I very much enjoyed this puzzle following a group of academics on a master’s degree course together during which one of them goes missing (maybe!). Told in Hallet’s conventional multimodal format, you will not able to stop turning the pages. Who knew a book about academics could be this captivating!

I loved Janice Hallett’s The Appeal, and her way of storytelling - constructing intricate mysteries mainly through first-hand materials like emails and notes - is fascinating and so fun to read.

I was really looking forward to The Examiner, about a possible murder on an arts master’s course. The book read quickly, but I had mixed feelings at the end - the first-hand materials were interesting as always, immediately compelling and pulled me in like a puzzle, and some of the twists were clever, but the story kind of spun away from itself at times, trying to jam a lot into every nook of the plot and touch on big issues, and ultimately relying relying on “super secret special technology” MacGuffins that didn’t really add to the story and frankly didn’t make a lot of sense.

It was still a fun read, a good escape, but not an entirely believable mystery.

The examiner is not your typical mystery novel. It's a unique, unconventional page-turner that takes you on a thrilling ride with its unexpected twists and turns.

The story introduces a fascinating group of six art students, each with their own distinct backgrounds and perspectives, who have come together for a new MA program. Their task is to create an art installation for a cloud-based company, and despite their differences, they are united in their creativity. However, their project is overshadowed by The Examiner, whose ominous message hints at a potential tragedy.

The characters were well-developed, and the story was masterfully plotted and multi-layered. The mixed-media style (email, WhatsApp, discussion forums) was fun and made for a quick read. The pace is steady for most of the book until the end when it speeds up considerably. And then, there's one more email to wrap it all up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review! Thank you, Janice Hallett. You are an absolute master of epistolary mysteries!

This was a quick read once I started it! I love Janice Hallett books and this one did not disappoint. I actually enjoyed it more than a couple of hers I recently read. The twists of this were great. The only thing was that I was a little confused by the Ben character - I wish they explained who he really was more.

"Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this innovative page-turner follows a group of students in an art master's program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling "new queen of crime" (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett.

Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University's new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master's program before the university cuts her funding. The students are nothing but trouble from day one.

There's Jem, a talented sculptor recently graduated from her university program and eager to make her mark as an artist at any cost. Jonathan, who has little experience in art practice aside from running his family's gallery. Patrick runs an art supply store, but can barely operate his phone, much less design software. Ludya is a single mother and graphic designer more interested in a paycheck than homework. Cameron is a marketing executive in search of a hobby or a career change. And Alyson, already a successful artist, seems to be overqualified. Finally, there is the examiner, the man hired to grade students' final works - an art installation for a local cloud-based solutions company that may have an ulterior agenda - and who, in sifting through final essays, texts, and message boards, warns that someone is in danger...or already dead. And nothing about this course has been left up to chance.

With her trademark "unique and exhilarating" (Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot) voice, Janice Hallett weaves a fresh and mind-bending mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page."

Oh, as a former art student I am ALL IN about terror in a master's program for art!

This was my favorite Janice Hallett story yet! Our story follows a group of diverse student taking a year long course for an MA. As is Hallets specialty, we engage with the story through a series of mixed media, primarily message board communications, WhatsApp messages and emails.

I was deeply engrossed with this story and the mysteries slowly unfolding. I was pleasantly surprised on a couple of twists. I loved slowly piecing together what was going on as we received more and more pieces of the puzzle.

While this isn’t a heart pounding thriller there are parts that may make you hold your breath and feel a little nervous, which leads to this being a book that is hard to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book is full of twists and turns, only realized through emails, documents, and text messages between students in an inaugural MA in Fine Art program. Characters are not who they seem and most are living a double life. Not a surprise then, that someone on the team is murdered and we have to comb through all written and electronic conversations to figure out who and why.

I did enjoy the unique writing style of this author, as I have also read another one of her books, The Appeal. The ending brought exciting and surprising closure to the mystery, however the build up was tedious and somewhat boring. I did enjoy the private commentary between the students and Jem’s busybody attitude in the class and coursework. I have had several “Jems” in my own classes and found them annoying, but also entertaining at the same time.

Thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC of The Examiner for my honest review.
#TheExaminer #AtriaBooks #NetGalley

Oh my gosh, this book was so good! Seriously, such a fun read! Janice Hallett wrote this book as reading through emails, documents, and messages right alongside “the examiner,” trying to solve a crime in a master’s class. And let me tell you, the nosy side of me was living for it! I loved picking up on the little changes in how people wrote, catching things in their assignments, and eavesdropping on all the side conversations. It felt so gossipy and juicy!

