It's Christmas time and we are back The Fairway Players in the run up to their annual panto! This was the perfect book for me to pick up as I had recently read The Appeal and, of course, we're in the run up to Christmas ourselves.

Much in the vein of Hallet's other novels, The Christmas Appeal is told through emails, texts and transcripts between an ensemble of characters. It was so nice being back with this group and seeing some people more at the forefront than they were in The Appeal. While I don't think it is absolutely necessary to have read the first book in order to pick this one up, I do think you'd lose out on a lot of the reading experience/backstory of some characters, and also there would be spoilers too!

I don't want to give anything away but I really enjoyed one! It was funny, tragic, witty and there were some truly jaw dropping moments. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Viper Books and Janice Hallet for this copy, a lovely little festive read for this mystery-loving girlie!

* Please look up trigger warnings before reading *

I haven't read 'The Appeal' and probably I should have - this 'mini' novel (novella?) has a number of the same characters as Hallett's first book. This time, though, the focus is on pantomime in the town of Lockwood - and the troublesome people that are involved, as well as a newly-released murderer and a beanstalk which contains a dead body.

Hallett's latest is full of snippets, email exchanges, WhatsApp conversations etc - which makes the format of her writing quite original. For me, there are almost too many snippets, though - and there were times when I found the switching too much. However, this is quite a light seasonal read and possibly will be enjoyed more if 'The Appeal' has been read first.

A fun follow up to the appeal. This was utterly bonkers and did have me laughing at the absurdity at times! This was very quick to read and the perfect cosy Christmas mystery; you could easily read this in one afternoon.

Yet again, Janice Hallett astounds me with her ability to tell a story just through emails and messages! She is so clever and has a wicked sense of humour too.

You can read this as a standalone story, although you will certainly get more from the book if you have already read The Appeal, as it features the same characters.

It is a short book, but one that is full of festive faux pas and in-fighting - perfect for this time of year!

Thanks to the author, Viper, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This is such a loveable quirky read. It's the Hallett effect all over again - the style of writing, plot quirks and general working it out from what you read between the lines, this is good stuff. Lovely to have a Hallett for Xmas!

I enjoyed the variety of mediums through which the story is told. It was nice to be back with the characters of The Fairways Players again.

"The Christmas Appeal" picks up right where the wonderful “The Appeal” leaves off, but now with the MacDonalds in charge of the Fairway Players as they begin the run-up to their Christmas Pantomime. Through emails, texts and voice messages, lawyers Charlotte and Femi must again pick their way through the snide comments, mass emails, and caustic remarks to solve another crime connected with the troupe.

It was so great to be back in Lower Lockwood, and the interactions between the characters are as hilariously dysfunctional as in the previous instalment. The writing is sublime, with a large number of laugh out loud moments in amongst a festively chaotic plot that sees a hopelessly out of date script, a giant prop that may or may not be filled with asbestos, and more backstabbing than you could shake a stick at.

Highly recommend for anyone who enjoyed the original book, “The Appeal”.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

The Christmas Appeal is a sequel to The Appeal, one of my recent favourite reads. It follows the same cast of characters, who are putting on a pantomime. Bear in mind this is a novella, so it’s a much shorter read than I had anticipated. It’s been a while since I read The Appeal, so I didn’t quite remember the characters but that didn’t deter from enjoying the book. My only gripe is that I didn’t like how we don’t find out who the victim is until 2 thirds of the way through the story so the mystery part was a bit weak and I felt the start was good and funny but it soon lost its grip as plotwise. Overall I think I liked The Appeal more, but this is a fun, lighthearted follow up.

Janice Hallett has done it again! 



I absolutely ate this book up- The Appeal was up until now one of my favourite thrillers and being back in this world once again with the Fairway Players for a Christmas extravaganza was an absolute joy. 



Janice Hallett’s books are so clever and as a not typical thriller reader I love the humour and coziness of her books. 



This book is absolutely good to read as a standalone especially if you are looking for a quick Christmas read but I would fully recommend reading The Appeal first as it was such a joy to be back with the characters in this book.

I read Janice Hallett for the first time this year but they are now an auto buy author and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

The Christmas Appeal by @jan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was lovely being back with the Fairway Players for the festive season! This time we join them during their annual panto in order to discover who killed Santa!

It took me a little while to remember who was who but as this can easily be read as a stand alone I don’t think that really mattered.

I loved the clever format of the book, with emails, WhatsApps, police reports and even Christmas round robins to help us solve the mystery, and so many laugh out loud moments!

