The minute this landed on my net galley shelf I picked it up, devoured it in 2 days (would have been sooner if I didn't have to work) AND I honestly think that I can give this the best book of 2022 status already. I LOVED it, I was completely enthralled making up my own theories as I went along (some I got wrong and some I got right) I think the physical copy will be EVEN better due to some of the formatting snags on the kindle ARC I had but yes 1000000% loved this one and Janice Hallett will be firmly on my auto buy author list now! Can't wait until this is out in paperback to add a copy to my collection!

I was so excited when I was approved for this book, I absolutely fell in love with The Twyford Code, probably one of the best books I have ever read.
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels in my opinion is not as good but I still really enjoyed it.
I love the writing style of the transcripts of emails/WhatsApp messages and phone conversations. I found that I flew through the book so quickly because I was so gripped with finding out what had happened. I definitely didn’t guess the ending or even have an inkling of what the conclusion was going to be, the sign of a very cleverly written book.
I did at times get completely lost and confused which I’m not sure was deliberate and was a bit off putting, too many narrative streams to keep track of at once.
Overall though, a well thought out novel that will keep you on your toes throughout, revealing the mystery at the very end.

Janice Hallett has changed the face of crime fiction, in a way that brings it bang up to date and that is so absorbing and fascinating for the reader. The Alperton Angels in particular, with its links to the true-crime genre, asks interesting questions of the reader about the fascination with real-life crimes. while setting up a beguiling puzzle to solve - what went on with the Alperton Angels? A thrilling ride.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels follows a true crime writer getting deep into a mystery of which there is suspiciously few books about.

Earlier this year, I read the Appeal and was struck by its originality. When I began The Twyford Code, I wondered if Hallett would be able to do it again. She could. With this new novel, not only has she done it again, but I'm beginning to wonder how she does it!

Written in epistolary form (namely WhatsApp messages and emails, as well as humorously transcribed interviews), The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels drags the reader into something that genuinely feels like a real true crime story. I was with Amanda as she got closer and closer to the truth.

I'm now waiting patiently for Hallett's next book. For me, she is the find of 2022.

Many thanks to Janice Hallett, NetGalley, and Viper for this copy.

OMG, Janice gets better and better!! I am thankful to NetGalley, Miranda Jewess, Serpents Tail, ViperBooks and Janice Hallett for being approved to read this book early!!

Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision.

It is a story full of twists and turns with plots that take you on different roots that you least expect. I will not be disclosing any spoilers but trust me - this is a book that needs to be read!! I will be recommending this book!!!

AMAZING
I have never read a book before in this style/format and I LOVED it! I found it so easy to read and so hard to put down.
I enjoyed this book so much. Would definitely recommend.
Why I have not read any books by Janice Hallett until now I do not know but her other books are going straight to the top of my TBR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thankyou to NetGalley for this ARC.
I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was over the moon when I checked my emails and discovered I’d been approved to read this, I stayed up long into the night when I read the previous two books and I just knew this one would be the same.

Straight away this book had the familiar vibe of The Appeal and The Twford Code which I’ve grown to love and expect from a Janice Hallett book.

The premise is you’ve got a key to a safety deposit box full of research material for a true crime book, you can either read it and return it to the box and lock it away or read it and hand it over to the police?. Which would you choose?.

You get to make your own decision when you’ve read the book as the book is full of transcripts from interviews, emails, texts, etc that Amanda Bailey compiled whilst researching The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.

Things started to not add up from what we thought we knew about the Alperton Angels cult, the more I read the more I thought somethings not right here. I should have took notes really but I was too busy reading to find out if my suspicions are true or not.

My final thoughts are that this book is a masterpiece! I couldn’t believe what I was reading it had so many layers to it and so many red herrings. Lets not talk about the Twists! Because it had so many I couldn’t keep up.

My decision would be to read the documents then lock the safety deposit box back up and never let it see the light of day again.

⭐️Slight spoilers below⭐️

I loved Ellie Coopers little quips that she wrote when she was transcribing everything.

I loved the nod to Michelle McNamara in the Authors Acknowledgments as I’m a huge fan of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and all her tireless work to unmask the Golden State Killer/EAR

Everyone knows the case of the Alperton Angels - a cult who brainwashed two teenagers into thinking a baby was the antichrist. How it all ended in a mass suicide with the teenagers and the baby miraculously surviving. Amanda Brown is a true crime writer with a flagging career. Now the baby is 18, they can be interviewed…if Amanda can find them. In her way is a rival journalist trying to write the same book, contradicting accounts of what happened, secret identities and someone who will stop at nothing to make sure the truth stays buried. You are given a stack of documents full of Amanda’s research and a choice to make - will you go to the police or make sure this information is hidden forever?

