As a fan of the appeal, I was very much looking forward to this novella! I had a good time all the way through, Hallett's witty writing and character made for a a very fun reading experience. I just felt the pacing to be a little off, there was a lot of build up for what felt like very minor action and resolution. The overall idea for the plot was really fun and well thought out but it could have used a few more pages to feel satisfying!

I enjoyed this quick, holiday read. I have not read The Appeal, but I don't feel like that took anything away from this story. Written in the emerging style of text and email messages, transcripts, new stories, etc, The Christmas Appeal follows what happens when a dead body is discovered during the local Christmas play. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a short, entertaining mystery for the Christmas season.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #AtriaBooks for a free copy of #TheChristmasAppeal by Janice Hallett. All opinions are my own.

I read this book without reading the previous book that introduced these characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the style the author used to write the story-emails, texts, transcripts. As a quick read over my holiday break, it was an engaging read that I easily followed without reading the previous book. I was curious to the outcome right up to the end. And since I did have a few questions about what happened before The Christmas Appeal, I read the original The Appeal from the library, which I found good but less satisfying. If I'd read them in order, the first book might have impressed me more.

I love the format Janice Hallett uses and this was a fun read.
Why don’t have the panto tradition in the US?
I loved the way the social pecking order and various character quirks gets revealed in people’s messages to each other.
I can’t wait for the author’s next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and atria books for this e-arc.

I absolutely loved this book. It was really well written and it was also surprising. Thank you for the arc. I really appreciate it.

A really quick and entertaining read. Just like Hallett’s book The Appeal, this short novel is about the same UK small town theater troupe, set a few years later, and told all in the form of emails and texts. And once again, it’s told all in the form of emails and instant messages, and once again you don’t really know what the mystery is going to be.

It’s actually not a particularly Christmas-y though its set in December - it’s just about the troupe putting on a Christmas pantomime which I think is a British thing - basically just a one night only show for families. It’s so short that the mystery is not very deep - by the time you figure out what is going on, you find out the answers fairly quickly. But it was a very enjoyable read which you literally can knock out in a few hours.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett is an intriguing epistolarian mystery that feels like a nod to the past, but set in the present. This author is known as the modern Agatha Christie & I totally can see that.

This is book #1.5 in The Appeal series. This is the first book I’ve read by this author & I think it would’ve been easier if I had read the first book & known the characters. I struggled to get into the story because I had trouble keeping track of everyone.

The Christmas Appeal is great for fans of…
🎄 Immersive Caper
🎄 Epistolary Novel
🎄 Christmas
🎄Agatha Christie

Although I struggled in the beginning trying to understand, I enjoyed when I got into it. It was a very quick read & easy to pass through in an afternoon. I appreciate holiday mysteries that aren’t too gory & this one delivered on that. It also provided humor, community & just a touch of drama.

If you’re looking for a holiday based mystery told only through texts, interviews, e-mails & various messages, I recommend The Christmas Appeal!


Massive thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

Do you like it when books are narrated in unique styles? I had heard of The Appeal and really wanted to read it. I didn’t get to it yet, but I was excited to get a chance to review The Christmas Appeal. It is a unique story told through a variety of mediums including emails, text messages, police reports, etc. A full cast brought the story to life.

The Fairway Players are putting on a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for the Christmas season. The production is trying to get going with arguing players, missing players, egos, etc. During the first production, a dead skeleton in a Santa suit appears on stage bursting out from the beanstalk. How did the dead body get into the beanstalk and why?

I thought the way this story was told was very innovative. I also loved how the mystery went in one direction and was seemingly solved, but then the real story was revealed at the end. The story was very engaging on audiobook, and I enjoyed also reading along in the physical book. I loved trying to figure out the mystery, but I also loved the humor as well. This is a standout audiobook production. If you love audiobooks, you should definitely try this one out.

This is meant to be a follow-up to The Appeal, but I read it fine as a standalone novel. I do want to go back and read The Appeal now.

I recently discovered Hallett while reading The Twyford code. I love the way she writes a mystery. She is in a category all her own. The Christmas Appeal was a fun whodunnit that used email and text communication to tell the story. I really love when books change things up like that and it was so fun to try to figure out who and what was going on. I had no previously read The Appeal so I do suggest reading that first. I had a hard time keeping up with the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eArc copy!

I have not read "The Appeal" but I was able to jump into this novella with no issues. It was written in the form of letters/emails/texts which was very interesting and lent itself well to the mystery, as two lawyers receive all of this information from their former mentor as a bit of a test to see if they can figure out what happened. There were a lot of characters but it was pretty easy to keep track of everyone and how they were connected. I may read "The Appeal" now; I'm sure reading this out of order may have some spoiled some things for me but the characters really don't talk much about what happened before so I don't feel like I already know what happened at all!

