I'm sad to say this one wasn't for me.

As a semi-recent Masters graduate myself, I very much enjoyed the setting, and the back and forth Doodle messages. However, this book really started to lose me towards the last 15%. The motivations of the characters felt totally unbelievable, and I felt with every reveal I cared less and less about what was going on. The first 40% is extremely slow, and unfortunately the payoff at the ending was not worth it.

I loved this, another excellent story in Janice Hallett's wonderful style. I have enjoyed all of her other books and this was no less engaging. There is a lot of fun in trying to keep track, work out what is useful to remember and figure out who did what. I thought I was keeping up until I was blindsided by several reveals, great storytelling! Highly recommend and really hope there is more to come.

This is a cracking page turner about an arts based course and its participants. Another epistolary mystery, the stakes are even lower than usual though, and the reveal is a bit gimmicky here compare to some of her other books, It's not bad, it's just not exciting enough to want to come back to or go back through after finishing.

Wow what a ride that was!

Firstly I love books in mixed media from whatsapp messages to emails and Janice Hallett always excels at telling her stories via these.

This was fast paced and full of intrigue from the very first page and I was hooked throughout. Honestly did not have a clue as to where it was going to go so when the author hit me with those twists it was quite literally a jaw dropping moment.

Maybe a little far fetched in places but it didn't matter as it was a very entertaining read!

The Examiner is a gripping mystery that kept me engaged with its clever structure and intricate plot. The story unfolds through Janice Hallett's unique format, using including essays, emails and messages, which adds a modern twist to traditional mystery storytelling.
Tasked with examining a case that intertwines several characters’ lives, the examiner must navigate through layers of deception and hidden motives. Hallett expertly builds suspense, revealing secrets and red herrings that challenge reader's assumptions.
The story is intricately woven, with multiple layers of intrigue and complex characters whose motivations are gradually revealed.
Character development is strong, with each individual bringing unique perspectives that enrich the narrative. The pacing is well-balanced, maintaining tension while exploring themes of trust, betrayal, deception and the search for truth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent's Tail/Viper/Profile Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

As ever, I loved this mystery from Janice Hallett! If you’ve read any of her other books, you’ll know that it’s a very different style to your average murder mystery. With emails, WhatsApp messages, tutor notes, diary entries and a doodle chat board providing the narrative between characters, it’s the ultimate in unreliable narrator-led plot! Full of twists and turns, this one follows students on a MA course in multimedia art.

We get snippets from Gela (tutor), and then students Jem, Cameron, Jonathan, Patrick, Ludya and Alyson, alongside the External Examiners who are reading the messages to work out if everything is above board on this new course. They’re commissioned to make a piece of art for a company and have to go through the steps of pitching, marketing and then making the piece alongside written assignments in which they are to reflect on themselves and their art. But of course, we get their messages to the public forums, private messages to each other which are a lot more subversive and backstabbing and lot of POVs that don’t all tell quite the same version of events.

A couple of the twists in this book I did see coming but there were a couple that I really did not see at all. One was a complete OMG moment, and it usually takes a lot for me to not see a twist at all. I even had to go back and check details afterwards!

If you loved The Appeal, it’s a familiar layout and an equally excellent plot. I loved it!

I really enjoyed this title and liked how it explored the different characters on the MA course. It felt like a realistic way a degree course happens from my own experiences in academia. There were lots of twists and turns and they all felt well planned out and none of the reveals felt like i was being blindsided. The writing kept me hooked and i liked the different formats used to tell the story. There were only a couple of small things that didn't work entirely for me but nothing was so egregious that it made me hate the book.

Absolutely loved this book! From page one I was hooked and couldn’t wait to pick the book back up.

I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well Janice Hallett has done it again. Told in texts, group messages and course work we meet a group of mature students working on a multimedia art course but all is not as it seems. One of the group seems to have gone missing - but which one and what has happened to them. This book certainly kept me turning the pages and kept me guessing until the very end. Bravo…I can’t wait for the next book from this extremely talented author. A book that you just want to pick up again when you have finished it and yes all the clues are there in the story if I’d been able to see them. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Hallet is a master of mixed media novels and this is no exception, the use of various media helps to carry the story along but I did struggle to connect / relate with any of the characters. They were all so unlikable to be almost unrealistic and there was some outdated / archaic language that felt out of place in a novel written in 2024.

As usual there is a plot twist mid way through the novel which I liked but once it is made clear to the audience it is mentioned so often that it seems almost convoluted that it wouldn’t have been mentioned previously (it’s mentioned in every chapter moving from that point). This kept pulling me out of the story.

I’ve enjoyed the author’s previous works and will happily pick up the next one but this was not for me.

As per usual with Hallett’s books, this one had me hooked from the start, as you follow the events unfold at an inaugural mixed media masters course aimed at showing the applications of skills learned on the course in real world careers. Except there’s more to it than that as the facts are laid bare through internal messages, course submissions and other transcripts (I love Hallett’s use of of different storytelling tools!) And on this course we have a missing student - is murder involved?

There’s an array of ‘interesting’ characters in this one (honestly I was wanting to throttle some of them most of the time). And this just goes to demonstrate Hallett’s writing as there are reveals galore in this that I honestly didn’t see coming and totally made me doing a 360 on my thoughts of said characters.

There’s so much to unpick with this one and parts had me thinking what the heck (“kiss kiss”) and why oh why aren’t the examiners not raising the alarm bells with all the shenanigans that have been going on?!?
And just when i thought it was going one direction - bam! A reveal that took me in another.

