The Examiner gives a fascinating insight into the lives of students and coordinators on the new BA in Multimedia Art at Royal Hastings, University of London. However, nothing is quite what it seems and some of the insights are disturbing. Once again, Janet Hallet delves into the depths of people’s thoughts and opinions through her unique writing style.

The reader is only given transcripts of diary entries, texts, e-mails, official assignment content and chat room gossip. As you read on secrets, lies and aspects of students’ lives hidden from their classmates and tutors are slowly revealed. The reader is privy to the same correspondence as the examiners as they help decide whether the course will be renewed the following year and to confirm the grades awarded are acceptable. There are also transcripts of the examiners’ texts and e-mails on reading all the information.

The humdrum, boring and somewhat catty correspondences include the typical concerns of students looking to make the grade but a dark and jagged puzzle emerges and the reader is drawn right into the mysteries enticed by the intriguing characters, their drive to succeed and their hidden agendas.

With thanks to the publisher Viper Books for the Netgalley ARC.

"That's something they don't tell you about teamwork. It can normalise the horrific. If you break everyone's role down into their micro-responsibilities, then the horrific thing is only the sum of those parts. No one person feels responsible for the fuck-up in its entirety. A 3D version of 'I was following orders'...
And Me? I caused the main problem, so I felt I should at least help solve it. End the terrible cycle we were all trapped in. That's another side-effect of teamwork. Lack of emotion, absence of empathy - whatever it is that got us that far down the road...is contagious."

An Media Arts Masters course at a London University, or is it? Janice Hallett is back with another mind-blowing mystery, portraying the perils of teamwork through messages from six students, their course leader and of course the examiner. Whilst I always begin a book by this author looking for unusual behaviour from her well-drawn, often not necessarily likeable, characters, I can never identify the undercurrent until she wants the reader to. A few shocks and plot twists is a very mild way to describe how intricate and compelling the author's unusual novels are, this one focusing on dark academia and other themes I can't reveal with spoilers. I enjoyed reading some of the inspiration for the novel in the recommendations. An auto-buy (or in this case auto-request from NetGalley) author for me, it's another five star read.

FROM THE COVER📖

Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now... The mature students of Royal Hastings University's new art course have been trouble from day one. From acclaimed artist Alyson who seems oddly overqualified, to hapless Patrick who can barely operate design software, and city boy Cameron who blusters his way through assignments. Not to mention Jem, who's a gifted young sculptor... but cross her at your peril. The year-long course is blighted by students setting fire to one another's artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong? The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students' coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now...

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have to be honest I was disappointed in this but I did have very hopes. I loved the Appeal and The Christmas Appeal I really couldn't put them down sadly I have found while Hallett's other novels are good they don't in anyway compare to The Appeal.

They are certainly unique in terms of plots and how the books are set out( emails, text messages etc) I have found that the books outwith The Appeal end up being too far -fetched and they all share a strange tone about undercover agents and government secrets which I don't really get or like this was very much the case here.

I was hooked from page one until I was about 30% the way though then I felt it dragged on and became repetitive I got the sense something was going kick off, and there was lots of secrets and lies among the chats but even with the twists I that I never saw coming I felt it lacked something am not sure if it was way the material was presented or the fact the their were lots of LONG essay bits that just didn't flow .

The synopsis tells us- Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now- So, you go in knowing there is going to be a murder. Yet,over halfway through I was still waiting for something to actually happen or mention murder while the ending swiftly addresses the murder and mystery I felt it never flowed quite as well as it could. I found the ending quite far-fetched and not too relatable, plus I felt there was a lot of plot lines left unaddressed.



That being said as usual her writing is amazing to plot a book in the ways she does is true talent All the main characters have their own, distinctive voices mostly horrible ones and I was impressed with how the art the candidates create comes to life on the page and becomes visible to the reader. It is an intriguing story and the afterword explains a lot behind the plot idea. There was great twist among the murder plot which I really didn't see coming but in hindsight I could see the hints of it looking back, this in particular was very clever and is what makes Hallett stand out as a writer.