(3.5⭐️) Many thanks to @atriabooks for the #gifted free copy of this book.

Humorous and entertaining. This cozy mystery was a fun, escapist read amid all the chaos of the holidays.

The local theatre troupe, the Fairway Players, were hard at work in preparation for the upcoming Christmas pantomime. But a dead Santa found amongst the set, upends the cheer and festivity.

The formatting of this read, told through mixed media, was captivating and fresh. It allowed the primary characters greater depth than is typical in a novella.

And those dynamic characters, full of drama, snark and cynicism, kept me in stitches, solidifying this novella a delightfully amusing farce.

I went into this read blind, not realizing I needed to read The Appeal first. While I still enjoyed this novella completely, I do think the backstories found in The Appeal would’ve made this read even more enjoyable.

So fun! Not totally necessary to read The Appeal beforehand but not as enjoyable if you don’t. I loved returning to the Fairway Players and this was a short fun romp for the holidays.

I really enjoyed this Christmas novella! Similar to The Appeal, this book is written in mixed format - emails, text messages, letters, police transcripts, etc. - making it a very fun read. There’s a lot of humor in this one. At times, I was literally laughing out loud 😂 This can be read as a standalone, but I do recommend reading The Appeal, as I really enjoyed that one as well! Defiantly add this one to your Holiday TBR next year 😊

This was a fun follow up to The Appeal, in which I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this cast of characters as their theatrical drama ensued and a murder is revealed! If you aren’t familiar with The Appeal, you’ll be just fine reading this as a standalone too.

It’s also written in mixed media format which made for such a quick read! The characters are so quirky and entertaining and I honestly had no idea how it would play out! If you’re a fan of Only Murders in the Building, then you will love this. Overall, a satisfying Christmas novella that I highly recommend! (4.5 stars rounded up)

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria for my #gifted copy!

I adored this book! Janice Hallett is quickly becoming a favorite author for me. Her writing is quick witted and compelling. I love that these are quick reads, they keep you guessing, and they are just pure fun. Even though I've never guessed the ending, it doesn't feel like they are cheap or put together poorly. It is super enjoyable. I look forward to reading her other two books I have on my TBR.

In the vein of her previous book, the Appeal, Hallet takes readers through emails, texts, WhatsApp messages and even police transcripts to solve a mystery that has taken center stage at the Christmas production of the Fairway Players, a community theater.

While advertised as a cozy mystery, a modern day Agatha Christie, I’d actually say this is just as much, if not more, a story of community drama. These people do not like each other. There is a definite power struggle for leadership of the group, a bunch of people trying to one up (or outright sabotage) each other and mix up after mix up. To be honest, it got a little tedious and, in my opinion, would have benefited from a bit MORE mystery. The body in question was not discovered until the halfway mark and the whodunnit reveal happened shortly after.

One of the advantages to the format is that you get the voices of the characters and see the miscommunications in real time. There were a few funny parts - think more slap stick comedy - along the way that I wasn’t expecting, especially the story line involving the “sweets.”

If you’re looking for one more short Christmas read that doesn’t take itself too seriously this one just might fit the bill for you.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this Christmas mystery. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this novel and gave up. I struggled with the format of messages, letters and emails.

This book was written non-traditionally (entirely through e-mail and text threads), which was fun and it was very short so I got through it within 24 hours. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters, though, which may be because I have not read ‘The Appeal’ yet. It also felt to be a little lacking on the Christmas theme. I saved it along with a few other Christmasy thrillers/mysteries for around Christmas on purpose because I am a seasonal reader and was in that mood.

As a defense attorney myself, I found the ethical dilemma the lawyers felt at the end a little odd. They were sent these communications apparently to ‘solve’ the mystery but it appears the individual who sent them already had known what happened, so what was the purpose of sending them to the lawyers? I have no idea.

Thank you to Atria Books, the author, and NetGalley for the e-galley.

3.5 stars. This short novel is a pure delight. It is a laugh out loud, holiday themed mystery featuring characters who will warm your heart and also set your teeth on edge. It is written in a mixed media format through text messages and emails which kept the story moving along. It was interesting to delve into the different characters thoughts and feelings through their correspondence with others.

It would be a great gift/stocking stuffer for your favourite family member.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

A fun trip back to a play with the Fairway Players. This time they are putting on a Christmas panto around Jack and the Beanstalk! It's a crazy amount of busyness leading up to the production and personalities are clashing. Add into the mix a dead body on stage. Love the back and forth Whats App texts between Femi and Charlotte as they bounce ideas off each other to figure everything out and present their brief to their mentor RT Tanner, KC (retired).

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the review copy.