I always am intrigued by Janice Hallett's books and love the style they are told in. This is my third book by her, however, I think this will be my last. They hook me in but then seem to drag and never satisfy me with the ending. I would definitely recommend for cozy mystery style readers and who like different formats to storytelling. I think this is just a me issue, not the author.

A group of students in a pilot masters art program are working together to create an installation for a tech company. An examiner is reviewing their assignments and correspondence to determine if they were graded fairly, when he notices something is not quite right. He begins to dig deeper, and suspects that someone in the course is in danger. This was a fun and thrilling adventure from start to finish. Who knew reading people's group project messages could be so intriguing?

I really enjoyed The Appeal and its mixed media element. I was really looking forward to The Examiner, but it fell a little flat for me. The story was a little more convoluted and slightly confusing. The radio that's found being a threat to the planet and potentially ending the world just felt so out of place in a murder mystery, especially when Hallett's previous works were so grounded in reality.

Overall, this was enjoyable and I powered through it, but I still feel let down with the whole novel.

This was another fun story told in transcripts from group texts and message boards. There is/may have been a disappearance at a small college masters arts program. We have to figure out what happened based on reading all of the messages, which are often contradicting. So who is lying?? Who is spying on who?

I have worked with several of these types of people so it was interesting to see how they acted this scenario. So realistic that they were all of different ages/stages of life.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved the story and the way it was written using texts, emails and assignments. The dynamics between the "students" definitely added to the tension. Didn't see the ending coming for sure.

Janice Hallett has done it again - a thriller told in a unique way that keeps you guessing right up until the end, but when you get there, your brain just goes, "Oh! Of course!"

I'm new to the mystery/thriller genre and Hallett has been the perfect entrance to it. She crafts such unique mysteries that look at your average every day people and turns them into uniquely powerful pawns throughout the story. The Examiner is no exception. The characters are intriguing and constantly keep you guessing. I would say this one is most like The Appeal, but instead of looking at neighborhood drama, it looks at a group of Multimedia Art MA students and the double-crossing that happens when too many people want too many things.

I did find myself a touch bothered by consequences only really happening for a couple of people, but Hallett still does an incredible job of wrapping things up and kept me glued to the book throughout it all. If you're a fan of The Thursday Murder Club series, Hallett is the next author you need to check out.

I really wanted to like this book like I have with works by Janice but I just couldn't get there. Even at 50% in I was still waiting for the mystery to really start. I honestly began skimming a ton just to get through the slog of the class details. I think there is way too much class and assignment details and not enough mystery.

This is a rare miss from Janice.

anytime I need a binge worthy thriller, I know I can always count on janice hallett!! her writing style, a mix of text messages, emails, and police reports, is unmatched and really makes me feel like a detective reading between the lines! 🙌🏼

each one of her stories I’ve read is a little different from the previous, and this one is no exception! it’s a chaotic inward look at art, climate change, and eco-terrorism, all told from misleading and unreliable narrators 🤠 it’s a recipe for success, and yet, I felt it was a bit too drawn out…

I’m normally one for red herrings and plot twists going opposite directions, but it didn’t quite work here. I felt that the entire plot was leading the readers in one direction and took a last minute turn at the end, which felt more like a cop out and less like a major twist…

the characters themselves were a hot mess!! the chaos surrounding all of them was slightly unbelievable, and to set the backdrop as a masters program made it seem even more unbelievable 🥴 I think the story would have been more successful not in an academic setting like her other stories…

overall, a fun unique read, and major thank yous to atria and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay

In this book we examine the correspondence between six students in a masters art course with a mystery at its center - and possibly a body!

I went in expecting Dark Academia and it’s not really that, it’s a puzzle, but an entertaining and easy-to-follow one. I felt this book was a page turner that I didn’t want to put down: I read it in two sittings. I did have a couple of very satisfying ‘wow’ moments and I also felt quite clever figuring out things as the story progressed based on what was said, what wasn’t said, relationship patterns, guesswork and so on. This book is brilliantly crafted.

I didn’t love the denouement. It took a few leaps that put this from mystery into thriller territory, because there is no way the audience could guess (even from later-released clues) what was happening, and it was more of a pat ending than I expected. Also the plot kept being re-explained; after each twist, someone in the chat would say ‘wow I was surprised to learn about ——‘ which is more hand holding than I felt was needed. I read this authors The Twyford Code and it made me feel clever to keep up with it in a satisfying way this one lacked.

But overall I found this book to be great fun with much more to sink into than most thrillers.

This is the third book I've read by Janice Hallett, but it's the one that resonated the least with me.