While this was let down for me it was still a very good book , the alternative approach that Janice Hallett takes with her books, giving the reader the same chance to solve the mystery as the characters reading the documents for the first time always makes her work extremely compelling and complicated.

Fans of Hallett's work will like this
and am sure she will pick up a fair few new fans with this.

Thanks a million to the publishers who approved my request for this ARC it was much appreciated.

As with previous Janice Hallett's books. She writes her stories using a variety of multimedia narrative. In The Examiner we get to read the story through emails, WhatsApp group messages and a university chat forum.

Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now...

This is what the beginning of the synopsis tells us. So, you go in knowing there is going to be a murder. Yet, over halfway through I still didn't know who or even if anyone had died. But, this is the beauty of Hallett's writing. She peppers the narrative with just enough information to keep you enticed.

The characters involved in this story are easy to relate to and to imagine. Slowly we unravel information about each of them and that's when the mystery deepens. Who are we meant to believe? Is what they are saying the truth?

This is a chunky book to read. It took me a while to get through. Bearing in mind I only got time to read little chunks here and there. But, the style of writing helps to be able to put down and pick up the story easily.

I'd love to know how Hallett plots her stories. There's twists galore. Timelines to think of and a cast of characters who may or may not be telling the whole truth.

Perfect.

At Royal Hastings University, trouble is brewing on the new Multimedia Art course. Six students begin the masters programme, but chaos ensues from day 1. Soon come the accusations of theft, the rumours about an affair, evidence that students work is being sabotaged, even a road trip that ends in complete disaster, and it’s not long before everything goes wrong. As an external examiner assesses the students work, it’s clear that a murder has taken place, but who is dead? And who has tried to cover it up?

Have to say I’m a bit on the fence about this one I’m afraid!! I adore Janice Hallett’s clever style of writing and the mixed media format, (I mean all her other books have been huge hits with me), but I think the actual plot and storyline is what lets it down a little because of how overly focused this book is on minuscule details. At times it’s very convoluted, and that’s before we get any background on these six students and their stories and links to other people. It all gets a little bit too confusing and things are just a little bit too unbelievable.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Hallett’s books, and I did indeed race through this once, I just can’t help feeling a little underwhelmed that it didn’t hit the same as the rest of her works, like The Alperton Angels which is one of my favourite crime novels! I had such high hopes for this and I think this fell a bit short of my expectations.

Would recommend if you’re a fan of Hallett’s work (I’ve seen plenty of really positive reviews for this, so might just be me), but I’d start with her other books if you’re new to her stuff <3

I love Janice Hallett's writing so was very excited to have a copy of her new one - I'm so happy to say that I adored this one! It follows a group os students on a new art MA course at university. As with all Hallett's books we follows the story through the University's intranet Doodle, plus some WhatsApp messages and emails. It becomes apparent from the beginning that there is a possibility that someone has gone missing from this course but no one seems to be sure so I was intrigued from the very start! Like always with this author I just happily get swept up in the story as I find it impossible to figure out what's going on and I love that. This one took some very unexpected turns, and I wasn't keen on the twist midway but it didn't stop me enjoying the story as a whole. I really enjoyed this and I definitely recommend it!

