I've never read any of Hallett's previous books, and I did find the format a bit unusual. It took me longer to get into the story. However, I did end up finding it to be an effective method to lay out the plot, though some parts did seem quite farfetched. The pace at the beginning was very slow, but, thankfully, it picked up midway through. If you're a fan of mixed media format, numerous twists, and well-developed characters, you'll likely enjoy this one.

“𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.”

I absolutely adore Janice Hallett’s writing - she is truly the queen of the modern epistlatory mystery novel. After LOVING her January release, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, I couldn’t wait to dive into this fall release!

I found myself being sucked into the story of six students studying in a multimedia arts college course. It was so clever of Hallett to use Doodle (a created version of a common university online platform, Moodle) as the main medium being used to tell the story. By having an outside Examiner that oversees the final grades for the Masters degree at Royal Hastings University, it allows the reader access to Doodle’s group & private chats, emails submitted assignments and grades, alongside some private What’sApp messages. Hallett has a way of making characters come alive in such a unique way - each of the six students and their tutor are fully developed with very strong personalities that clash often, making them not very likeable in many ways at first. Jem reminded me of Izzy from The Appeal; she is always trying to connect with people, is very opinionated, and seems sticks her nose in where it doesn’t necessarily belong, much to the chagrin of the others in the course. Hallett keeps the pages turning as the reader plays armchair detective, and delivers on some wild reveals (two of which I didn’t see coming at all, despite all the clues being laid out). The last third is slightly over the top, yet in today’s world, also completely believable, with all the clues tying together in a fully satisfying way.

The Examiner is a story of festering toxicity, fear, secrets, conflict, and teamwork. It is another winner for Hallett, and it has me anxiously awaiting her next mystery. Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a miss for me. I do enjoy how the author used various types of messages and journal entries to move the story along, but most of the book was entirely too slow. So much time spent describing each assignment, I kept waiting for something to happen. I was completely surprised by one of the twists regarding a character, but everything else was so far-fetched and random.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

After reading previous books by Janice Hallett, I was very excited for this book. I love the original style and her writing, and her previous works really kept me engaged. This one, however, did not hold my attention.

This story, told in a series of text messages, emails, and documents, is set on a college campus. It focuses on a set of students working in a new Multimedia course. As the class progresses, the personalities begin to clash and something bad ends up happening. However, I do not know what the bad thing is because I was not able to finish the book.

The cast of characters in this particular novel did not hold my attention, and I had trouble caring about any of them. The plot was also very long and drawn out. I read 35% of the book, and nothing "bad" had happened it. I could not justify continuing because I did not have a personal investment in where the book was headed.

Overall, I really enjoy the style of these books, and I will continue to be a fan of Janice Hallett. Her books are my favorite style of reading because I love the mixed media story telling. However, this one was a pass for me.

This is the first book I've read by this author - and it won't be my last. She is known for incorporating multi-media into her books - and this book followed that format. This one tells the story of 6 adult students taking a multi-media art class and includes all of their text messages through the school's internal system. It also includes messages from the teacher and some other characters. I adored the group dynamics aspect of the story where diverse students have to work together on projects and the petty jealousies and other feelings arise. The last quarter or so of the book was less interesting for me when the book's plot went a bit over the top. Very glad I read this, truly something different.

I really enjoy reading Janice Hallett’s books. The multi media aspect always draws me in and keeps me engaged.

This was another untraditionally written book in the form of instant messages and texts that we’ve come to know from Janice Hallett novels. And without fail, I am always left asking WTF??? after. This book was no exception. It follows a misfit group of Master of Multimedia Arts students in a tester program at Royal Hastings University who find themselves involved in something sinister while they complete their coursework.

The unique way she writes her books mean they are always a quick read and feature some intricate murder and mayhem plots, but I always feel like they are missing something. In this one, I thought (and hoped) the plot was leading somewhere twisty and interesting but I did not at all enjoy the big reveal/ending unfortunately.

