Another hit for Janice Hallett! Written in correspondence between students and teachers, this mystery is sur eto delight and offer quite the twists!

I was lukewarm on Janice Hallett's THE EXAMINER (publishes September 10, 2024). I do think Janice Hallett's structure of correspondence, usually emails or texts or write-ups of some kind, telling the story is unique, but at the same time it's repetitive FROM HER. I thought I would really take to her format in a college. I did like some parts, but others just didn't work for me.

Six students are in a Royal Hastings mixed media art master's degree program, and two of the students disappear before their big project.

PROs
1. As always with Hallett's writing, there are a lot of layers, and I like looking through the various layers with this unique structure. As a reader, you can be as invested as you want to be and really dive in.
2. There was something about Jem's character that I didn't pick up on although I noticed the ambiguity. I just didn't get all the way there, so I appreciated what the author did there.

CONS
1. The premise of this very unique master's program that seemed to be in its own universe didn't ring true. I didn't fully buy into it.
2. The pacing seemed very slow for the first 2/3. I was enjoying digging into the layers, but then it really ramps up and...
3. It gets zany. Occasionally I can do zany, but it didn't feel the first 2/3 supported the veering.

While I left unsatisfied by this novel, you might enjoy it if you like Hallett's previous works and can tolerate zaniness.

I really enjoyed this one! At first I wondered if I was going to get sick of this writing style. This is the 5th book I've read by her, but I was not disappointed.
Gela Nathaniel is running a Master's in Multi-Media Arts program at Royal Hastings University. She finds six students and must run a successful program or yet another MA course will be cut. As the examiner sifts through the students' work and messages, he discovers that one student may be missing or dead.
This book is told in the typical Janice Hallett fashion - through texts, emails, and discussion boards. I love this style because I feel a part of the investigation. What I loved most about this book is how the author shows us a little bit at a time - going deeper and deeper into the story. You think you kind of understand where the story is going and then it goes somewhere completely different. I had so many questions as I was reading the book, but I think all of them were answered in the end.
There was a moment there in the beginning where I felt like the story may be dragging, but it definitely picked up and I quickly couldn't put it down.

I always know I'm in for a rare type of adventure when I pick up a Janice Hallett book, and this book didn't disappoint. Her style is wholly unique, mixing classic whodunit mystery with modern-day mixed media as the method of storytelling. It's fresh, unexpected, and fully immersive, and I loved playing detective alongside her characters.

The Examiner kept me on my toes and fully invested in the story with a clever puzzle and impossible to predict twists and turns. I did occasionally get a little lost in the sections with all the art explanations and project details and felt it slowed the pace in places, but this was only a minor issue for me and didn't actually detract from my enjoyment of the story.

The author has a talent for writing relatable and often humorous character interactions that are reminiscent of everyday, maddening scenarios we've all faced in life. These sometimes outlandish but undeniably familiar characters and their drama provided another engaging element to the mystery that I really enjoyed. 

Overall, The Examiner is an unconventional approach to the mystery genre with an unusual storytelling style, unpredictable mystery, a cast of well developed characters, and an ending that both surprised and satisfied me.

As someone deeply loving of the mystery/thriller genre, one of my favorite things is when authors explore nuanced dynamics, settings, or writing structure to ceate a really unique way of telling a classic murder mystery. In this book, it's one I didn't think could be done so well, with so many plot twists and chaotic confessions of secrets. Hallett uses emails, chat messages, and diary entries wholly in the novel -- nothing else. And yet, the story is one of the most full, bursting, suspenseful, and captivating as a thriller. You get each character's personality from the get go with their messages, and the manipulation of private DMs, emails, and diaries is so effective at creating an ambiguous group with secrets and hidden agendas. With this too, there's the use of another literary tool as the story is told from present to past and back to present -- even combining at some point. It's deliberately vague in parts, easy to be so because of its chosen format, and that creates the best set up for an on-the-edge-of-your-seat mystery that lasts right up until the last page.
A lot of the time I was hating the characters because they were flawed and annoying, but I also found myself resonating with them, or being absolutely shook to my core when the truth would be revealed. It takes a certain kind of crazy genius to plot and write (well!) a book like this and I'm in absolute admiration of it.
Now onto the actual contextualization of this book that elevates it even more. It's set as an art MA program where 6 (strangers) need to collaborate and work on their projects together. At first, it just seems like they have clashing personalities. But truly, there's much more sinister things under the surface that are explored in a lens of ethics, art, society, etc. I loved reading the author's note at the end that contextualized the birth of this story even more and made me just grow in my appreciation.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I would truly give this book 1000 stars if I could!!