I suppose I have only myself to blame, starting this on my only morning off - but I hold Netgalley and Ms Hallett responsible too! She should really come with a health warning - do not start unless you can finish in one sitting. And I certainly did. You keep thinking, "just one more page, and I'll get up and oh, do some chores, feed the dog (feed myself) etc".
Well, for about 8 hours I subsisted on coffee and biscuits, and (metaphorically speaking) not a child in the house washed, but it was worth it. The best thing about a Hallett book is that you keep thinking about them after you've finished, re-assessing your assumptions, and admiring the way she has played you - and, of course, you know full well you're going to have to re-read it in the context of what you know now. Not many thriller writers can say that.
For me this one didn't hook quite as quickly as some of her others - the set-up with the college bumf etc was a teensy bit tedious - but then, I don't see how she could have gotten around it, whilst staying true to her signature style, and it did set the scene and atmosphere well. Despite this, her subtle exposition of the characters, mainly through emails, college messaging system, and WhatsApp, keeps the reader hooked. I guess at this stage, fans will know that the author has very unreliable narrators/communicants, so part of the fun is trying to see through the information given, to the personas behind it. Hallett is a genius at using our own preconceptions and assumptions against the reader - though this is an added bonus: we get a great mystery, and possibly spend a bit of time questioning ourselves.
The characters were, on the whole, horrible people one way or the other, but their interactions were a joy to behold - from a safe distance! Hallett is excellent at drawing characters in a fairly sparse medium, with very little physical description easily inserted, and she also uses it to subvert our expectations and further muddy the mystery waters - skillful and entertaining.
Possibly the murder mystery escalated a bit too much towards the end, but at that stage I was so invested that I was willing to go with the flow, and absolutely HAD to know what happened. I can't say much more without spoilers, but this was a thouroughly addictive read, with a smidgen of social commentary - nothing too heavy - thrown in for good measure, and a nice psychological poke at our programmed views of others.
My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, all gushing opinions are my own - but definitely meant; I'll be re-reading, possibly very shortly.

Janice has done it once again. This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC on netgalley. (Thank you, Netgalley).

This is one of the best books I've read this year, maybe even my new favourite.

We follow 6 students who have been hand selected for an MA degree in Art. They all have their own personal and secretive backgrounds. The twists and turns that this book took, I swear, gave me whiplash. Once, I thought it was going in one direction, and I was figuring out what was going to happen, it went totally somewhere else. The revelations around 70% had me hooked.

To be fair, the whole book gripped me, it's so easy to read as it's all in multimedia, even though I found it hard to follow at times (a me problem not the book) I just went and reread it 😅

Such an intense and gripping read. Go read it. Well, when it's out on 29th August 2024!

Janice Hallett is an auto-buy author for me, everything she has written is so much fun to read. I'll be getting a physical copy to add to my collection (one day I'll get them signed, is the hope!) but this went straight to the top of the pile when I got approved for an e-arc on Monday morning. I was on a Zoom meeting when I got the approval through (no, YOU were checking your emails whilst on another call!) and I knew I'd be bumping it to the top of my list.

Janice tells her stories through the medium of email exchange, Whatsapps, text messages and transcripts, to name a few. It's a brilliant way to narrate a mystery story as it keeps one thread of the story hidden from you until later on, so you've no idea who to trust.

This works really well in The Examiner, which takes place on an MA Arts course. Several students taking part in a course that requires them to deliver their own projects whilst working on a combined piece to be presented at an event at the end the course.

Most of the story moves forward through a Doodle intranet service provided by the university, and captures the group chats, professor feedback and personal diaries of the students as the course progresses.

They're not a particularly likeable bunch, but this is a necessity! As is always the case with Janice's books, she gives snippets of the characters so you are never really sure who to trust. There are lots of twists to further keep you guessing and I genuinely wasn't sure where it was going until the end, thus proving she is a master of her craft.

If you've read Janie's other books, you're going to love this and if you are new to her tales I am envious that you have a whole stack of books to read of hers.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A new Janice Hallett book is always a must-read - she is excellent at creating a complex mystery told entirely through documentary evidence, in this case mainly online messaging, academic records and emails.

In The Examiner, the external examiner for an MA course in Multimedia Art, suspecting that something sinister has befallen one of the course's six students, is gathering evidence mainly gleaned from their messages on the university's internal messaging system. The course, running for the first time, is the brainchild of course tutor Gela Nathaniel, who's desperate for it to succeed, and aims to connect the study of art with the world of work, increasing students' employability.

The six students quickly emerge through their messages. Young Jem, ambitious and confident,is a force of nature. She's admirable in some ways, insufferable in others. A revelation about her towards the end is a genuine surprise. There's also Patrick, owner of an art supplies shop, undertaking a formal course for the first time; established artist Alyson; graphic designer and stressed single mother Ludya; Jonathan, whose family owns a gallery; and burnt-out executive Cameron. Not to mention the course tutor, Gela. All strangers to each other, apparently, but as the course progresses, connections and alliances begin to emerge, and it is clear not everyone is what they seem...