I usually eyeball read Janice’s books but I ended up listening to this one on audio (through Simon Audio). I enjoyed the full cast narration and the sound effects added to the text and instant messages. Both made the many POVs and forums easier to follow.

Thank you to the author and Atria for the advance e-galley.

4.5/5 stars, rounded up

The Examiner is a unique mystery told through the course documents of Multimedia Arts Master's program. The group's emails, text messages, and course assignments, being examined at the conclusion of the term, all contribute to unveiling a story of intrigue, hidden identities, and potentially murder.

This is the kind of book where a reader should go in only with the premise and few details. Because the plot gets wild. In the early part of the book, I was enjoying the petty behavior and backstabbing one might expect among grad students. But then things take a turn and there are twists and red herrings that had my head spinning.

I really enjoyed the experience of this book and want to go back and reread it now that I know the full story. Also, as a mom whose reading time is constantly being interrupted, the format of the book with its brief text conversations and emails was ideal for me. And I loved how insufferable Jem was. She's such a prig, but so true to herself.

This book won't be for everyone. The format is unconventional, the characters unlikeable, and the plot inscrutable at times. Some suspension of disbelief is required for the premise. But for mystery fans looking for something a little challenging, The Examiner is an engaging reading experience.

This review will be posted to Goodreads on September 29, 2024 and Instagram (@goodquietkitty) on September 30, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC of The Examiner by Janice Hallett in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Hallett weaves a mystery through shared correspondence (texts, intranet posts, emails and the like) between and about her main characters. In The Examiner, the setting is an MA fine arts course at a British university at which the cohort of six students have been assigned to create a logo campaign for a tech communications company. Not everyone is pulling their weight, however, and it’s clear that at least some of the group are running their own projects - possibly nefarious - on the side. And where are the students whom no one has seen, but who correspond online?

With at least one twist I never saw coming, this is a fun, well-paced academic whodunnit. I finished it in one day. Four stars.

Janice Hallett is queen of epistolary fiction! Starting with The Appeal I have read everything she has written and this might be the best one yet! I thought I knew where this one was going but I was very wrong. The twists in the book are unreal!!

The reading experience was enhanced by the fact that I just started an MA program in Library Studies. Our cohort isn’t 6 people like the one in the book (in fact it’s the largest cohort in the schools history) but being on campus and doing course work really enhanced the comprehension of life in academia and the pressure to excel.

All the stars for this one!

Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and mysteries particularly ones that focus on character development. If you love when books include text messages and emails then this is the book for you.

Janice Hallett’s “The Examiner” is another brilliant and inventive mystery that showcases her sharp, creative writing style. Set within a dysfunctional university art course, six quirky students with clashing personalities are thrown into chaos when an external examiner suspects one of them has been murdered. With sharp twists, dark humor, and clever misdirection, Hallett keeps readers hooked until the final reveal. As a huge fan of her work, I love how she crafts intricate, absorbing puzzles that never fail to surprise. “The Examiner” is a must-read for any mystery lover.

After reading every other book written by Janice hallett I am so disappointed in this one. I never thought I'd give a 1 star review for one of her books but this one was boring. I barely made it through the book. The story just wasn't well done. Everything about it from the characters to the storyline to the mixed media aspect was just blah. For a mixed media book that was based around an art class WE GOT NO ART. What was with that? Drawings of their projects would have went a long way in making this book a bit better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is the bespd t one yet. I love the epistolary style. It's amazing how developed the characters are considering we don't get much in way of physical descriptions or of their own thoughts. I'm still thinking about this days after finishing. It did not go the way I thought it would. At all.

I love the format that @janice.hallett uses to tell the stories she writes. In her latest novel, The Examiner, the mystery is pieced together from MA level coursework and communications. This style creates an unreliable narrator since you are only seeing the story unfold in communication formats. In this novel, the unbiased course examiners are trying to determine if a student went missing during the course and if it was a case of normal withdrawal or something more sinister.