This is another cracking read from Hallett - I bloody loved it and she’s my go-to/auto-read crime author. I just love how she comes up with new and ingenious ways to tell her stories that would otherwise be formulaic and run of the mill. But Hallett’s books are anything but!!

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded to 3 ⭐️

Six students. One murder. Your time starts now…

I went into this book with very high expectations as the other books by Janice that I have read, I absolutely adored and were all 5* reads so I thought that would be the case for The Examiner but unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Whilst I was reading, I did not feel anything for any of the characters - they all seemed so unlikeable to me and there was no redeemable qualities to make up for that. Due to the lack of interest in the characters, I felt it really hard to get through this book and did debate DNFing as it truly felt like a chore to get to the end. Please don’t let my review deter you from reading this book as I know of a lot of other people who absolutely loved this book, this unfortunately just wasn’t for me but it could be for you.

The only thing that kept me reading was I was intrigued how the book was going to wrap everything up as the plot felt convoluted and I felt confused multiple times about what was actually going on because there was way too much to keep track of. I felt like it had less of being able to piece together what is going on as the story develops especially up until the 60% mark, compared to other books by Janice I have read. In saying that, I also found a lot of the reveals to be predictable and when I didn’t guess the reveal, I wasn’t shocked as I was supposed to be as I feel like the start was way too slow and no reveals truly happen until the 60% onwards mark, which I feel like is way too late especially as it doesn’t leave enough time to wrap everything up. The more I was reading on, the more questions I had and I felt like not every question I had was answered.

I think because of the use of multimedia in this book, it is best read in physical format because the formatting was often hard to read (I know this is an arc so it can change but it’s definitely something to be aware of) and I felt like it took me out of the story quite a bit, which affected my enjoyment. There also was derogatory language, such as one of the characters who is in recovery of alcohol use disorder, where the incorrect use of language was used as they were described as a “recovering addict” and “alcoholism”. Also, “junkies” was used. These terms have a lot of negative connotations and stigma attached to it, so it is best to use person first language, such as person in recovery and person with alcohol use disorder / person with substance use disorder.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viper for the opportunity to read this book early, in exchange for an honest review,

⚠️ CWs: cursing, comments on weight, fire, alcohol use, physical assault, mental health illness, murder, derogatory language; mentions terminal illness, death, internalised ableism, blood, cheating, body injury ⚠️

This kept me occupied for the best part of two days becuase I was gobbling it down! When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and desperate to return and find out what happened.

So many twists, Hallett is great at letting the characters show far more than they realise simply by presenting their 9wn words. Loved the university setting with the inevitable clash between age groups and backgrounds - even before the ulterior motives came into play - as it reminded me of my degree with the Open University and the stress of collaborative projects and online forums!

I think Hallett gets better and better woth each book.

I didn’t particularly enjoyed The Appeal as it felt too much form over substance. The Twyford Code worked better for me but am afraid the Examiner was too much of a slog. To be fair I read it over quite an extended period of time and it might have been better if I had read it in a couple of days.

I didn’t find the premise particularly credible and the characters got on my nerves. Not for me I am afraid.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

What a disappointment!

This was such a disappointment, having read several of Hallett's other books I was really looking forward to this one.

I love the style of the writing but my god was I bored. I pushed and pushed through waiting for it to get better.....sadly it never came.

I’ve read and reviewed every book by this author and every book is magnificent.

I adore the format of this book and author’s previous books, you definitely need a notebook with you while you’re reading so you can jot down the slightest thing you notice incase you need it later to work things out.

This story intrigued me straight away, a small select group of ART students and we have access to all the online communications between them and the tutor of the course and her correspondence.

Our task to unravel what exactly has happened between them over the course of the year.

Like the fool that I am I thought I had things figured out and knew what was happening and why but then boom it all got twisted on its head and I was totally wrong like usual.

I love going on a journey reading Janice’s books and figuring everything out through emails, WhatsApp messages etc.

It’s so immersive and unique.

If you want a thrilling, twisty book that you won’t be able to put down, this is the book for you.

Book Review: The Examiner by Janice Hallett

I was eagerly anticipating The Examiner after enjoying Hallett's previous works, and it certainly lived up to my expectations! This novel intricately weaves together the lives of six art students at Royal Hastings University, each with their own quirks and ambitions. The premise of an external examiner arriving to assess their final project sets the stage for an intriguing mystery that unfolds with a delightful mix of wit and suspense.

From the very start, I found myself invested in the characters—each one was vividly drawn, from the overqualified Alyson to the hapless Patrick. The dynamics between them were complex, filled with jealousy and hidden agendas, which added layers of tension to the narrative. Hallett's sharp dialogue and clever observations kept me turning the pages, eager to see how the story would unfold.

When the murder mystery kicks in, the tension escalates dramatically. I was kept guessing right up until the end, as Hallett expertly layered clues and red herrings throughout the plot. The way she explores themes of ambition and rivalry within the art world is both clever and thought-provoking.

Hallett's trademark humor shines through, making the reading experience not just thrilling but also entertaining. The clever structure of the narrative, which involves piecing together evidence, made me feel like an active participant in solving the mystery.

I adore the way that Janice hallett writes, the way that it is in emails, letters ect make them stand out from the rest.

Overall, The Examiner is a fantastic read that showcases Janice Hallett’s talent for crafting a gripping and witty mystery. I can confidently say that it’s a must-read for fans of the genre, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Really enjoyed this, another solid and inventive mystery from Hallett, who is fast becoming the "21st century Queen of Crime"

I look forward to the next one!

A fun read, and it’s always impressive how much information Hallett manages to impart through sometimes one-sided conversations and messages. She drops clues throughout and always manages to catch you off guard at some point.