“The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett is a gripping and clever holiday mystery that masterfully weaves a tale of deception, secrets, and long-buried truths. Set in the quaint village of Little Wesley, this intriguing novel follows amateur sleuth Katherine Roper as she investigates a cryptic appeal for help during the festive season.

Hallett’s writing skillfully creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere, only to have it disrupted by the ominous and puzzling events that unfold. The story is expertly layered with subtle clues and red herrings, keeping readers on the edge of their seats as they accompany Katherine on her quest for the truth.

Katherine, the village’s former postmistress, is a delightful and relatable protagonist. Her inquisitive nature and genuine concern for the community make her the perfect amateur sleuth. Her interactions with the other villagers reveal the complex web of relationships and long-standing tensions within Little Wesley.

One of the standout aspects of “The Christmas Appeal” is its exploration of the intricacies of human relationships and the power of appearances. Hallett skillfully exposes the cracks beneath the seemingly idyllic village facade, revealing secrets and lies that have been hidden for years.

The supporting cast of characters adds depth to the narrative, showcasing the complexities of human nature. The character development is superb, making it easy to become invested in the lives of the villagers and their interconnected stories.

The pacing of the book is well-balanced, with each new revelation and twist expertly timed to keep the reader engaged. The mystery at the heart of the story is clever and intricate, making it challenging to predict the outcome.

In conclusion, “The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett is a captivating and intricate holiday mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. With its skillfully crafted characters, masterful plot, and atmospheric setting, this book is a must-read for fans of the genre.

Always fun visiting Lockwood! I absolutely loved The Appeal and equally loved The Christmas Appeal! This one was full of chuckles with a fun mystery to solve. I really enjoy the way that these books are written though correspondence and e-mails. Makes it fun and keeps you on your toes! These are fun and easy reads and I hope that she will continue this series!

A fantastic festive mystery to read if you love a Christmassy book but don't like Hallmark or romance. I am not a huge mystery reader and even I had a blast reading this book!

I admittedly was not the biggest fan of the original The Appeal book aside from the modern epistolary style of writing. It was too long and there was nary a likable character in the whole cast. Despite my feelings of the original, I was excited to see a Christmas entry in the Fairway Players saga. I can never pass up a holiday/seasonal edition involving familiar characters and this one did not disappoint!

The length was perfect and the characters were a bit more likable (maybe the rose-colored lenses of the holiday season brought out the best in each of them?). I loved getting to see a bit more about the more minor characters from the original, such as Nick, Barry, and Harley, and I also found the entrance of a couple of new characters to be charming and unique. I will definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves a cozy mystery with a holiday setting - it was quick and charming and I had a hard time putting it down!

A fun Christmas mystery novella. It's told through texts, emails, and letters which adds to the mystery. There are sections that kind of sum up what is happening in the form of texts from one friend/lawyer to another and that was really helpful. A good holiday read!

In the community of Lower Lockwood, it is time for the annual tradition of the Christmas panto ("a loud, fun, enjoyable musical comedy theatre production" - according to an in-the-know website). The community has its own group of dedicated thespians, known as The Fairway Players. But even a small theatre group can see its share of petty jealousies, divas, and dictator-like behavior. But when things start to go wrong, someone needs to step up and take charge, right?
The Christmas play this year is Jack and the Beanstalk. Since money is tight - tighter than usual - so they're renting a very old, slightly run down beanstalk. But a rumor starts to spread that the reason the old set piece is taped up is because it's made with asbestos. The truth, though, is much worse. There's a body in there, well decomposed.

But what's a little mummification when there's a show that must go on? And how do you keep control over a cast that mistakes illegal drugs for the sweets intended for the children?

I am not familiar with author Janice Hallett, nor the first book in this series (The Appeal), but I was looking for something with a holiday theme, and as I've read some very good mysteries lately (even a few good cozy mysteries) I put this one on my Kindle. Unfortunately, it really didn't work for me.

First off is the style of storytelling. This entire story is told through a variety of short communications - tweets, WhatsApp messages, incident reports, and interview transcriptions. I've seen this kind of method before and I rarely find it enjoyable. It's very difficult to build to a climax when the method of telling changes (and it never builds here). Additionally, we have some odd timing issues. The bulk of the story is told through flashback, bookended by legal memos in the present day.

