I adored this mystery! I was engaged from the first page and could not put it down for more than a few minutes. I think there were so many twists in this story and aspects that I was not expecting. Definitely a highly recommended mystery book. I think anyone who likes mysteries should pick up a book by Janice Hallett. She is quickly becoming a classic mystery writer.

I received a free advance reader digital copy of the book through Net Galley. My thanks to Net Galley, the author and publisher.

This novel an account of a horrendous murder of the three people , all members of a religious cult of young people. A young woman and an infant, recently born, were discovered at the scene covered in blood .The woman was in deep shock it seemed. She was very protective of the baby , saying “ They “ wanted to kill the baby because it was the Antichrist.
Years later Amanda Bailey, an author of true crime books is contacted by her agent with a proposal for her to write a book on the unsolved crime on its 20 th anniversary..
Ghe story is told in the “ epistolary “ fashion. That is , in this book the story is told through emails, IMs and phone transcripts between Amanda, various contacts, colleagues and officials. The story is revealed in fits and spurts in brief snippets, as are personalities involved. A lot is lost when characterization is lacking .
It was an interesting technique at first, but , in my view, soon became an annoying , inadequate way to tell this complicated story of murder, madness and the occult.. Think of the classic tale of diabolical possession “ , The Exorcist” related on Tic Toc.
The book is creepy, weird and a bit scary, but in my opinion, an unsatisfying experiment.

I liked but didn’t love The Appeal by Janice Hallet. I also thought The Christmas Appeal was enjoyable but forgettable. So when I requested and got the arc of this book, I was a bit nervous. The Appeal was definitely overhyped whereas I hadn’t heard anything about The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels so I was going in blind. Which I think is the best way to go into this book. I enjoyed this way more than The Appeal. The center mystery was more engaging and I didn’t see the twist and turns coming. I have some quibbles about the ending but overall, I highly recommend this book. Especially for those who love mixed media books, the pages flew by and it was hard to put down.

Absolutely loved this. Janice Hallett is one of the most creative mystery writers out there today and I always look forward to her work. Starting with The Appeal, each of her novels has been better than the last. Lots of twists and turns and I never wanted to put this down.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is the third book I have read from this author. Having enjoyed The Appeal and The Christmas Appeal, I fully expected to enjoy this book as well.(Based on this book’s synopsis, I actually expected to like this one more than the others.) Unfortunately, it was not to be. While the mixed media format worked well in the Appeal books, it doesn’t feel necessary to this story, and honestly, I think it detracts from the story. I would have enjoyed this book more had it been written in traditional format and shortened by about 100 pages. Perhaps the overwhelming character list would have been easier to keep track of in that format, or maybe even pared down. I probably won’t pick up another Hallett novel written in mixed media format, but would try one written with traditional formatting.

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The description of this book really drew me in, but the format was so hard to get into. It’s a cool idea to unravel the mystery through texts, emails and media, but for me as a reader it was really hard to connect to any characters at all. The overall plot was interesting but the format dragged it out and couldn’t really keep my attention.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Similar to the Twyford Code, this mystery is told through snippets - transcripts of interviews, whatsapp printouts and excerpts from books. It makes for an interesting take on a mystery, but at times I found myself not totally following. Towards the end it got super interesting and kept me guessing. Fun & engaging.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a first for me by this author. The writing style took a little getting used to. Once I did I just went with the flow and really enjoyed the unreliable narrators and unfolding of the plot.

I LOVED reading this book. I found the epistolary novel style format of the book to be incredibly engaging and the mystery at it's center to hook me in from start to finish. I think Hallett has a real knack for revealing mystery and creating a compelling story and look forward to reading more of her work.

I really like the way Janice Hallett uses mixed media to tell a story. The beginning really had me interested. Then about half way the story felt really drawn out and slow. Unfortunately, this caused me to really not care about the story or the characters. I will try to read any of her future books.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the digital arc.

"The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels" by Janice Hallett was certainly mysterious! An interesting and gripping story, full of spins and surprises, with strong characters and tangles. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This might be my last dalliance with Janice Hallett. I absolutely despised the main character Amanda. Everything I dislike about her is a spoiler so I won't say more than she comes across as manipulative and ruthless which is not a dynamic I'm interested in reading. The mixed media elements of this don't work as well as I've seen in other books. It's mostly transcripts of conversations, texts, and emails. I wanted more things like newspapers and webpages and other unique ways of doing the mixed media.