Janice Hallett has DONE IT AGAIN. I raced through this one, loving every minute of it. It made me look forward to go to panto this Christmas.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as the first Appeal book. There was some funny moments but I did find the style of writing, with emails and texts, hard to follow this time and I kept having to double check who each character was.

I enjoyed spending more time with the characters from The Appeal, and I do like the way that the story is told in emails and texts, but I felt that this needed to be longer so that I could have found out more about the new characters that were introduced and then just seemed to disappear from the story.

A short but fun addition to the series! We follow the same characters as they put on a Christmas pantomime where santa turns up dead. Very easy and quick to read. The ending was maybe a little silly but still really great!

Thank you NetGalley for the Kindle copy in exchange for a honest review. I love the way Janice Hallett writes her murder mysteries with email, text and What’s App excerpts. The Panto goes wrong when one of the committee members unwittingly order sweets for the children from a drug dealer! The. A mummified Santa makes an appearance on stage. Cleverly written, gripping and funny. Well worth reading.

"The Christmas Appeal" really is a gift (admittedly, one you have to pay for yourself) for those who enjoyed Janice Hallett’s "The Appeal". All the characters from the original book who could come back (i.e. not dead or incarcerated), have done so and there is a festive murder mystery to solve.

Yes, the format which worked so well for "The Appeal" can feel a little strained at times but where "The Appeal" was humorous in parts, "The Christmas Appeal" is laugh out loud funny.
For fans of Janice Hallett, this is the perfect post-Christmas dinner relaxing-in-the-armchair winddown book for when you have had enough of TV/mince pies/family and there is a distinct temptation to formulate a murder. Hopefully "The Christmas Appeal" will be enough to distract you, rather than inspire you…

We're back with The Fairway Players, this time as they prepare to put on a one off panto show of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for the church hall roof. As with The Appeal, the (now retired) Roderick Tanner QC gives lawyers Femi and Charlotte a series of emails, messages and interview transcripts to look through to solve a mysterious murder.

I loved The Appeal and how it was written, I was so engrossed in the book and flew through it, despite its size. The Christmas Appeal is a lot more concise, being a novella, so if the idea of the non-traditional format of emails, messages and documents sounds daunting, then this could be a good place to start. It took a little bit for me to get back into the case of characters but once I had them in place, it was easy enough to keep track of. The storyline and the characters is a bit OTT, almost caricatures, which I think just adds to the humour. I laughed out loud several times, as I can just imagine the characters in this small town and the politics within the group.

As a murder mystery goes, this isn't a thriller. It's more a cosy, humorous crime. It's very low stakes, I think this falls more into a humour story than crime story. If you loved The Appeal, then you'll definitely enjoy this little peek into what the characters have been up to since then.

As its predecessor, The Appeal, this seasonal sequel is told through a collection of documents, interview transcripts, text messages and emails being analysed as a training or developmental exercise by lawyers Femi and Charlotte at the instruction of their mentor.

Gradually the source documents begin to reveal a picture: one of competitive rivalry between would-be leaders of the Fairway Players which leads to attempted sabotage; one of oblivious incompetence and miscommunication that results in criminal activity; and an unexpected body that was never meant to be part of the panto.

Readers of The Appeal will be pleased to see many of the same characters returning here (some can’t due to death, imprisonment and other obvious reasons!) and the format Janice Hallett uses in both stories allows for a really interesting narrative, highlighting the gaps between what is communicated, perceived, believed and the actual truth. In this piecemeal perspective, everyone becomes an unreliable narrator as no one (but Femi, Charlotte and the reader) has the full story.

I love the whole idea of these books and really enjoy reading them, but the chosen format does also have the effect of distancing the reader from the characters and making all of them appear somewhat unpleasant, idiotic or, at best, innocently foolish. While not detracting at all from the plot, the lack of connection to the main players does restrict my emotional engagement with the story and made me a little indifferent to the outcome for them all.

Regardless, I would still read more of these novels on the basis that they are well-written and the unique hook makes them a fun, light murder-mystery read.

Janice Hallett’s books are very unique and accessible, told purely through documents such as emails, texts and transcripts. The Christmas Appeal is set in the same village of Lockwood with some recurring characters from The Appeal, but could easily be read as a stand alone. This was right up my street with the village drama and pantomime!

It’s a bit of a predictable whodunnit, but as it’s short it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. My one gripe with The Appeal was it’s length, so this felt perfect. It wasn’t drawn out and kept me engaged.

A fun, festive read to end the year - would recommend popping on the audiobook whilst putting up the tree as I did! It’s only 3.5 hrs long and has a great cast. (NB ended up listening to the audio as it was already published by December - great production)

Fantastic as per usual. Janice has honed the kind of writing style that makes you want to jump right into the story.