Hallett has convinced me (YET AGAIN) that she is incapable of writing anything less than 5 stars

I LOVE a good mystery - and with it all in a epistolary form - this book truly puts YOU in the detective seat. We get to see how this course played out in the eyes of not one but ALL of the characters.

Every single time I thought I had something figured out, I was thrown for a loop later on. I truly like to consider myself a queen of being able to solve a book mystery before the reveal but she surprises me EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I absolutely love that I can go back and see the context clues I missed and just how much thought she puts into these books. They are fun, sometimes a little silly, and captivating.

Every single character was so well developed and I couldn’t set this book down. There’s always a character that’s too nosy for their own good and this time it was Jem. She didn’t let anything slide and I loved that for her. Patrick was another one I loved and he just kept surprising me until the end.

I will once again shout from any rooftop that I can for you to read this book (and all of her other ones). I’m not being paid for this I swear I just genuinely love these books and the talent Hallett pours into every single one of them.

Immediately preorder this one - you won’t be sorry!

HUGE thanks to Janice Hallett, Atria Books and NetGalley for a chance to read this book before it’s published!!

Was so excited for this new Janice Hallett and I had to DNF at about 40%. I just could not connect to any of these characters, I found I just didn’t care the outcome of the mystery.

Janice has written a great novel here.

I know this because I hated every moment I read it.
The characters ring unique and true
The plot is layered and intriguing
The world building is deep and rich

The problem is not the world on the pages, it's the world it represents
entitled obnoxious students who hide behind their victimmhood.

Reading for reading sake, 5+ stars
Reading for the story 3
Hence the 4 star rating

3/5

Maybe the first time Hallett has delivered a mixed bag in my opinion.

When I initially read the premise of 'The Examiner,' I could not help but to be excited, as it shared many similarities to 'The Appeal' which may objectively be Hallet's best work. However, the final product did not match up to this quality whatsoever. Despite this, there were certainly things to appreciate:

'The Examiner' once again finds a way to build upon the multimedia format Hallett established with her books. While 'The Appeal' and 'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels' were written mostly in texts and emails, and 'The Twyford Code' was written in voice audio transcripts, 'The Examiner' details most of its storytelling within the confines of an academic management system (think Google Classroom or Canvas). I think this new form factor allows 'The Examiner' to stick out from the rest of Hallett's works.

The character building in this book is also strong. Hallett has never shied away from large ensembles (I have PTSD from trying to remember all the characters in 'The Appeal'), but I feel that she finds the perfect amount of characters to round out this ensemble. I never felt that one certain character didn't get proper development, nor did I have issues recalling each figure in the book.

However, I feel that when you peel back the layers of 'The Examiner' to find what the story is *really about,* it feels rather undercooked. No spoilers in this review, but the actual motivations behind character actions are interesting on paper, but are barely explored or alluded to before they are revealed. This makes for a 'twist' that seems to come out of left field, and not in a good way.

Additionally, while I found many aspects of the story interesting, the intrigue behind two key elements of the story (that being the murder and the radio) turned out to be huge disappointments.