The story is about a master's level course teaching students how their art and business/the career force work together. Throughout the course, a student comes to suspect that another student has gone missing, though the other students and the teacher disagree. The external examiner of the course is brought in to assess the course and ensure that the grading is fair and accurate and becomes convinced that a student has indeed gone missing.

I understand the main point of the book is the art program, but I felt like we were given way too many details about the art and the different projects that the students worked on. It took forever to get to the mystery portion of the story, and when we did, I found I didn't care that much about the backstory and just wanted a linear, clear explanation. Maybe my brain just isn't programmed to do well with these sort of stories.

I also felt like there were too many plot ideas smooshed together into one story. We had the stories and perspectives of six students, a teacher, an admin, an art school tech, the examiner, the head of RD8, etc., and by the time we got back to someone's story, I had received so much additional information that I forgot what I had read about before. I also didn't find any of the characters to be compelling or likeable and wasn't rooting for any of them.

I will say that I was excited to have guessed one plot point, though not entirely correctly, and what actually happened was even more bizarre than I could have imagined. But overall, I felt let down by the story.

I received an ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Angela ‘Gela’ Nathaniel is the tutor (or professor to this American reader) of a new master’s art program at the Royal Hastings University. It’s a trial; if it goes well, it’ll be a new course. Given how much the arts program has been cut recently, Gela is anxious for it to be a success.

To help stack the odds, she carefully selects the students for this initial course. There’s the older, successful artist, who’s prestige should rub off on the course. There’s a business man, taking a break from his his stress job on the advice of his therapist. There’s the recently graduated artist, hoping to launch her career. There’s the art gallery owner, and the freelance graphic designer, both presumable hoping to improve their position. Finally there’s the owner of an art supply shop who’s looking to retire. While Vela’s the one responsible for giving the grades, there’s also an outside examiner, someone who’ll review everything and verify that the grades are reasonable, the course has merit, etc.

The story opens with the examiner reviewing the course; he’s been reviewing all the digital records associated with the course (including chat messages, reports, grades, etc) and thinks there’s something wrong. He presents this information to a couple of admins associated the Royal Hastings, to help justify his feelings. It’s this information that the reader gets. It’s soon clear that everyone has a secret and ulterior motive.

I felt the first three-quarters of this book was brilliant. I loved the format of only being able to see the digital artifacts, making it easier to hide motives. Where it starts to break down is when the author starts wrapping up the book. Characters reveal their hidden agendas in what should be final essays, confessing to various crimes. One character has a unique physical characteristic; it’s never mentioned until the examiner does, and then seems like every other conversation mentions it which feels a bit off. Characters text each other when it seems like they’d simply call each other instead. There’s a subplot involving a phone which feels like would be easy to resolve in real life. Conversations are included which were obtained from outside sources. From a Doylist perspective, it make sense - it’s the best way to wrap up the story without breaking the conceit of using only written communication, but from a Watsonian perspective, they don’t always make sense. It’s still an enjoyable book; just be prepared to ignore some slight cheats.

Highly recommended. I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

I think I say the same thing every time I read one of Janice Hallett's books - they are so original and fun and creative. THE EXAMINER is another epistolary novel that combines texts, message board posts, essays and more to slowly reveal an unusual mystery set at a small master's art program in the UK. The characters are quirky and everyone has a secret or a mysterious back story. There are quite a few twists that are revealed when the story changes point of view about 2/3rds of the way through the novel. Highly recommend all of Janice Hallett's novels (even though I still need to read THE TWYFORD CODE).

Since reading the book THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett, I have read and loved every book of hers.

The Examiner is a fantastic story told in the epistolary style told in email messages, texts, and student essays.

The story follows a group of six students enrolled in Royal Hastings University's Multimedia Art course.

The characters are perfectly crafted. The author is a master of storytelling.

What starts as an innocent small MA class becomes anything but that.

The secrets that are revealed are perfectly paced and literally left me with my jaw open.

Highly recommend this well written story.

Janice Hallet has yet again earned the status of auto buy author. The unique construct of her books continues to entertain and stretch the bounds of how an author can tell a story.

In her latest novel she somehow blends an art class, a handful of eccentric students, and questionable teacher and a mystery of missing people, possible technology that speaks to the dead, and scary corporation people who may or may not be threatening and murderous. The entire novel is told using a combo of emails/texts, diary entries, and other non traditional media. A definite page turner that landed completely different than expected.

