Beware: this is a book you start and read in one sitting, may you will have to stop because of some mundane taks like eating or sleeping. It's a complex book that kept surprising me till the last sentence and it's full of unexpected turns.
It's about darkness, the fascination with true crime, cults. There's some more themes but I don't want t0 spoil anything. There's also a lot of humour.
The style of writing is classic Janice Hallet: a mix of different media, from whatsup to email.
I read three book by Ms Hallett and this one was my favorite: a very cleve, multilayered, and complex story that can be read as a very entertaining mystery or something more complex.
I loved it and it's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Janice Hallett is back with a third fiendishly clever and complex whodunnit which once again feels totally fresh and original. We are getting used to her inimitable brand of crime fiction in which we become the sleuths who are presented with an array of found documents and correspondence and have to make sense of it all.

'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels' appears to be a dossier of evidence which true crime writer Amanda Bailey is assembling for her next book which will re-assess a historic case from the early 2000s involving a religious cult, murder and mass suicide. Two teenagers were also involved, as well as their new-born baby who is about to turn 18 so Amanda's publisher is keen for her to track them down to find out what really happened. Unfortunately, Amanda's one-time nemesis Oliver Menzies is also working on a book about the Alperton Angels for a rival publisher so they find themselves chasing many of the same leads.

Hallett expects us to keep our wits about us as we pore through the various WhatsApp messages, e-mails, recorded conversations and extracts from novels and screenplays inspired by the case Amanda and Oliver are investigating. Very quickly it becomes apparent that this is not just about events from 2003 but also from the early 1990s, and events from the past start to intrude on the present. Amidst the darkness of the events to be described, there is plenty of humour to be found in Amanda and Oliver's pursuit of the truth at all costs. The story is full of twists and turns, some of which I saw coming but plenty which I didn't, and the dénouement is unexpected but satisfying.

This is another multi-layered novel - both a gripping and playful mystery but also an exploration of our fascination with true crime and the implications of this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review!

I love the unusual format of this and I have to say it’s amazingly engrossing. Amanda is a true life crime author researching an eighteen year old case involving a cult, a suicide pact, angels, two teens and a baby. To make this even more interesting she finds herself having to work with a former colleague she has long been harbouring a grudge against. I loved how this case unfolded, the disparities in recollections, the pure weirdness of it and the mystery of what happened to the teens and the baby. The conclusion is fantastic, well thought out and answers so many things yet still leaves you wondering. Overall though my favourite element was Amanda’s assistant Ellie who was just so funny when transcribing interviews [with her own little thoughts] 9/10

Another fabulous read from Janice Hallett. I’ve been hooked on her writing since reading The Appeal a few years ago.
Her latest offering focuses on Amanda, and her acquaintance, Oliver, when they are both commissioned to research a novel about The Alperton Angels. Eighteen years previously the members of a cult were brutally murdered, and a young girl was left alive with a newborn baby. Both writers are searching for the whereabouts of the baby.
Presented as a series of emails, WhatsApp messages and transcribed interviews, the reader is immediately drawn into this complex mystery. It’s a page-turner!
4 stars as for me it just wasn’t quite as good The Appeal and The Twyford Code, but a wonderful read nonetheless.

I'm relatively new to the world of Janice Hallett but I love it! Although a similar format in writing style to "The Twford Code", "The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels" is less complicated in that you don't need to look for acrostics (thank goodness!).

Right from the start the story had me hooked. It's amazing how well characters come across just through communication in WhatsApp messages and emails, unbelievably well. It's a fascinating thing seeing how a true crime book is researched, written and rewritten depending on what evidence comes to light. Like her other books, this one is full of twists and turns. Still undecided what I'd do!

The Mysterious case of the Alperton Angels.

Wow.. just wow.. I am still in a state of shock about the ending of this book.. it is a book full of twists and turns and distractions and I loved it!!

The book is written in typical Janice Hallett style with emails, voice recording transcriptions and texts between Amanda and Ellie (the transcriber) so some people are going to love it and some are going to hate it (I love it, personally it makes the book moreish as you can just read one more text or email)

The Alperton Angels were bodies found in a disused flat in London that were posed like angels after death, they were part of a cult that was brought to the attention of the police when one of the members of the cult called the police and said she had a baby…

Amanda and Oliver are acquaintances who knew each other from a writing course when they were younger, who are both commissioned to write a book on the Alperton Angels (the how, whys and what’s) but the more they find out the more questions need answering and there investigations take two very different paths….

This is a great book and I loved it.. it is more bleak than the first two written by the author, probably as its subject matter is cults, religion, missing baby’s and murder but the short passages moving the book forward are perfect and gripping and leave you wanting more answers until you have them…


I want more Janice Hallett books!

#Netgalley #England #Mystery

She’s done it again! A gripping mystery told in such a clever and innovative way. Telling us just enough to keep us guessing and threading in the little clues so perfectly. Five stars!

4+

I've enjoyed all books by the author, but this one is a favourite... I'll go so far as to say a favourite book of the year.
The short pieces mean you can always read 1 (hundred) more, and the story catches hold and doesn't let go.
It had twists I couldn't imagine, as do all the best books.
It's also funny at times, I really enjoyed the relationship between Amanda and Ellie.

I can't wait to see what we get for the next book.

Also, I'd quite like to read that Nilsen book. 😄