Perhaps because I hadn't read the previous book, but I didn't ever feel that I knew who these characters were other than one or two of the main people, and they seemed to be caricatures, or at best, stereotypes of community theater leaders who take their work much too seriously.

This is a cozy mystery, and for me a reminder of the kinds of cozies that I don't enjoy. The death of the victim is not part of the action of the book and in fact seems to be a minor part of the story. It's more a farce about keeping a play together when everything falls apart, but it wasn't funny or clever.

This didn't work for me.

Looking for a good book? Nothing appeals about The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

this one was not for me. The format was awful. It was ALL instant messages and emails so there was very little character development and made it hard for me to keep track of who was who without much context. I felt it dragged for such a short book.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

As a big fan of The Appeal, it was fun to revisit The Fairway Players theater group and all of their silly drama and hijinks, as they find themselves smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery.

Though technically a standalone, I’d say this novella is best read after The Appeal. The familiar epistolary format makes for another fun, fast-paced read.

Not particularly Christmas-y, unfortunately, but enjoyable nonetheless! Funny and cozy!

4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the review ecopy!

The Christmas Appeal was a great way to get back to Lower Lockwood, discovering new and old characters and getting to know what they had been up to in the last couple of years. I loved the new dynamics and the tension behind the scenes of the new Christmas production of the Fairway Players theatre group. And, of course, the looming sense of mystery. And the yummy, yummy pettiness. It really did hit the spot.

Unfortunately, I liked everything around the mystery except the mystery itself. This because (1) I had figured out the central people and pieces of the mystery quite early on; (2) within the book, the mystery itself was solved quite quickly, and I didn’t find the solution as satisfactory as in The Appeal; (3) I did not like the way Femi and Charlotte talked about the case, I found their explanations a bit too forced.

Despite the mystery in itself being a bit underwhelming, I read The Christmas Appeal in one sitting, glued to my reading chair, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would warmly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a distraction in this dreary weather!

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Any reader who enjoyed Hallett’s The Appeal will undoubtedly be thrilled by the return of the Fairway Players. This time they are working on a Christmas panto, Jack and the Beanstalk (and oh, that stalk!) Once again, there is trouble ahead in this uniquely told tale.

Two young attorneys, known to readers of the first book, are given a series of documents and asked to figure out what evil deed(s) may have transpired. Readers can try to solve the case as they read the documents along with Femi and Charlotte.

I loved the snarkiness of aspects of this novella. Anyone who has ever gotten an overly braggy Christmas letter from a friend or family member will grimace in recognition at the one that starts the story. The responses to it are pretty funny.

Those who enjoy Christmas mysteries and who are looking for a quick read will, I think, enjoy this book. I did.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria for this title. All opinions are my own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this advanced copy.

This novella was so much fun! The over the top drama coming from a small town theater group was just a riot. I laughed more than I thought I would and found myself highly entertained! The story did have an Agatha Christie feel, and I’d for sure describe this as a cozy mystery.

This novella stems from the original book, The Appeal. I have not read it, but I had no problem following this story. However, it does make me wonder what I missed. The Appeal is now officially on my TBR!

I loved that the story was told via emails, texts, and online messenger chats. This was a unique was to read the story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Christmas Appeal is written in a unique epistolary format. It is composed of letters, emails, texts, and police reports that help piece together a murder that occurred during a play. While the Fairway Players are known for their enthusiastic members, one of them just might be hiding a secret no one saw coming.

Unbeknownst to me, The Christmas Appeal is a follow up to Janice Hallet’s 2021 novel, The Appeal. It is a Christmas novella that picks back up with the Fiarway Players as they put on a production of Johnny and the Beanstock. While I enjoyed the story, I feel it would have been more enjoyable had I read The Appeal. It would have given me insight and clarity on characters.

This is a fast-paced read. Coming in at only 208 pages, it only took me a couple of hours to make my way through the entire story. Perfect for readers with limited time.