I am always excited to read a Janice Hallett novel. She has such a unique way of telling a story. This one, unfortunately left me quite underwhelmed. There wasn't enough of the mystery, or even enough of a story in the first 60-65% of the book to keep me interested. It was all descriptions of the art components or what their assignments were. I honestly felt like I was reading a course syllabus instead of a novel. Even the reveals at the end seemed a little lackluster. I had a hard time even caring about any of the characters because they lacked depth, but I could tell you a lot about resin and the dangers of fire in an art studio. This one just wasn't for me. 2.75 rounded up to 3.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think this book has a really great concept. I just feel like the characters weren’t fleshed out enough and that the author didn’t do enough to make the reader care about the characters prior to the big reveal.

For example::
—Johnathan still having the radio even though Cameron apparently took it? (I understand this is evened out but for 30% of the book I was rightly confused)
—Patrick’s backstory— didn’t feel relevant at all? I think it missed the mark for what the author was trying to do.
—Jem taking photos of Alyson’s desk? But she’s blind?

I liked the design of the novel and the fact that the entire book is written through chat messages and assignments. However, there should be more character development in order to make the reader invested in the persons involved.

Gela Nathaniel is teaching a new multimedia art class at a university, and needs to find six students for her new course before the university cuts her funding. The students she finds are all as different from each other as can be, but Gela is determined to make the course successful. However, at the end of the course the examiner comes in to grade the students final work, and as he looks through their projects, essays, emails and text messages, he starts to wonder if one of the students is in danger, or may already be dead.

Straight off the bat, I want to say that I don’t think this book will work for everyone. The plot twist, and final answer of what is going on is the most out there plot I’ve seen in any of this authors books, and I feel like some people might not be a fan. I very much enjoyed the plot twist however, and found it really unique and interesting. I quite liked the book as a whole. The mixed media style is so fun, and really lets you inside the characters heads. It’s interesting to see the same situation from different points of view, and see how a persons perception changes so much. This book flew by, and I had to keep reading to find out what was really going on. I recommend this one if you’re looking for a mystery with a unique plot twist.

Written in the form of emails, text messages, and essays, Janice Hallett has produced her best mystery to date. Six adult students are recruited into a college MFA Multimedia Arts program. Each of them, including the recruiter, has a secret reason for their participation. The characters were distinctly individual and made the plot easy to follow. This book is so cleverly written. As the story progresses, little clues are dropped, and often they lead in the wrong direction. I kept turning pages and was guessing until the end.

I love Janice Hallett's books and am looking forward to her next one. Thank you, Atria Books and Net Galley, for the advanced copy of this interesting book.

This was a really good mystery. I’m glad I got to review this one. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but I hope it won’t be my last.

Six students are recruited into a college MA course in fine art. The program director, Gela, knows her job and the entire program are at risk of being cut, so she needs this group to be successful. The six students are a bit of a puzzle. The three women are all unlikeable. Alyson is an established artist who can't be bothered to attend scheduled class meetings. Ludya is also working in the art field as a graphic artist. She's a single mother and often can't come to class due to childcare or "personal" issues. Jem is the youngest student. At only 21 she has recently completed her bachelor's degree. She is self-confident and critical of everyone else to the point of being obnoxious. The men are all a bit harder to pin down. Patrick is the oldest of the group and is completely out of his depth whenever anything involving technology crops up. Cameron is from the Alyson-and-Ludya school of class attendance, since he is also working while on the course and too busy to attend. Jonathan is somewhat bland so it's not easy to get a handle on his personality.

The book is presented in text messages, message board discussions, private messages between students, and so on. Thrown in are messages between the "Examiners," three individuals who will review the project and approve the final grades. Ben is the outside examiner and he tells the other two he has reviewed all the coursework (at the end of the term) and he thinks "something awful" has happened. He asks the others to go through the messages and see if they agree. So as the story unfolds from the start of the term, Ben and co often drop in to discuss what has happened so far (because of course everyone is reading along at the same pace and not skipping ahead or anything).

The students are working on a large final project (which sounds hideous) throughout the course but are also given periodic assignments. These assignments and the discussion of the final project and its progress and mind-numbingly tedious. Over and over extremely detailed descriptions of the assignments and the students' work is explained. This takes up about 2/3 of the book. Also, the assignments are repeated when the students turn in their work, so we can see Gela's comments on what the students achieved. While Gela is trying to save her job, her grading practices of frequently giving the absent students "A" grades, based on "quality of past work," while nearly failing those who show up and do the work, is completely inexplicable and frustrating.

I nearly stopped reading many times but since I was so far in, I decided to push through. It was in no way worth the effort. Boring beyond belief and no characters you care about. Such a mess. Also, the author has used the "I have access to everything, you all read it and tell me what you think" idea in a previous book. Why the other characters don't simply ask, "What is it I'm looking for?" in either instance remains the biggest mystery of all.