I really enjoyed this read and recommend this book, along with Janice’s other novels if you have not read them.

Thank you @atriabooks for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review. This same review was shared on the Barnes & Noble website.

This book was great! I love Janice’s writing style. It is so engaging, even for people who aren’t typically mystery or suspense readers!

Telling a mystery through multimedia messages is something Hallett does well and is very clever. However this fell flat for me because the murder / disappearance isn’t confirmed until too late in the book. I wanted more out of this.

Another crazy unconventional format mystery from Janice Hallett! In this book, the conceit as that three examiners are reviewing the grades given in a new Masters of Multimedia Art course at a UK university. They have access to all the students' written assignments including diaries, the professor's assessments, the messages sent between students on the school platform, etc. As is typical for Hallett's books, you can't tell at first what the mystery is going to be, but it soon becomes clear that strange things are going on - and I'll say no more as it is best read without spoilers.

I've read all three of her previous novels and her novella, and, well, this is what she does best! There is no conventional narrative, you never know exactly what they mystery even is, you're always confused at first - and then the tension ramps up - and then at the end, everything always comes together in such an intricate way that you kind of want to turn back to page one and re-read the book, just to see how it all makes sense now that you know what was really going on. Definitely best to read when you have a fairly concentrated amount of reading time, because if you read it slowly you will likely struggle to get into it and understand what is going on, and forget all the details that have come before. I read this book in a little over 24 hours, in part because I just couldn't put it down! Fans of her prior books and/or unconventional narrative mysteries should enjoy it too.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Examiner by Janice Hallett
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 476 / Genre: Murder Mystery
Audiobook Narrators: Anushka Chakravarti, Brendan Dempsey, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Rachel Handshaw, Sarah Durham, Dawn Murphy
Duration: 10 hours 17 minutes

Six very different students with very different demographics and experience are enrolled in a master’s program for multimedia art. The first half of the book introduces all the students and their quirky personalities as they work on their art projects. And then the second half of the book takes everything you know about those students and stomps on it. You suddenly have untrustworthy narrators, truths are revealed that you didn’t know needed revealing, and murder! Delicious.

Janice Hallett’s way of telling her stories through a series of text messages, emails, essays, and other types of written documentation is so original and creative. After listening to The Appeal on audiobook, I figured I’d better read her next book instead of listening to get a better sense of all the documentation. But halfway though reading this book, the audiobook became available on my trusty Libby app, so I tried switching for a bit but got so hooked on the full cast of narrators, that I couldn’t stop listening. I love it when there’s a full cast of narrators and this cast was just perfect.

Thank you, @NetGalley, @AtriaBooks, and @Janice.Hallett for my gifted copy.

Gripping, fast-paced epistolary novel for the modern age told in group chats, online diaries, and emails. I feel like I spent most of the book trying to figure out what was going on, that the "mystery" to me was trying to understand the plot. It's an interesting tale and it's refreshing to learn about the characters alongside the "detective" but a cast of unlikable (read- grating) characters and a needlessly convoluted plot left this reader a bit disengaged.

Audiobook is excellently narrated with a full cast and sound effects which makes listening on your phone a unique experience.

The Examiner is a multimedia whodunnit following six students taking a multimedia art master course and the head of said course. Upon completion of the course, the university has hired an examiner to go over the student's final exam and he uncovers through the school's email and message board that one of the students may be in danger, if they aren't already dead.

Janice Hallett is a genius when it comes to storytelling. Every time I read one of her books I am blown away on how she is able to create such distinctive voices through emails and messages. All seven characters involved in the art course felt so fleshed out and real that it made all their drama and squabbling come to life. Which in turn meant that when the reader finally grasps what has been unfolding on the pages it is jaw dropping.

I picked this book up on a whim and then could not put it down. I was constantly reading it for two days because I was so engrossed in this world and the characters. I audibly gasped a few times because I could never predict where exactly Hallett was going to take the story next. I highly recommend going into this book knowing as little as possible and just letting the story sweep you up.