Don’t be fooled—things get really tense and dark toward the end, with some twists that totally caught me off guard. Even though the book is on the longer side, it flew by because I was just so hooked. If you’re the type who loves scrolling through the comment section of a hometown Facebook argument and you crave a mystery that keeps you guessing, you need to pick this up!

“I’m trapped. I don’t know where I am, but I’m alone here. If you can hear me, send help.”

I am all in on Janice Hallett after reading The Christmas Appeal and now The Examiner. I am a huge fan of mixed media in books. It always keeps me turning the pages. The mixed media in The Examiner came in the form of group message board posts, WhatsApp chats, emails, and art project write ups. The entire book is formatted in this way, which makes for such a unique reading experience. There were a couple twists in the book that make me want to start over again from the beginning to see if I could have picked up on them.

Really my only draw back was the use of profanity. It wasn’t a ton, but it always colors my ratings.


Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
Campus novels
Mixed media
Unexpected twists
Art programs

Thank you Atria books for a digital ARC through NetGalley and a gifted finished copy.

As always, Janice Hallett does not disappoint!
The unique structure of Hallett's novels always works for me. It feels like being a voyeur into others' private emails and messages, and who hasn't wished they could be the fly on the wall at one time or another?
The Examiner is about a group of art students working towards their Master's Degree, along with their tutor and the examiner reviewing their final project grades. While this may seem harmless, Hallett involves intrigue and murder with perfect twists you never see coming.
Hallett is an auto-read author for me. I will always love her books and waiting to what she writes next!

A very unique reading experience - I loved the format which was told solely in messages, texts, and classroom documentation. Though the subject matter started out a bit slow for me I was hooked by the end and was definitely blindsided a few times. Though there are very few likable characters it was a compelling read.

I read this on a e reader and I would say this book would be more enjoyable in hard copy - I could see myself flipping back and forth to catch things I had previously missed or read differently if it was a bit easier to do so.

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

I think we can all agree that group projects are a crime.

This was one of my most anticipated fall reads so I’m a little deflated to have mixed feelings. I loved the idea of a mystery set in academia - especially an art program - because art people, like theatre people, are messy and dramatic (this is a self own, believe me.) But I think this was the wrong setting for the espionage that Hallett ultimately plotted because the pacing of this book was so uneven. Nearly a third of the book is students bickering over coursework (thanks for the flashbacks to every horrible group project I’ve ever had) and while I enjoyed the art talk and course details it takes too long to get to any hint of intrigue. The actual motivations behind things are barely explored and left for the last 30%, which makes things feel unsatisfying. By the end we are fully in zany territory with the cascade of reveals. I love whacky, but the first half of the book feels too grounded for me to let the absolute barrage of crazy twists just wash over me, smooth brain style.

It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling anything, so I’ve done my best, but consider this a warning for vague spoilers:
This was entertaining and compulsively readable, but after The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels my expectations for a satisfying mystery were sky high. For me, the appeal of epistolary novels, particularly epistolary mysteries like Hallett’s, is the ability to play detective in what feels like real time. I take notes and highlight passages to refer back to. This time I felt like the reader was prevented from playing along at home because of the way things are structured. Here, there was only one reveal that changed how I had read everything previously, and the reason the information was kept from us for so long felt a bit arbitrary. I suppose in real life that situation happens all the time, but in a puzzle box mystery I am less charitable.

And finally I was annoyed that there was a repeat of an unreveal from a previous book of Hallett’s. I think it would have been more interesting and (hilariously) less convoluted to play that angle straight this time.

Sometimes a mystery can be about the journey and not the destination, but to me the perfect mystery is both. In <i>The Examiner</i>, both the journey and the destination fell short of my expectations, but at least I still had fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This new epistolary mystery from Janice Hallett starts off like an episode of the podcast "Normal Gossip" -- you think you're enjoying an insider's view of the squabbles and personality ticks of a group of graduate students, but at the halfway mark you realize you're in for much, much more. Every time I had to set this down, I was racing to pick it back up again. This would be a great book for someone who likes puzzles, unlikeable characters and nonlinear timelines. I have loved all of this author's works and this newest is no exception.

Kiss-kiss

Hallett's books have been hit or miss for me (loved Twyford Code, not so much Alperton Angels), but this one was great!