While it does contain a murder, it is on the lighter side. In fact, it has been described as a “cozy mystery”. This is the perfect description. I often found myself laughing at some of the bizarre scenarios characters got themselves into.

Special thanks to Netgalley, Janice Halley, and Atria Books for allowing me to read the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Not quite as good as The Appeal. And there was no appeal in this unless it was just donating the funds to the church for the roof? I'd never seen the word 'appeal' used the way it was in The Appeal. Only in the context of appealing a judge/jury's decision in court or the appeal of something like sex appeal! So reading The Appeal threw me until I understood it meant something different in the UK. I do feel like, because this is such a short story, you need to have read The Appeal at some point prior to learn the backgrounds and relationships the Fairway Players have with each other. Otherwise, you just get a cursory glance at this group of people and you may not enjoy it as much.

Happy to include this title in my recent round-up “Holly Jolly Holidays” highlighting seasonal-themed reads for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

This was a completely delightful and funny little novella, written in Janice Hallett's signature 'mixed media' style that centers on the same group of community actors that we met in her first novel, The Appeal. While it might not have been the most “Christmas-y” story I’ve ever read, it was absolutely enjoyable and entertaining, and I devoured it in a single evening!

In this story, the dynamics have shifted a bit among The Fairway Players group since the events in The Appeal, and they are now getting ready for the performance of Jack and the Beanstalk, which was chosen as their annual Christmas show. As expected, shenanigans ensue, a body turns up (in a Santa suit, no less), and lawyers Femi and Charlotte are tasked by their boss to get to the bottom of what happened this time and why.

It was a really fun, cute read with some laugh-out-loud moments along the way. As with her previous novels, the story is told in the form of emails and text messages, and is just so successfully done. I was hoping for a holiday read that felt seasonal but without all the syrupy sweetness/romance, and that's exactly what I got in this one - snark, humor and a smart mystery that allowed me to just go along for the ride and enjoy it all by the light of the Christmas tree. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t love this one. I really enjoyed the original Appeal, especially the format of it with emails, texts, etc, but I felt like this one was really hard to read. I also was disappointed that it was basically the same story just with the deceased in a Santa suit.

I am a huge Janice Hallett fan. Her unique style shines through in her most recent novel, The Christmas Appeal. This holiday season The Fairway Players are performing Jack and the Beanstalk and there is a murder afoot. Tons of unreliable characters and suspicions drive the story and made me flip and fly through the story. The novel is told through email, police transcripts, and letters with multiple narrators, Janice Hallett's wit and smart writing glitters through the page like a holiday star. I felt like was watching a performance unfold in my mind. Perfect little Christmas mystery for the holiday!

I loved The Appeal, so I was excited to read this mini-sequel. It was fun to revisit a lot of the characters from the first book, although it did take me a while to re-orient myself to who was who. The mystery in this book isn't nearly as compelling, but I still enjoyed this as a fun seasonal distraction.

There’s nothing quite like the drama of a community theatre group!

This was a fun, Christmas themed novella that follows the Fairway Players as they put on a Christmas pantomime and all the drama that ensues - both onstage and off. The story is told through a series of transcripts, texts and emails leading up to and following their production. I would have loved to go deeper on everything that was happening beyond and get more of each character’s point of view.

I enjoyed Sarah-Jane’s character and have met folks like her in the community theatre space with a real conviction to ensure the “show must go on”.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A novella sequel-ish to The Appeal with plenty of Christmas vibes to go around!

Full disclosure: I did not read The Appeal first, so honestly I was a smidge lost at first. As a novella, this story picks up with the expectation that readers already know the characters and setting. Which I did not. But Hallett's characters are so eclectic and her writing is so to-the-point that you get to know everyone right away -- it wasn't long before I felt like I was all caught up. I gave this story 4.5 stars instead of a full 5 stars because I felt like the murder mystery was lost in all of the hullaballoo that was the hot-mess-express of the pantomime production. There was a ton of in-fighting, sabotage, and shenanigans that the murder itself seemed almost an afterthought. I really enjoyed the story and found it very entertaining, but I wouldn't really classify it as a murder mystery...

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**