I don't consider this book bad by any means, as I still gave it 3 stars. However, for Hallett's standards, 3 stars equates to her weakest novel thus far.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Janice Hallett you are a damn (evil) genius. I have LOVED everything I have read from her and have recommended her to so many people. The examiner is twisty and surprisingly insightful (I recently completed my master's so I have a lot to say about "teamwork"). I thought the beginning was a little slow but I realize she is painting a picture for the rest of the book (I am a little torn about saying that because I usually listen to her books on audio but this one was an Ebook so maybe that was part of the problem.)

I love everything Janice Hallett does, and The Examiner is no exception. Coming from the world of arts academia myself, I so enjoyed the setting- a small, London based MA Arts course designed to bridge the gap between the artistic and professional worlds. I identified with the student to student dynamics, and Hallett beautifully illustrated the pressure cooker-like tension that is unique to a group of artists coming together in a competitive environment. It’s clear she was writing from experience!

Throw in a few delicious curve balls, then a few more twists and turns, and you have yourself another brilliant, Janice Hallett murder mystery- thank you NetGalley and publishers!!

Janice Hallett has done it again! I am absolutely obsessed with her very unique style of storytelling. The 2 Appeal novels are some of my favorite mysteries of the past few years and this one joins them as a favorite. Set in a master’s program, this is told in her signature style using texts, emails and essays to unfold the mystery. Love it.

I absolutely love a book told through text messages, emails, etc., especially when Janice Hallett is the author. Her writing style is addictive and satisfying. I love the multiple characters and reading their interactions as we piece together the mystery. As with her previous books, the ending came as a total surprise. I highly recommend this for other readers who love epistolary novels with a side of crime.

This is an epistolary murder mystery novel told through class instant messages, essays, emails and WhatsApp messages. The MA art class starts off enthusiastic and optimistic and quickly turns dark. The communication between the students turn you into an investigator trying to fish out the clues if the everyone is who they say they are.

I always enjoy Hallett's work! I love the idea of reading "found" documents to try and piece together the case. There were so many twists that I did not see coming. Loved this book and I can't wait for the next.

Like all of Hallett's books, this one is a delight. Told in epistolary style, this mystery includes all students in a master's degree art class, wrangled together by an adjunct professor of the arts who doesn't want to lose her job. How she collects the students - and why they're in the course - is an important backstory that reveals itself gradually, intensifying the mystery of a supposedly missing classmate.

Hallett plays on our presuppositions about each character, because info about them is revealed so incrementally. It requires the reader to fill in missing places with assumptions that may or may not be correct. The fun part is that each reader brings their own POV to the tale, and this creates a unique reading experience. I look fwd to my book club reading this, and discussing when/how we untangled the mystery.. If it's like Hallett's other plots, each person will figure things out at different spots, despite having identical info.

Hallett's books are always intricate, imaginative, and surprising. She does a twist like no one else, putting her own spin on the big reveal that makes you look at everything else that came before it in a new light. If you've ever been frustrated working on a group project, this is the book for you.

This was brilliant! From the beginning, it demonstrated the trademark Hallett wit and her favored modern epistolary style. I guessed one or two of the many twists, but was blindsided by at least one of the revelations. A few chapters written by Jonathan towards the end repeated information we had already gleaned from other sources. Overall, the characters were consistent and had depth and at least a couple of them were memorable. Like in Alperton Angels, at some point the book started to feel quite eerie and otherworldly, which I appreciated. I still love the Appeal and the Christmas Appeal the best—sorry, but those round robin emails cannot be beat for comedy—, but I like this book more than the Twyford Code or the Alperton Angels. This was a fun, engaging read, and I would recommend this to others!

This book was fun to read, very engaging. It had me guessing what was going to happen next. The way the story was told in chat messages, emails, journal entries, was different, I really liked that style of writing. Also, that ending was unexpected!

Another solid plot heavy mystery told in a unique format. Most of the time I am lost in all the puzzle pieces, but I enjoy the characters and the subterfuge involved.