DNF. I loved her first book, The Appeal, but the two that follow were both the NF for me. I think the format is really really fun, and I get hooked at the beginning, but then they seemed to really draw out. I will continue to try her books but I think if she’s got to keep us in this format, she’s gotta find a way to keep it a little more interesting and fast past

This book started off kind of slow but honestly I continued to read it because I am a huge fan of Hallett and her work. I was not let down once the book got really going the story flew off the pages for me. Truly a fantastic read and got me back on track with thoroughly enjoying her work again.

Dnf at 30% just could not get into it. Super disappointing because I love the authors other work. I’m not sure exactly what it is was about it but I’m so sad.

I absolutely loved the format of this book. I described it to my friends as “found footage” but a book instead of a film. Getting everything in snippets made everyone an unreliable narrator. No one was truly likable, and I actually kind of enjoy that in a book. I’m not rooting for a person, I’m rooting for information, for the solution to be made clear. My only complaint was that the mystery all unraveled so quickly at the end. It suddenly all became so easy to explain, so that left me reeling and side-eyeing slightly. But overall, I will absolutely be recommending this book to everyone!

Janice Hallett has done it again! Truly, this was such a great, and compelling book. The concept of this book is so interesting, and I loved following the perspective of a true crime author. I thought it was an interesting perspective to follow an investigation through. I also loved the variety in mixed media within this book. The other Janice Hallett books are mostly told through the same media, and despised still liking those books (in fact The Appeal is still my favourite) I do think switching between recording, e-mails, messages, and more made the book feel less repetetive in a way. It was just fun to see those different elements through the book.
Like I said, the premise of this book is great. It's such an interesting topic, and it was so incredibly clouded in mystery. I also just really liked how it got slowly unraveled throughout the book. I also loved taking my own guesses throughout the novel about what was going on. Our main character is incredibly smart, and I loved seeing her go down roads that most people wouldn't even think of because of that. I love when a mystery has a smart main character like that. Oliver was also an interesting character to have opposite her, as he's so different. It made for a very compelling read.
My main complaint about this book is that it's just extremely slow, especially at the start. There's just A LOT of information. All of it are puzzle pieces that do end up fitting together at the end absolutely brilliantly, but at the start it could feel a bit like a slog. Especially because it isn't entirely clear what is important in which way at all. It did hinder my enjoyment a little, which is why I ended up docking a star. However, I was incredibly interesting to find out what was happening throughout the entire book, and the section of the book were most of the reveals/action happens genuinely had my heart racing, and me sitting at the edge of my seat because it was just so incredibly done. So yeah, not a perfect read for me but incredibly enjoyable, and well crafted as well. I feel like Janice Hallett has become a favourite author for me, and I'm already excited for her next release.

This book was a rollercoaster and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's absolutely confusing but I have come to accept that from Janice Hallett books and am just along for the ride. The voice of all characters is clear and it's fun to read the numerous conflicting accounts of the same events, as well as the lies told by the "author" using different angles with every source. I never saw the different reveals coming and couldn't devour this book quickly enough.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is a really well written unique mystery.
I have really enjoyed reading this authors other novels.

The characters are well written and fleshed out.

I really how perfectly paced the story was.

Book Rating: 4/5
Audiobook Rating: 5/5

Janice Hallett writes the most unique books, and so far, I have loved how they are written in a mixed media fashion. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is the type of novel that is begging for a full-cast audiobook and that is exactly what we have. Unlike her previous book The Appeal which I had somewhat of a hard time following along with, I did not have that issue with this one, and it probably helped that I tried to give it my full attention at all times. Annie Aldington, Nneka Okoye, Gareth Armstrong, Sid Sagar & Kristin Atherton are all incredible narrators, and they are mixed up enough throughout the audio that it sounds like there are even more people narrating! It is just so well done, and I highly recommend it.

The storyline itself is a little sad at times, but I loved following along with all of Amanda's research for her true crime novel. There is a lot of depth to this story, and it becomes quite dark and complex. I am endlessly impressed with the way Hallett can keep everything straight and turn her books into such engaging and cohesive stories. Perhaps it is the style in which it is told, or maybe it is because I listened to the audiobook, but the climax didn't shock me the way I thought/hoped it would. This is why I ended up at a 4/5 overall, however, she definitely gets 5/5 for originality, writing, and the storyline as a whole!