Okay, so this is what you need to do. On the 19th January 2023, gather the following - a notebook and pen, a warm blanket, a cafetière of strong coffee, a plethora of snacks and a copy of “The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels”. Get comfy. You will need all of the above for one reason - once you start reading, you will want to read the whole book in one sitting, ignoring the outside world and all of your responsibilities until the very last page. It’s THAT good a reading experience. Compulsive reading from the first page to the last, you will find yourself becoming as obsessed with finding the truth as Amanda is.

I found myself thinking, just one more email, just one more transcript and I will stop reading. The plot is so layered and so clever that my head was spinning and my theories were wild and wonderful. I guessed maybe 10% of what was actually happening. The twists and revelations had my jaw on the floor but were also totally plausible and made total sense when I looked back.

This is one of the rare books that I loved so much I want to thrust a copy into everyone’s hands and demand they read it so we can discuss it and what we would do with the documents.

I would give this book 444 stars if I could - if you have read it, you will know why!

Thanks so much to Janice Hallett, Viper books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Amanda Bailey is researching a book on the Alperton Angels, a cult who were going to kill a baby they thought to be the antichrist. When they failed, they killed themselves instead. She has to work with an old enemy, Oliver, on the book. As their research evolves, they find themselves drawn into all sorts of conspiracy theories. Oliver in particular begins to think the Alperton Angels were actual angels and that he himself might be one.

The book is not a novel as such but a collection of transcribed notes, emails. text messages, extracts from novels, plays and articles about the event. I found it enjoyable at times but for the most part confusing..

I really enjoyed the little asides from Ellie (the transcriber) and found these very funny. This wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book which was difficult to follow. I can see why so many people loved it; it's quirky and unusual. It just wasn't for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

I genuinely don't know how she does it. Writing any novel must be incredibly difficult and require an extraordinary talent and level of research however Hallett in The Appeal, The Twyford Code and now The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels takes it to a whole new level.

She is genuinely one of the best writers around right now and each book just gets better and better. Using whatsapp messages, emails and letters to tell a story (rather than a traditional narrative) is a deft skill which she excels at. Even the personality of Ellie, the transcriber, shines through despite only transcribing voice notes throughout the book.

Hallett, for me, can do no wrong.

Thanks to Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books, Viper for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you haven't read Janice Hallett yet, I am truly envious of you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books for an advance copy of this great book.

This book is written in the author's trademark style of emails, notes, text messages, whatsapp messages etc, and I quickly fell into the rhythm of the story.

The author's first two novels, 'The Appeal' and 'The Twyford Code' are simply brilliant, and this is no exception.

For me, it's the literary equivalent of a magician performing close up magic. You watch closely, you know it's a trick, you should know how it's done, the magician is showing you how it's done while they're doing it, but they're so good, you just can't see it. And so the magician convinces you it's really magic.

And that's what happened to me, (again). Such is the skill of the writer that you start to believe that Angels, the end of days, the antichrist, is all real. But it can't be, can it?

All the clues as to what's going on are all laid out in front of you, you just have really think about it. But I didn't want to think about it too much, as I enjoy being fooled.

The explanations, when they come, are thorough, but not too thorough, leaving questions for this reader, which could be answered by a re-read, but again, I don't want the magic trick explained to me, I just want to enjoy the sense of wonder.

An easy 5 stars from me. How Janice Hallett keeps coming up with such great novels I've no idea, but long may this literary Sorceress continue to astound.

My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Publishers for a copy of “The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels “ for an honest review.

Janice Hallett is such an innovative writer, that makes her stand out from the crowd!
I loved the previous 2 books by her and ,have recommended them to many others, ,as I will with this new book.
A clever story told by texts , emails, and transcribed conversations that keeps you guessing right up to the end.
I loved the relationship , and asides , between two of the main characters of Amanda and Ellie .
A book that I thoroughly enjoyed and can’t recommend highly enough. Only problem is now I’ve got to try and patiently wait for her next release.

I loved this! I was so confused, but so gripped! I have to admit that I love conspiracy theories and will happily watch the weirdest documentaries about Big Foot and missing people mysteries so I knew I’d enjoy this. I had no idea what the truth about the Alperton Angels was going to be and hadn’t anticipated the ending at all. I also enjoyed the excerpts from the novels and screenplay as that added yet another layer of general confusion. If you like unreliable narrators you’ll enjoy this because I had no idea who was telling the truth. It’s really clever how well you get to know the characters through the emails, texts and transcripts. If you like the Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski it’s very much the same vibe.