The characters are well-developed - the kind where you want to both shake them by the shoulders and/or give them a hug, depending on the chapter. The plot is interesting - twisty and full of misdirection. The style is fun - the same emails, text and messages you now and love with Hallett's work.

And, everything comes together so nicely at the end. I think that's one of my favorite things about books from #janicehallett Just when I'm wondering about a last plot thread that hasn't been explained, there's one more email to wrap it all up.

Thank you @netgalley for this #arc out September 10!

Synopsis:
University professor Gela Nathaniel must make her new master’s program in multimedia art succeed. If it doesn’t, then Royal Hastings University will cut her funding and she’ll be out of the job she loves. The six students in this inaugural course will be key to that success…but how well has she selected the team?

At the end of the academic year, when the examiner arrives to grade the students’ final project, he finds himself asking what happened. Because if someone in that course isn’t in mortal danger, then they are already dead. But who, and why?

Only one thing is certain: nothing about this course has been left to chance, and each of these students has their own very different agenda.

Thank you to the publisher and author for an advanced reader copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I am a Janice Hallett fan (and completionist). The Appeal and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels were both favorite books of mine in the years in which they were released. The Examiner is another well-plotted, mixed media/epistolary novel. Unfortunately, for me, it didn't reach the heights of Hallett's other works. The Examiner was missing some of the wry observational humor of The Appeal. Nevertheless, I would recommend the book to mystery fans. It is certainly inventive and you want to keep turning the pages.

I love this author’s books - she always has such creative ideas and I love epistolary novels that make full use of the format.

It’s a bit of a slow start in this one. The concept is that an external examiner who reviews university grades for a masters course to verify all they were acceptable and fair… I think. 😂 I missed the variety of media types used in Alperton Angels (my fav by the author) - here it’s mostly limited to DMs, emails, and a few grade sheets and project reports.

The characters were kinda annoying, especially Jem who I felt like we could have had less examples of her strong personality and still understood her. They do get better as the book comes along though which made for easier reading. There were some surprises at the end of the book but I wouldn’t say it was overly twisty. The pace is slow to steady for most of it until the last 10% when it speeds up considerably.

I split time between the physical and audiobook. I started with the physical and used it to get to know the characters better. I felt like I was making slow progress though and switched to the audiobook which surprisingly I liked better here! I was worried how the format would translate but it was really well done with separate narrators for each character and some sound effects for the media type.

While this wasn’t my fav by the author, I did enjoy it and think fans of her previous books will too. 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

Thanks Atria Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy!

I’ve read a few of Hallet’s books to know the epistolary format and how the reader comes in blind and reads past correspondence and is figuring it out as the detective/examiner is.

This was a different set up with a master’s program in art. It was interesting but I felt like they didn’t have enough assignments. But I liked how it all played out and the twists and revelations that came at the end it’s almost spooky!

This releases in 2 weeks and if you love her past work or murder mysteries and puzzles with a diverse rag tag group of characters then this is the book for you.

Content: some language and a few F 💣, mild violence, mild action, death, some gruesome moments with the dead body

I absolutely loved this book! The many twists and turns, the building tension - each email or message sent me further and further into the mystery. Did someone die? If so, who was it? Which one of these "students" is not being honest? Janice Hallett is a master at epistolary novels - she gives just the right amount of clues and red herrings. I can't wait for her next book!

While not always my favorite genre, I will always read a Janice Hallett book and this one didn't disappoint. As always, this book brought the epistolary writing and twists and red herrings that make me wish Hallet wrote dozens of books a year. I am so greedy for more of these. While taking some of the darkest turns yet, this book feels realistic without glorying in the dark details. This is very much a realistic look into academia, and the very strong personalities that clash and interact with the added hint of doom and dark as all the twists start layering in. Hallet's books always have those twists that instead of taking you broadside, instead still shock you but make you realize it was staring you in the face all along.

Epistolary writing (emails, text messages, graded assignments) adds an amazing layer to this beautiful puzzle of a narrative. I read almost every epistolary book I come across, and it is a pleasure to read books like Hallett's where the author has truly mastered the form. It's a thing of beauty to read, and I will quickly grab up any more books she chooses to share with us.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Examiner captured me immediately in the same way my first Janice Hallett book, The Appeal, did. The format of reading sucks you in and makes it hard to put down—just one more message—since you feel like an active investigator.

The pacing was quick and consistent, with each email or conversation feeling like it could be a key clue.

This book is perfect for anyone who:
-Thinks they’d be a great detective themself
-Finds the idea of sifting through a group’s texts and emails exciting