Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I wasn’t sure about this novel at first. It’s a unique format of emails and texts, and there are so many characters! But I quickly got sucked into the story, and the characters began to stand out. It was like a written version of a reality TV show. You are a fly on the wall, watching people in what seems like real time. The mystery was great, kept me engaged and kept me guessing. Loved it!

Ho-hum

The Appeal is a “modern-day epistolary novel” about a charitable appeal that ends in murder.

The plot is told through emails, texts, letters, and essays, and the narrative often shifts voices and perspectives. I didn’t mind the use of different mediums, but what I did mind was that there were numerous characters to keep track of. Only two characters had distinct voices and were somewhat interesting, but the others bored me. A few characters served no purpose at all. These elements made my reading experiences frustrating to the point where I stopped caring about who was whom, and all that I was reading for was the reveal of the murderer.

The plotting was irksome! I have seen elements of this plot before on a tv show that I cannot remember and in another book. If someone knows which show(s) or books, please let me know in the comments? This is driving me crazy.

What annoyed me was how correspondence was deliberately left out to confuse the reader. This wasn't clever plotting, but rather it seemed to be a way to drag out the reveal of the murderer. I wish Sam's voice was shared, at least in the end, as that would have added another layer.

What was most frustrating is that I don’t believe people send emails when they can text. There were a few moments when characters were emailing when they were sitting in the same room! Also, at one point, some characters could not find another character, so they send her an email offering to drive her home? And she responds almost immediately? Not buying it!

The beginning of the novel is intriguing, but things quickly go downhill from there. I thought this book would never end, and I consider it an accomplishment that I finished reading it. There wasn't much that I enjoyed about this book. I was surprised by the identity of the murderer, and that is the only positive thing that I have to say.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Entertaining and unique. This mystery is told through a series of emails and texts as it lays out the evidence of a murder of a small town drama group member. It’s Femi and Charlotte’s job to read through the emails and fit the puzzle pieces together. There’s a whole lot of small town drama, which I found some humor in at times, and a whodunnit clue game wrapped in the package that is this novel.

It was very clever way to tell a story, and I really enjoyed trying to figure it out myself.

Many thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this digital galley! Out now, people! Put it on your list.

In The Appeal an English village community comes together to help one of their own. Little Poppy Reswick has brain cancer that has little chance of being cured by normal treatments. The family is told about a drug regimen coming out of the states and their doctor is willing to try it, but it will cost £380,000 per treatment. The local theater company "The Fairway Players" quickly works to set up a Go Fund Me type of campaign and quickly raise £250,000 for the treatment. But suddenly the money is gone, the fund defrauded by a get rich quick scheme. Could someone be so hardened as to steal from a sick child? The answer is yes - and he or she doesn't shy away from murder in order to cover up the crime. But someone has given himself away in the emails and text messages that go back and forth within the group. A legal team led by QC Tanner and made up of two junior lawyers, Femi and Charlotte need to read between the lines to see who the murderer is as the members show their true colours.

I'm not going to lie, this book took me awhile to get into it. The format was very different, using only emails, text messages, a few police transcripts and Whats App conversations between the legal team, to tell this story. There were many one sided conversations as some emails were never recovered. I wasn't even sure what the lawyers were trying to prove for most of the book. I will say, once I got about halfway in, I was hooked. I wanted to know who had been murdered, who was in prison and who the real murderer was. I also had suspicions about what was going on with the family and sick child, but was only partially right. You wouldn't think you would get to know characters or that they would be developed this way, but they were. Each email reveals a bit more about the characters, their flaws, secrets and fears. This is a mystery, with intrigue, and dark humour that had me chuckling to myself while reading. It is well written and moves at a quick pace but it is a character driven book that is different from anything else I have read before. As the book comes to an end, there are some disturbing secrets revealed, terrible crimes and a total breach of trust. So, do I recommend this one? It is not going to be for everyone, but I enjoyed it. I probably would have rated it higher if it hadn't taken me so long to get hooked, but overall, I enjoyed it and will look for more books by Janice Hallett.

I didn't realize the formatting of this book, had I I might not have read it. I'm glad I didn't, because I ultimately enjoyed this guess who mystery. However, the formatting is difficult, especially on eBook. The Appeal is presented in the form of letters, emails, texts, and transcripts. There's fifteen characters to track, multiple plotlines, and unique questions to answer. Like the books that have maps in the first pages of the books, The Appeal needs an easy to reach suspect list, because following along can be difficult. I absolutely had to take notes, but I admit I totally was hooked and along for the ride trying to solve the murder.

The Appeal starts with a letter, providing two young lawyers with the files associated with a murder case. The two are tasked with answering a handful of questions, including who is the murderer. An epistolary style novel, readers don't get direct thoughts from the characters, rather we gather them from their communications. The small town has gathered together to raise funds for young Poppy, who has been diagnosed with a rare brain cancer, but like all small towns there is a hierarchy and drama that cannot be set aside. We get to understand who the characters really are, behind closed doors and on the screens of their computers and phones, but we don't know everything that has occurred past or present until well into the novel.

