This is a quick little read, and like The Appeal, it’s fully epistolary. It’s a little mystery that takes place at Christmas, and it was so fun to see all the characters again! My favorite part was reading everyone’s reactions to the events during the pantomime. And I liked that the ending was very open-ended, and the reader could imagine what happened afterward.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy! The Christmas Appeal is out now!

I was excited to.be back in this world. I love how the author pulls everything together in the end. The unique format is fun!

This novella is set in the same place as The Appeal, with the action happening as the community theatre stages a pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk (interesting choice for Christmas) to raise funds to renovate the church building that hosts their productions.

Like The Appeal, this novella also features a mixed media style with emails, transcripts, text messages and more between all the players in the town - most that we met in The Appeal plus some new members - plus the communication between the two lawyers who have been sent these documents to review and figure out what happened. I love this style and enjoyed being in this world and with these characters again.

Overall this was entertaining and a very quick read but I almost wish we would have just gotten a full novel. The overall mystery and murder seemed a tad underdeveloped and I really wanted to spend more time with the characters from the novel and also get to know the new characters a bit more. This is perfect for a one sitting read though and definitely a must for anyone who enjoyed The Appeal.

Thank you @netgalley & @atriabooks for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Pretty cover, charming epistolary mystery, Christmas setting, what's not to like.

It's not your typical saccharine Christmas novel, it's fast-paced and snarky. I didn't read "The Appeal" before and enjoyed this book all the same. Plus, it puts me in the right mood for the holiday season!

A sincere thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

This was the cutest, book I have read in a long time. It was a quick, smart read. I was invested to see how The Fairway Players would get their annual Christmas production completed. They were tasked at presenting Jack & The Beanstalk. There isn’t much of a Christmas vibe between the two production teams that take turns putting on the show. It’s hard to tell who will come out ahead. The team putting on the production, and all the obstacles thrown there way. Or the other producers, slowly but surely trying to sabotage the play. Throw in a dead body and everyone in the town is buzzing about this years play. Will they raise enough money to fix the Church roof? Who will be or not be suspects? Can the play be saved? The characters in this book were so human and caddy. This was a 4 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley and Janice Hallet for my copy of The Christmas Appeal, for an honest opinion. It was an absolute pleasure reading and reviewing this book. I can wait to see if there is a 3rd book coming out.

I recently finished reading “The Christmas Appeal” by Janice Hallett over the weekend, having received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for a book review.

This marked my first experience with Janice Hallett’s work, and I am eager to explore more of her writing.

"The Christmas Appeal" is a novella and serves as the sequel to "The Appeal."

For those seeking a unique and easy read, "The Christmas Appeal" might be just what you're looking for—it's not your typical Christmas story.

Upon commencing this novella, the narrative positions you as a reader in the role of a paralegal, meticulously reviewing all the documents related to the case.

Initially, I found this approach confusing, as most novels and novellas do not adopt such a style. However, once I became accustomed to the setup, I thoroughly enjoyed the novella.

The unconventional setup threw me for a loop initially. As a reader, I am accustomed to the traditional narration structure, and this novella deviates significantly from that. A heads-up about this unique approach would have been appreciated. Nevertheless, once I adapted to the structure, I appreciated the characters, dialogue, and the immersive experience of pretending to be a paralegal while reading.

This was a fun and entertaining read, and I enjoyed the mystery trying to figure out who killed Santa and why. I loved searching for the clues, and the conflict between the characters and their motivations that kept me engaged.

I highly recommend reading 'The Christmas Appeal,' especially for readers who love mysteries. You're in for an enjoyable time deciphering the clues and attempting to unravel the mystery of who killed Santa.

"The Christmas Appeal" is available in e-book, audiobook, and hardback formats.

This is cute and sure to be a hit with fans of the series.

Community theater stuff doesn’t do much for me in general. Adults doing amateur theater is kind of a tough hang, especially the silly politics of it. But some of this is funny, and the epistolary format works surprisingly well.

I would have preferred it be a bit more Christmasy, but the atmosphere is otherwise well rendered.

The mystery itself is fine, and light enough to be appropriate to a holiday novel. The characters are unfortunately more irritating than amusingly quirky, but I enjoyed this well enough to consider trying the next book in the series.

I loved this book! I loved the way it was written and looked forward to every time I picked it up. The characters were very well developed and the plot was easy to follow and extremely interesting. Definitely a fun book to pick up around Christmas to get the holiday spirit going.

The Fairway Players theater are putting on a Christmas play of Jack and the Beanstalk. But when a dead body turns up on stage there must be an investigation. Fun new mystery by Janice Halley.

A Christmas pantomime about Jack and the Beanstalk turns into a murder. Who killed Santa and stuffed him the stalk? The story develops through emails--at first, I had a difficult time adjusting my mind to this, but soon, I was seeing clues and humor--definitely some snarkiness toward other characters. Throw in some treats for the kids which turn out to be illegal drugs and this book has you smiling in an offbeat way.

Janice Hallett has done it again! Her previous story involving the Fairway Players of Lower Lockwood had me hooked from the first lines. Once again Femi and Charlotte, studying Criminal Law, are provided the correspondence from members of the Players, asked to review them and confirm the conclusions of their mentor, Roderick Tanner. The group, headed by Sarah-Jane, is preparing for their Christmas pantomime to raise money for the church’s roof. The chosen play is Jack and the Beanstalk and Sarah-Jane has procured a beanstalk prop that has been in storage for years. It smells and there is a rumor that it contains asbestos, but properly fixed it could become the centerpiece of their production. This is a story told in e-mails and phone conversations. From the auditions to opening night it follows Sarah-Jane, a perfectionist, Celia, who believes that she should be the group’s leader, and various friends and relatives who appear supportive but are happy to spread gossip and stab you in the back.

