In true Haslett fashion we have a mystery that leaves you guessing until the very end.

Her unique writing style of sharing through texts, emails, case files and essays is my new favorite was to read a mystery novel. It adds a little something extra to make each character that much more real.

Whoop another hit from Janice Hallett. I really enjoyed the writing style and format of it, as it’s told through the communication of the characters through messages, emails, and texts. The characters are all a little annoying in their own way, but it made all their interactions more interesting. It was fun, entertaining, and kept me guessing until the end.!

Janice Hallett might be my favorite new-to-me author I’ve discovered this year, and she captivated me once again with THE EXAMINER. This time, we’re following a master’s program art course and its six students via their chat messages, emails, and written assignments. I love Hallett’s signature multimedia format and find it completely unputdownable. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as THE APPEAL or THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, because I found I had to suspend my disbelief a bit more - it kind of goes off the rails towards the end. I found that entertaining, but I could see how other readers may find it convoluted. Still, Hallett’s books are always a good time, and she’s an auto-read author for me now!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the free copy in exchange for my honest review!

I admittedly haven't read The Appeal, although it's been on my list for some time. So I was not familiar with Janice Hallett's writing style, and it took a minute to get used to. Reading the entire book through a series of What's App messages, ed system messages and emails was a unique experience, especially for a thriller. I loved the ease of reading; all the burdensome details were removed, and you could focus in a little more on trying to find the clues.
Hallett is great at throwing in a plot twist you didn't really see coming (or maybe you sort of did), and that make you want to back up and reread the book in a whole new light.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Examiner, and I'll definitely read more by this author.

I absolutely love all of Janice Hallett's work but I think The Examiner may be my favorite of all. The dry wit is still present, the format the same as the others but The Examiner is a bit more dark, the humor a bit more edgy. It also spoke deeply about societal issues, world issues really, that we're facing which many are ignoring. I highly recommend the book to all.

Janice Hallett does it again!

The Examiner by Janice Hallett follows 6 students enrolled in a Multimedia Art MA course at Royal Hastings University. We begin the story from the course's external examiner's perspective as he is given the students' intranet messages to each other, their assignment grades and final essays. As he sifts through the jumble of correspondences from the eclectic and troublesome group of students, it becomes clear that something bigger and more worrisome may have happened to one of the students (aka death!) throughout the duration of the course.

Janice Hallett's unique style of writing mystery novels continues to keep me on my toes and always wanting to know more while reading her books. I enjoyed slowly getting to know each of the six students and their course instructor via the "Doodle" messages and their long essays. I don't know how Hallett does it, but she is able to give such distinctive voices to each character -- something I can't imagine is easy to do in this style of writing and is rarely seen in mystery novels.

The ending was a bit confusing to me -- the one downside of this writing style is that we the reader have limited insight into events that happen offline. It's hard to find a solid conclusion to the overarching story. Who truly was the "bad guy?" What is [character's] fate? That being said, I found the first 90% of the story to be intriguing and well-paced. You're confused, you feel frustrated at times, you're trying to string together your own theories for what is really happening in this course and what each character's motives are.

Will always recommend Janice Hallett's books!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

This book was so fun! A great example of how exciting it can be when you're trying to solve a mystery but you don't know exactly what the mystery is until it begins to unravel, bit by bit. There were so many genuine surprises in this book and I really enjoyed the entire read. The format (emails, IMs, text messages, essays, grading memos) worked very well for this story, too.

The story follows 6 master's students who are pursing a degree in a year-long Multimedia Art program that is at risk of losing funding. I can't say much more without giving too much away, but it is clear from the start that not everything is what it seems.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the free copy for review.

Wow! This book starts with an irresistible hook that draws readers in from the first page.

Pairing the audiobook with the physical book truly enhanced my experience. The full cast of narrators—Anushka Chakravarti, Brendan Dempsey, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Rachel Handshaw, Sarah Durham, and Dawn Murphy—brought each character to life with authentic accents and emotions. In my experience, combining the audiobook with the text provides clarity and depth.

The epistolary format, featuring emails, essays, diary entries, texts, and chats, keeps the pace brisk and engaging. I found myself fully immersed, connecting each conversation to the unfolding mystery. The way everything ties together is simply impressive.

The diverse cast of characters, not only in terms of heritage but also age, adds layers of complexity and amusement to their interactions, especially given the central theme of teamwork. The nuances across characters make this a story where you step back and let it unfold, rather than rooting for just one individual. The dynamics of working in a team with varied personalities are incredibly relatable.

The book delivers a satisfying ending with brilliant twists and unexpected red herrings. It's a cozy mystery you won't want to miss.

Solid 3 stars. Absolutely loved the format of the book with all the emails, journal entries, chats, etc. The story was just okay. I know a lot of people really loved this one but for me it was just average.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc!

The Examiner by Janice Hallett ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was told through instant messages, emails, class assignments, and diary entries. I was impressed that Hallett was able to clearly define her characters with the modes selected. I knew each of them, and I didn’t like a single one but I loved that. They were so distinct and full of personalities.

Like all of Hallett’s novels, you had to stick with it the entire time to get the full story. And I love this about her work. However, the whole story was sorta *head scratch* to me. Unlike previously where her mysteries came full circle and made sense to me in the end, this one felt like a very large stretch. I did appreciate the explanation for this novel in the acknowledgments part and could see where the inspiration came from. DO NOT READ THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FIRST.

Fans of Hallett’s other work, stories that take the entire book to make sense, and characters who have strong personalities will enjoy this one.

Another stunning mystery from Janice Hallett! The Examiner follows six students working toward their masters in multimedia arts with the group personalities and personal lives bringing plenty of chaos and perhaps even a missing persons case. Engaging, well plotted, and constantly surprising me, this is a book is phenomenal.

