lightly, or rather too much for this lady. So many motives, so little.time. But who doesn't love a crime puzzle?!?! A unique way to tell a murder mystery that may not be for everyone, left me nodding my head in the end. Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh this book was such a treat and such a fun read. It is 100% an epistolary novel and I loved it. Epistolary novels are a favourite of mine I like the way reading the text messages and emails get you inside the characters heads. The way this one is set up has you reading it as two junior lawyers as they have been asked by their boss to help him to find out who the real killer is as an innocent is in prison. I had no idea whodunit throughout the read and I loved that.

Janice Hallett is such a talented writer, this book sucked me in right away and I kind of felt like a voyeur while reading it. It also made me feel like I was reading a script for a soap opera, in the very best way. I understand she has another murder mystery that has been recently released The Twyford Code and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.