Janice Hallett has single-handedly turned crime fiction writing on its head. The format she uses to present her story is innovative and compelling. With 'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels', Hallett has taken our obsession with all things true crime and made her readers feel part of the investigation. The result is a book which is immersive and completely impossible to put down. Seriously, set aside a chunk of time because you're going to want to read it in one go if possible. There's much to love about this book and I particularly enjoyed the wry humorous asides from the interview transcriber. With 'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels', Janice Hallett has knocked it out of the park and into orbit. I think she has another award-winner on her hands. Brilliant stuff. Highly recommend!

Everybook that I have read by this author has been exceptional and this is no deviance away from that. I am definitely starting to think of them as one of my favourite authors.
I love the style of writing in her books and how a story plays out through evidence such as emails, documents, texts and so forth.
Her writing is so engaging and the story was utterly gripping. I loved it and read it in one sitting,

Janice Hallett has quickly become one of my favourite authors. The Appeal was excellent; The Twyford Code even better. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels promised much, and delivered in style.

True crime writer Amanda Bailey is looking for a new project, and the seventeen year old case of the Alperton Angels looks promising. A charismatic man known as "Gabriel", capable of convincing others that he and they are angels, two vulnerable teenagers in his thrall, a murdered waiter, more dead bodies found in an abandoned warehouse, and a baby in peril. But the more Amanda finds out, the more inconsistencies and just plain inexplicabilities (is that a word?) come to light. Is there really something supernatural about this story? At least one character certainly comes to think so.

Like Janice's other books, the story is told through documentary evidence - emails, text messages, extracts from other media, etc. And like her other books it's incredibly clever and intriguing, as Amanda - and the reader - tries to piece together what really happened. It does get quite complicated by the end - it's one of those books which needs careful attention from the reader, but is worth it.

I think The Twyford Code might still be my favourite, but I enjoyed this very much indeed and can't wait for Janice Hallett's next book.

This is the best book Janice Hallett has done so far. I was a fan of the formats of the previous books but I loved how this one had a mix of ‘sources’ from emails to scripts. They all worked really well together and made you want to keep going.

The Alperton Angels were wonderfully creepy and the drop of the supernatural didn’t feel at all far fetched. I couldn’t guess where it was going and I loved where it ended up. I would honestly read anything by this author and cannot wait for the next book, it’s just a shame that it’ll be more than a year to wait now!

lperton Angels

Janice Hallett has produced another clever and twisty thriller.

In a similar style to her previous books, it is written through copies of WhatsApp messages, texts, emails, transcripts of conversations etc. Many of the documents we read are written by the people who had first hand involvement in the Alperton Angels case which Amanda Bailey is going to be writing a book about. She has previously and successfully written books about true crimes such as the murder of Jill Dando.

She is determined to uncover the truth at last, and is immediately immersed in the story of Gabriel, a cult leader who, 18 years ago, convinced his handful of followers he was an archangel, sent to rid the world of the Antichrist, who was just a baby at the time. Amanda wants to write the story from the point of view of the baby, who is now about to turn 18. She is struggling to find what happened to the baby on the night the angels died in what appeared to be a murder/suicide and the people she needs to speak to are beginning to die in ‘accidents’.

She finds another author is also looking for the baby and is starting to write a book about the Angels, and they are forced by their bosses to work together and help each other out. Oliver, through his own research, begins to believe there may be some truth in Angels and perhaps Gabriel was telling the truth.

This is the definition of a page turner which I devoured in 2 days. Definitely one to preorder!

I am not sure how I felt about this book. I didn't enjoy it as much as The Appeal, but I definitely preferred it to The Twyford Code.

I read the whole book quite quickly, and I did want to keep going with it, but it definitely dragged at times. Particularly the 30-50% section. It sort of deteriorated into theories and chatter but no real progression.

I didn't mind Amanda but I didn't feel like we got to know her well enough. And I started liking Ellie but as it progressed I felt like she had her own agenda and I started to dislike her. Even Oliver wasn't a character to support. So I didn't really have a strong opinion on the ending.

The plot was okay, the revelations and characters were well crafted and created layers in the story telling, though I felt that the big reveals came too late in the book.

Again, it felt that some of the dilly dallying in the second quarter could have been cut down and some of the bigger events or reveals be moved earlier to retain interest.

I would say that I liked it, but I wouldn't lax lyrical like I did with The Appeal.

This is the first book I have read by this author and must admit that the style of writing did have me confused at first.
Everything is written as WhatsApp messages,emails etc and as quite a few characters in it I did find myself getting lost but after a while of reading and getting characters clear in my mind it did become a really good book with a very good twist in it as well.
If you read this be prepared for a bit of sorting out to start with but stick with it as it’s really good.