While there are some enjoyable characters, the story is ultimately more of a puzzle to be solved than anything more emotionally engaging - but it's an excellent read, as always.

Janice has done it once again. This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC on netgalley. (Thank you, Netgalley).

This is one of the best books I've read this year, maybe even my new favourite.

We follow 6 students who have been hand selected for an MA degree in Art. They all have their own personal and secretive backgrounds. The twists and turns that this book took, I swear, gave me whiplash. Once, I thought it was going in one direction, and I was figuring out what was going to happen, it went totally somewhere else. The revelations around 70% had me hooked.

To be fair, the whole book gripped me, it's so easy to read as it's all in multimedia, even though I found it hard to follow at times (a me problem not the book) I just went and reread it 😅

Such an intense and gripping read. Go read it. Well, when it's out on 29th August 2024!

I truly enjoyed this book! I love a mixed media book as it makes for really easy reading and fun too.

I really enjoyed each character and their different personalities, which made it really easy to follow and not get confused amidst the amount of people in the groups.

I went in not having a clue what was going to happen or what twists we would find and really liked how unpredictable I found it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpents Tail/Viper/ Profile books for this advanced reader copy!

The first for me by this author and despite a terrible arc I loved it!

An unusual method of delivery which was compelling, I couldn’t wait for the next Doodle message so read the book quickly.

Six students study for an MA on a newly devised course. The course is led by Gela, and she is desperate for it to succeed as she is losing all her classes. A diverse bunch, handpicked by Gela, there are some members of the course who are less devoted than others and not everyone is quite who you think they are. Plus there are secrets, plots and shenanigans galore! It’s hard to review without spoilers, but suffice to say it’s a cracker of a read!

I will purchase when published to enjoy the book in its correct format and will definitely go through Hallett’s back catalogue now.

Thank you NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail/Viper.

I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoy the authors writing style and the pace of the book. Much like The Appeal the story is told through messages and art assignments. I find that this style of writing is quick and easy to read. I did not work it out until the end and I couldn’t put this book down.

This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2024! And it didn't disappoint!

I certainly enjoy Janice Hallett's style of writing. It is always entertaining. If you've read any of her previous books you'll know not to expect a linear timeline with simple prose. The Examiner takes this style to its farthest degree with texts, messaging and group messaging alongside reports made by members of the art group, tutors, support staff and examiners all coming into play.

WOW!!!

Where do I start?

This is the fifth book by Janice Hallett I’ve read, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect but WOW, the author managed to exceed my very high expectations with this well-plotted and intriguing story. It made for compulsive reading from the start with the tension initially building gradually until, by the time I reached the last quarter, the story suddenly exploded and rushed forward with shocking revelation after shocking revelation. And just when I thought I had all the answers, Hallett had another trick up her sleeve; one that will have me thinking and wondering about this book for some time to come.

Like Hallett’s previous books, the story is told in email messages, texts, and essays as the narrative follows a diverse group of students in an art master’s programme where nothing and nobody is as it appears to be at first glance. Also as in her previous books, we have a small cast of main characters. There is Gela who needs students for her new master’s programme before her funding is cut. She ends up with a hand-picked group of six students who couldn’t be more diverse. From the very first day the students are nothing but trouble, but it isn’t until Ben Sketcher, the external examiner who has access to all the communications between the university and the participants, starts asking questions that it becomes clear exactly how worrying the situation is. Ben is convinced one of the course participants is in serious danger or possibly, already dead. From the start there are growing tensions between the course participants. Messages between the participants individually or between Gela and one or another of the students imply that there’s stuff going on behind the scenes the others, and therefore the reader, aren’t aware of.

Although I took pages worth of notes while reading this story, I don’t want to say anything else about what happens for fear of spoiling it for other readers. Suffice to say that nobody in this story is who they appear to be. Much to my delight I was able to answer one or two questions before the author spelled the answer out, but I have no idea if that was Hallett’s intention or if I’m getting better at solving some of the mysteries in her story. What’s more, finding those answers only threw up new questions because the full mystery wasn’t unravelled until the very end. As it should be.