The Appeal is a wild read, one that will either work for you or will feel like an absolute slog. I admit, the format put me off and the sheer amount of details to remember makes this one difficult to just sit and enjoy. That said, I did have fun solving the crime, though I admit I didn't get it right. I think there's more that could be done with this one, especially to help readers keep up, but after finishing this one I can happily say I would read similar again. Pick this one up, if you like epistolary reads, and try to solve the questions alongside the lawyers.

Did not finish. I will not be reading this one. I did not connect with the plot or writing style. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the early copy!

I’m not usually into legal dramas/thrillers but I think that the community setting of this book is one of the things I liked most about it. When a town and its characters all seem to be connected I feel like the story is more compelling.

Obsessed. This was just so fun. I was hooked immediately and couldn’t put this book down. The whole book is mostly emails & text exchanges - if done wrong this would have been a slog to get through but Hallett does an amazing job. I loved “investigating” what happened and was mostly clueless the whole time. Surprisingly, the murder takes place pretty late in the book but it didn’t matter - the events that unfold beforehand keep you super interested. I don’t want to give too much away but I would suggest going into this one blind. I highly recommend it for any mystery/thriller/crime fan!

Here's a book that invites you solve a crime, including who's been killed, why, and by whom. In a unique format, The Appeal tells the story of two legal assistants provided with a trove of email and text correspondence by a senior attorney at their firm. Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd are told that it's best if they know nothing before they read the correspondence the lead attorney has accumulated. The correspondence is not complete (one individual's emails are missing, for instance); but it is provided in chronological order, and there are various other newspaper clippings and miscellany included. By digging into what's been provided, they are charged with identifying the who, what, when, and where of a crime that's been committed. And the reader gets to play along. It reminded me a lot of Big Little Lies in that the reader is learning about a crime through the eyes of a townful of people.

The cast of characters is a vast group of people in a small town in the UK. It's one of those towns where everyone knows everyone. The setting is an amateur playhouse where the townspeople put on two plays a year. The alpha family in town is the Haywards. Martin and Helen Hayward own a place called The Grange Golf and Country Club where the plays are enacted by The Fairway Players. Martin Hayward is always the director of the plays, and Helen is always the star of the show. Martin and Helen have two children who are also involved in all the action. Their son, James, is the back-up director and is anxiously awaiting the birth of twins. Paige Reswick is the Hayward's daughter, and key to the action, her two-year-old daughter Poppy has just been diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. All of the town pulls together to raise $350,000 that is required for Poppy's first experimental treatment from the US -- a fund-raising project they name A Cure for Poppy.

There are a lot of other characters, but there are four who are key to the story and the crime. First is Sara-Jane MacDonald, who is in charge of all the fund raising. Next is Samantha Greenwood, who is a nurse at a local hospital. She and her husband, Kel, are new to town having just come from Central Africa where they worked for Medecins Sans Frontieres (aka Doctors without Borders). And finally, there is Isabel Beck who is an elder care nurse who works at the same hospital as Samantha and Kel. Isabel is a hot mess. She has no friends in the close-knit town and is desperate for Samantha to be her new BFF. She is clingy and obsequious in the extreme.

Trouble appears on several fronts. For one thing, the funds that are raised for Poppy seem to be a moving target. How much has been raised is in question, and there are signs that Martin Hayward and the doctor assigned to Poppy's case may not be on the up and up. And then there's Poppy. Is she really sick or are the adults in her life hiding something? There also seems to be a scandal of some sort that occurred in Africa involving both Samantha and Poppy's doctor, Tish Bhatoa. Even 75% of the way into the novel, the two legal assistants and I are equally unsure about who committed murder and why.

At first I was a little unsure of whether I'd like this novel. There are no chapters or prose per se, simply hundreds of emails. But once I got a handle on who was who and how the story was structured, I was completely hooked. The author is an award-winning journalist, and this is her debut novel. I give her huge props for telling an intricate mystery in a most unique way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an eGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ahh!! This book. I love a good mystery/thriller that keeps you hooked right from the beginning. Not only does this book capture your attention from just the description on the back, but it keeps you wanting more & more after each chapter. I thought the way that the story was told through emails, texts, and letters was such an interesting way to grab the readers attention, but it worked for me. The only trouble was keeping up with all of the characters - I really had to pay attention and focus while reading (which may not be for everyone). I was surprised by the killer even up until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very intriguing book. It is written in epistolary form, emails and text messages.
Great story with interesting and quirky characters. A page turning who done it that had me guessing until the very end.
I found it a little hard to keep track of all the characters until I printed the list of characters that was listed in the beginning as the cast and family members for the play(s) the book was based on. I wish there would have been a downloadable list.
My first read by this Author and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books and the Author, Janice Hallett for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Appeal is easily added to my list of favorites to suggest. The story was so detailed and really from a totally different perspective than I have read before. The reader is guided through a murder case told through emails and texts between all of the characters involved and the two investigators. It was very hard to put down and kept me guessing until the end. I truly loved it and how well it was done.