I laughed out loud as I read the comedy of errors that occurred the night of the play. Poorly worded signs caused confusion. The “sweets” that Santa was to distribute to the children were not candy, but drugs. As things go wrong on stage, the beanstalk splits and a skeleton in a Santa suit falls out on the stage. Who was the victim and how long has he been hidden in the beanstalk? Only one of the many questions for Femi and Charlotte. This is a very entertaining holiday story that is guaranteed to bring smiles and make Hallett a favorite author. I would like to thank. NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book for my review.

While the writing style may not be for everyone, The Christmas Appeal is at times a laugh-out loud pantomime which morphs into a farce and ultimately a Christmas Tragedy, that remains hilarious throughout. This short little piece of fluff was enjoyable from start to finish as the Fairway players are sniping at each other, undermining their production, as they are, one and all, picking it up, giving it a wink, and knocking it out of the park. What can you possibly say about the excitement of being cast as a giant fairy but later being promoted to the ugly idiot?!Janice Hallett just has a way of coming up with the most outrageous dialog that had me laughing so hard I almost choked.

A warning - if you are reading on a kindle it is very helpful to have a magnifier close at hand to read the very small emails. I enjoyed The Appeal and while acknowledging that The Christmas Appeal may not be for everyone it’s was definitely a win for me. Thanks to Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for a copy.

I enjoyed this one after LOVING The Appeal, but it didn’t quite live up for me. I have a horrible memory for details and know that there’s plenty I missed by not remembering some of the finer points of The Appeal. Overall, it wasn’t robustly christmassy to me - but a fun gateway read to get into the season. Still as always amazed by Hallett’s skill with a murder mystery!

A good follow up to The Appeal-a fun, holiday story! I didn’t need to revisit this world, and think there are better holiday reads out there.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for this advance copy of The Christmas Appeal by the fabulous Janice Hallett in exchange for this review - this in no way influenced this review.

The messy Fairway Players are back with another mysterious dead body surrounding a production they’re putting on, and I was so happy to go back to Lockwood with these awful people. I will say, I live in the United States, and I do think some of the British humor might have been lost on me, and it took me way too long to figure out that sweets = candy (welp maybe not in this case…) but overall this was a really fun holiday Novella to kickstart my Christmas reading. If you didn’t like the Appeal, you probably wouldn’t like this - I do also personally feel like you need to read The Appeal before going into this one, as a lot would not make sense.

Thank you again NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this review. The Christmas Appeal is available now!

The Christmas Appeal is everything I could ask for in a who done it Christmas mystery. This book was such a fun time. I loved being able to visit the characters from The Appeal again. Janice Hallett’s writing style is what makes this book so successful. It’s so much fun trying to solve the mystery before the characters do.
4/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't enjoy this novella as much as the first book - The Appeal. It was nice to have many of the main characters back and to pick up a few years later. I just didn't find the drama and the rivalry between the families as entertaining as in the first book. This is written in epistolary fashion and I enjoyed the different format.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

I read the Appeal last month, and I absolutely ADORED it. So of course, I needed to check out this Christmas novella with the same characters and I really had a fun time reading it as well. It's a really fun read. I do think the mystery gets wrapped up extremely quickly after it gets introduced. I would have liked a bit more time to try and figure things out myself. I really loved the characters, just like in the main book. The format still works incredibly well. Definitely a great read for fans of the original.

I think it’s time to officially say that Janice Hallett is a reliable author for me at this point. The writing and different media formats joined together really worked to enhance the experience. The story and pace always kept me intrigued and entertained. A reading slump has taken over for the last two months and this tickled my brain in a way I needed it to.

I’ll be honest and say I was confused about the characters at the beginning but I eventually had everyone down by the 10-15% mark. So with that in mind, then I suggest doing a reread of The Appeal (the first few chapters) as a refresher on the characters if it’s been a long time since you’ve read it. I’m sure my memory would’ve came back quicker had I done that.

Anyways, I still had a good time and I’ll definitely keep reading from this author.


Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy for an honest review.

If you have not given author Janice Hallett, you really should! The stories are always so fun - told through emails, text messages, whatsapp, and more.

This is a story that takes place in the same theater house as a previous book. If you can, I'd recommend reading book 1 first (just because it's so good!) but this one does stand well on it's own. It's a contained mystery and set up just like the previous one.

No longer paralegals or lawyers in training, Charlotte and Fami are contacted by their previous mentoring attorney/co-worker and he has another case for them to read. A new mystery and he's giving little detail at the start. Just a huge file of messages they must sort through to answer the questions - who died? and who killed them?

As usual, I had no idea how to answer those questions. This one is short, so it was a very fast read. It had me laughing out loud at so many points, along with groaning at funny dad jokes as well as mirroring the frustration of other characters as some of the underhanded and passive-aggressive moves by other cast mates. As always, the night of the play was a comedy of errors and I loved it.

I really hope this isn't the last we see of this group. Surely, they can have another mystery or two in this town before it feels like everyone is dying and/or killing everyone? I'd definitely read it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.