The writing in this book is excellent. All the main characters have their own, distinctive voices and I was impressed with how the art the candidates create comes to life on the page and becomes visible to the reader. This story hooked me from the start and never released its grip. Just when things appeared to become a little clearer everything turned more obscure. The format means the reader doesn’t get all the information, only that which the characters want you to know, and that meant I was kept guessing for the longest time. Every time I thought I had a grip on what was really going on, something happened to make me rethink everything I thought I knew.

In my review of The Appeal I wrote: ‘After having read all three of Janice Hallett’s currently available titles I have to conclude that she is something of a genius when it comes to slow reveals and misdirection while still giving the reader all the information they need to keep up with the investigators.’ The Examiner has only strengthened that opinion. I’m in awe at how Janice Hallett managed to tie everything in this story together and answer (almost) every question the reader might have. One question remains unanswered, though but that perfectly fits the complexity of the story as far as I’m concerned. It also ensures that this is a book I will be thinking about long after I finished reading it.

I certainly enjoy Janice Hallett's style of writing. It is always entertaining. If you've read any of her previous books you'll know not to expect a linear timeline with simple prose. The Examiner takes this style to its farthest degree with texts, messaging and group messaging alongside reports made by members of the art group, tutors, support staff and examiners all coming into play.

We are introduced to the story by the examiner explaining that the course work for a small group mixed media Masters degree is enclosed along with the fears that some harm has to come to one of the students. What follows is a generally linear story about the group, their origins, their coursework and the interaction between all of them.

It sounds complicated but I'm very easily distracted and I had no problem working out what was going on. My advice - just go with it and it'll all become completely clear very quickly.

The story is based on fact but that's all I can say or it'll give the game away. Authors constantly amaze me with their inspiration for stories like this. The characters are real characters - certainly Jem stands out as being particularly nosey and irritating, Patrick is a typical people pleaser, Ludya is constantly distracted by her home life and poor Gela (short for Angela) seems like she's trying to knit fog in her attempt to get her small group to work cohesively.

All I will say apart from having enjoyed it immensely and only getting a little list near the end, is that the plot and characters aren't at all what they seem - this becomes apparent very quickly. It is fast paced, clever, funny and thought provoking.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail/Viper/Profile Books for the advance review copy.

I have loved all of Janice Hallett’s books and have been eagerly awaiting this one. It’s told through messages and letters that tell the story of a creative art MA course, through the assignment feeeback and group messages sent between the students and course-leader. There’s an investigation under way and all is not as it seems. Lots of twists and turns that kept me speeding through the chapters. Several twists that I did not see coming at all. I raced through it. However, I did find the most ending quite far-fetched and not too relatable. Still enjoyed it and would recommend.

Hallett is a master of the “found document” mystery, in which a sleuth or group is given a set of emails, transcriptions etc and asked to try to uncover a mystery. Everyone is a unreliable narrator, and the fun is in being surprised by the layers Hallett sets up in such a easy entertaining style. The Examiner is set in an art school with an unlikely course group of mature students, and demonstrates a fine familiarity with the milieu. From romance to high tech to graphic design and sabotage. Recommend!

I always enjoy the alternative approach that Janice Hallett takes with her books, giving the reader the same chance to solve the mystery as the characters reading the documents for the first time so I was intrigued to see what this might look like in a higher education setting. As Hallett cleverly indicates, there are always tensions running high in academia and particularly when there are elements of competition involved. In The Examiner we join the external examiner and course admin staff as they read through the the online message board and multimedia coursework that the students and tutor have been involved with over the year but it's not clear whether everyone has survived to celebrate finishing.

At times, I found the premise that they're always communication through Doodle (the online environment) was a bit of a stretch and it would have been nice to have more of a mix of 'sources' to get to know the different characters and see them from perspectives outside of the group (eg. more testaments from Griff the technician). I would say that the plot itself is on a par with her previous books but won't say any more to avoid spoiling the various twists.