This was my first epistolary novel, so it took me a while to get into the flow but once I did I enjoyed the way the story was told. One problem I had was I thought it was strange the way all the characters, even husbands and wives, talked visitations email, which felt odd. Still, it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you so much to Atria for the complimentary digital review copy of The Appeal in exchange for an honest review. The Appeal came out on January 25, 2022 - available now.

The Appeal is told entirely through the correspondents that has been used by lawyers in a court case, but readers don't know what the trial is about or have any background. We are just thrown in, feet first to figure out what happened along with the lawyers.

I really enjoyed this take on an epistolary novel, and had a great time trying to piece together the different emails and texts. The majority of the book is told in chronological order, which was removed some of my need to flip back and forth between sections. However, this is a book I would recommend reading a physical copy of, there were so many times I wanted to check something or remind myself what had happened earlier but didn't want to go through every page digitally to get there.

One critique I have with this one is the number of characters I needed to keep straight. As with many court cases, there are many people who have come in contact with different people involved. Since there was no proper introduction of anyone, and minimal physical description, I had a lot of trouble keeping everyone straight and I did not have a picture of what the keep players looked like in my head.

I read this one quickly, partly because the format of the emails were so quick to read through and I'll read more from this author when their next books are published in North American editions.

The structure is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It starts off as correspondence between a lawyer and his assistants (Femi and Charlotte) asking them for a fresh look at a case. The two women correspond to each other through text messages as they examine hundreds of emails from various people in a local community.

While reading the emails you will learn that the Hayward family are the queen bees of their community. They run The Fairway Players, a local theater company, which everyone is determined to be a part of. While they’re in rehearsals on their latest play, the youngest Hayward, Poppy, is diagnosed with cancer. Martin Hayward, the patriarch, uses his community to raise funds to secure an experimental drug to help Poppy.

Half of the book is reading emails about charity fundraisers and play rehearsals. I kept thinking I was missing something. Where is the murder??? It takes far too long to get to the real drama in the book. After the murder happens, we read Femi and Charlotte’s notes on the suspects and their motives, which is really just a summary of all the emails you’ve just read.

Things only start getting interesting when you begin to read the police reports, but at this point the book is pretty much over.

Now that I’ve finished it, the overall story is interesting, but the structure didn’t work for me. The murder should’ve been upfront to keep the story engaging. I lost interest many times because the plot wasn’t moving and the characters are all flat due to the nature of the structure.

Plus who writes lengthy emails anymore?? I just don’t buy a husband and wife emailing each other. Everything seemed forced to fit in this format. This is Hallett’s first novel and there are a lot of bright spots. I hope she writes something in a more traditional structure.

If you like to read a book on your phone then this one works perfectly as there are no chapters, just emails and texts so it’s an easy one to pick up and put down.

If you consider yourself an armchair detective I suggest grabbing a notebook, pen and a drink. Settle into a cozy chair and try to solve this mystery. Such a fun book!!
Thank you Atria Books & Netgalley for the ARC!

The Appeal is one of the best thrillers that's commentary about thrillers (and their readers) I've read--and if you're at all interested in a sharp, thoughtful look at the way communities help and hurt each other as well as a fascinating look at how (and why) we create (even unwittingly, say, by the act of reading) narratives and situations to fit what we "know"--you have to read this!

Yes, the text is largely emails, texts, but let’s face it, it is how we communicate and it adds yet another layer to the commentary--what can we (and do we) add or leave out in conversations that are held without us actually speaking/seeing each other.

The thriller aspect is pretty standard, but what's behind it, and what The Appeal asks (and asks of us) is what makes this a great read. Very highly recommended.

The book begins with email and text exchanges of a myriad of characters that is a bit confusing at first. It’s trivial emails about daily activities, husbands and wives discussing who is picking up their children from school, about a few main characters and a new drama production, and lastly about two new villagers in the area that have recently moved from Africa.

As the story progresses, the minutiae of the emails and texts start to paint a bigger picture. Someone has been murdered. There are texts exchanges by two people who, unclear at first of who they are, start discussing details of these characters and of the written exchanges between them as details of a case.

At first I was a little out off by the writing style only because it’s a bit confusing and is certainly different than anything I’ve read, and I read emails all day for work. However, as the story progresses it’s really a fresh new take on diving into the details and attempting to discover what happened with a detective’s view of things.

There were twists and turns and details reminiscent of Agatha Christie novels, that kept me intrigued and reading each text or email faster and faster to come to my own conclusions. Well done Janice Hallett. I look forward to reading more from you!

The story is told through a series of email, text messages and memos between the cast of characters. There are many characters but only a few that are key and integral to the story. The format was originally difficult but once I became accustomed to it, it flowed easily and quickly. It's one of those where everyone is suspect and suspicious.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

It took me a while to get into this one. I had to get use to the format and all. It was told by a series of text mesages, letters etc and it was a little hard to keep track of who was writing and what was happening in the story.
Sort of a miss for me.