Janice Hallett's books are a must read for anyone who enjoys playing detective, and The Examiner is no exception. Told in emails, essays, grade books, text messages, etc. the reader is able to attempt to figure out the mystery along with the examiner. This story is set at a graduate level mixed media arts course with 6 students who come from varied backgrounds with their own distinct personalities. This does not sound like the most exciting premise, however I could not put the book down. The author does an excellent job of creating a sense of foreboding- you know something terrible is going to happen, while not having any clue what it will be. There was a part in the middle where I felt a bit lost, but everything comes together nicely in the end and there were multiple surprises that I did not come close to guessing. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e galley. 4.25 stars

Hallett has a unique writing style. Her skill at creating twisty, layered mysteries delivered in epistolary format is very creative and engaging and allows the reader to play detective. The mysteries are complex, and I am always left wondering how Hallett does them so well.

I enjoyed the academic setting of this one, with six diverse art students in a master's program thrust together in a group project riddled with problems and an added mystery of a group member who may or may not be missing. We hear from the students, support staff, Hallett develops her characters very well, and they are believable, even if some are unlikeable. The dynamics between this group took some interesting turns, with lots of drama.

The mystery in this novel is like a puzzle, with clues that unfold in a way that keeps you guessing. While the pacing was a bit slow for me in the beginning, the last quarter of the book really picks up steam as twist after twist lands. The twists turned everything on its head, and I enjoyed being surprised.

Hallett did it again! Janice Hallett immediately became one of my favorite authors after reading The Appeal for many reasons:

- Hallett has a true talent for developing characters, such as making them irritatingly annoying or snooty, without ever having a single line of dialogue or narration. The characters here were no less interesting and by the end of the book, especially with some of the twists, I felt as if I'd lost some of the friends I thought I knew.
- The twists here were, as usual, largely unpredictable - and those I figured out, I only figured out part-way.
- Every book is like a giant puzzle to solve that's crafted from mixed media (video transcripts, text messages, etc.) They're entirely different from a classic mystery and while they are very engaging, they aren't thrillers either. Like Hallett's other books, this book can be read without any contemplation purely for enjoyment or you can try to figure out what happened along the way.

I will read absolutely everything Hallett publishes until the end of time.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

The Examiner
I’m a fan of Janice Hallett. The Appeal and The Alperton Angels are outstanding books in a unique format. However in The Examiner, I felt like Hallett took a winning formula, combined it with a notebook of ideas, and this became the final product.

Besides immediate dislike of some of the characters (if you know, you know) and inexplicably detailed backstories on others, the book overall tone of the novel was “convenient”. Even the twists, while legitimately surprising, are revealed in deus ex machina format and piled at the end.

In the Appeal and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, the twists and turns revealed in new materials fell within the realm of possibility. The Examiner, while full of Hallett’s characters and ideas, combines too many plot points with too many insane twists to end on a satisfying note.

Thank you to Atria Books for the advanced copy, and I look forward to reading more Hallett work!

Every time I think Hallett can't give us a better book, she does! This latest book runs circles around the reader, without the reader even realizing they're being led astray. I'll even go so far as to say she is quickly becoming the modern day Agatha Christie! The story seems straightforward- a group of students starting a trial course, coming from different walks of life, a professor needing the course to succeed, to keep her job. Not much recipe for a story one thinks, but oh the interpersonal dynamics that evolve! Nothing is ever as it seems, and when the big reveal comes in the book, about one of the students, it leads the reader to many ah-ha moments of thought, before continuing to read on. As the story changes and evolves, the reader's interest is changed, but is it for their best? This story will keep your little grey cells churning and deciphering until the surprising end!

So this is a great concept for a book! And I absolutely love anything Janice Hallett writes. But for some reason this one didn’t do it for me. I felt like it was missing something and had too much of something else. I was trying to force my way through it and was starting to not want to pick up anything else. I see a lot of other people have been really enjoying this book so maybe right now isn’t the time for me to read it…maybe down the road I will pick it up again and give it another try! DNF.

The Examiner by Janice Hallett #seventyfourthbookof2024 #arc #theexaminer #epistolarynovel

CW: death, accidental murder, domestic terrorism

A new masters course in multimedia arts has been set up, and the six inaugural’s students will decide its success. When the course’s examiner reviews the students’ message boards, course materials, texts, and essays for the year, he finds that someone is in danger. Can he figure out the mystery of who and why?

I live for epistolary novels and I really enjoyed this author’s The Appeal, so I had high hopes. I didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much. It was very slow to start and the real action didn’t start until 80% in and I’d almost given up. At that point, the plot got a little convoluted and it was difficult to get straight some of the machinations. The characters were well written and believable. Their communications via message board and texts felt real. I did enjoy a certain reveal that occurred about two thirds in, and I appreciated that I never guessed that reveal.

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the advance copy. (pub date 9/10/24)

Pros: the hybridity of the text, the first-hand materials narrative, the setting
Cons: simply not my cup of tea, long for this plot, characterisation did not feel interesting
Please note that although not exactly the same, I work in a similar setting as the books, and am familiar with some of the details. My suspension of disbelief was negatively affected by what I did not find authentic, even for a story with a bit of wit at its core.
I wish this book the very best journey.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. Hallett’s books have been mostly a miss for me since The Appeal and this book pretty much followed that trend. I like the way she tells stories through texts, essays, emails, etc., but I don’t think that structure worked as well with the student assignments. They were too long, so those sections slowed down the whole book. And then the last 20-25% of the book was so implausible, that I was just laughing to myself. I think this may be my last Hallett novel.