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The Appeal #2
The Silent Appeal
Not yet published
Expected 1 Sep 26From “modern Agatha Christie” (The Sunday Times, London) Janice Hallett, a follow-up to her blockbuster debut novel The Appeal, featuring the Fairway Players as they put on Agatha Christie’s play The Hollow and find themselves embroiled in murder, blackmail, and betrayal once again.
Welcome back to Lower Lockwood. The Fairway Players return with Sarah-Jane and Kevin MacDonald as committee cochairs. This year, they have chosen to stage Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. But auditions aren’t their only problem: Sarah-Jane’s sister, Nicky-Rose, is suddenly back in town under mysterious circumstances, having sold her home in Barbados, left her business providing entertainment on cruise ships, and moved back into their mother Carol’s house.
As always, they’re short on men, and new Player Fran Elroy-Jones enlists a young married couple and the husband’s cousin to join. But no one wants to play the part of the hated Gerda, leaving Kevin and Sarah-Jane with no option but to reach out to an old member they know would be happy to perform in any role.
As with any production, tensions run high, and our intrepid lawyers Femi and Charlotte are tasked with uncovering exactly what happened on the opening night of The Hollow—and whether the correct person has taken the blame.
Welcome back to Lower Lockwood. The Fairway Players return with Sarah-Jane and Kevin MacDonald as committee cochairs. This year, they have chosen to stage Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. But auditions aren’t their only problem: Sarah-Jane’s sister, Nicky-Rose, is suddenly back in town under mysterious circumstances, having sold her home in Barbados, left her business providing entertainment on cruise ships, and moved back into their mother Carol’s house.
As always, they’re short on men, and new Player Fran Elroy-Jones enlists a young married couple and the husband’s cousin to join. But no one wants to play the part of the hated Gerda, leaving Kevin and Sarah-Jane with no option but to reach out to an old member they know would be happy to perform in any role.
As with any production, tensions run high, and our intrepid lawyers Femi and Charlotte are tasked with uncovering exactly what happened on the opening night of The Hollow—and whether the correct person has taken the blame.
480 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication August 25, 2026
About the author
Janice Hallett
14 books2,864 followersJanice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 295 reviews
August 12, 2026
The Fairway Players are back with a new play, a few new faces, and another murder. This is the second book by Janice Hallett featuring the bucolic village of Lower Lockwood, England. Sarah-Jane and Kevin have chosen to present The Hollow, a play based on the eponymous book by Agatha Christie (sans Hercule Poirot). There are a few new faces amongst the regular cast and crew who bring a new set of problems to the always beleaguered troop of amateur actors. Will the play be ready for opening night? And will the opening night murder ruin their chances for a National Amateur Drama Award (NADA)?
The epistolary format allows for insight into the relationships and thoughts of the characters; it’s also an ingenious way to make the story lines easy to follow. We begin with a communication dated September 2025 between lawyers who are looking into a murder. Roderick Tanner is incrementally feeding Femi and Charlotte the texts and emails sent between the people involved in the production of the play. He doesn’t tell them who was murdered and who was convicted (he believes they have the wrong person in jail). These interactions are a way for us to go through the events that occur between January and September of 2025. By the time we get to the end, we have been part of each plot line.
The characters are quirky, the writing is witty, and the setting is right out of a British mystery program. I had a hard time putting this one down. The only problem I had was it was hard to read as an ebook (this is an ARC). There were so many characters, and in order to make it easy to access, I copied, pasted, and printed them to keep them handy (I am willing to share).
I’ve read several of Hallett’s books that are epistolary. We are not experiencing the events, but reading what the characters have written, which have then been chosen as relevant by Roderick Tanner. Everyone and everything is unreliable and open to misinterpretation. If it matters, I almost solved the mystery.
I highly recommend this 480 page (behemoth) novel.
I would like to thank Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
July 9, 2026
The Silent Appeal is a compelling sequel that picks up again with The Fairway Players a few years after the events of The Appeal. The group has come together to put on Agatha Christie's story, The Hollow and of course there is murder involved. Told once again in Hallett's signature style of mixed media we have a compelling story of gossip, betrayals, and obsession.
Every time I pick up a Hallett book I'm in awe of what a masterful storyteller she is with her ability to make characters come alive with her mixed media style. Each character has such a distinctive voice and there is just enough detail given about the setting that I could easily picture everything happening in my head. I also appreciated that there was so much interpersonal drama happening that it wasn't clear til the end what was the actual event that led to the lawyers getting involved in an appeal. And I was amazed at how many seeds had been planted by Hallett to make the murder possible.
As usual, there is a lot going on with the story. Between the play and each character's personal dramas it can be a lot to juggle. The Silent Appeal is a story that demands to be read as quickly as possible or else tendrils of the story will be lost and the ending will lose its impact. However, I found myself not really caring who died by the end of it because I was more personally invested in seeing the mystery of who killed who reveal itself. Also, after the high of figuring out who killed who I did think the remainder of the book felt a bit flat. There were moments I really liked but there were also some moments that pushed me out of the story a bit.
Overall this was a fantastic story that kept me fully engaged and turning pages as fast as I could. I will forever read anything Janice Hallett writes and I do hope that we get more from The Fairway Players in the future.
Every time I pick up a Hallett book I'm in awe of what a masterful storyteller she is with her ability to make characters come alive with her mixed media style. Each character has such a distinctive voice and there is just enough detail given about the setting that I could easily picture everything happening in my head. I also appreciated that there was so much interpersonal drama happening that it wasn't clear til the end what was the actual event that led to the lawyers getting involved in an appeal. And I was amazed at how many seeds had been planted by Hallett to make the murder possible.
As usual, there is a lot going on with the story. Between the play and each character's personal dramas it can be a lot to juggle. The Silent Appeal is a story that demands to be read as quickly as possible or else tendrils of the story will be lost and the ending will lose its impact. However, I found myself not really caring who died by the end of it because I was more personally invested in seeing the mystery of who killed who reveal itself. Also, after the high of figuring out who killed who I did think the remainder of the book felt a bit flat. There were moments I really liked but there were also some moments that pushed me out of the story a bit.
Overall this was a fantastic story that kept me fully engaged and turning pages as fast as I could. I will forever read anything Janice Hallett writes and I do hope that we get more from The Fairway Players in the future.
Read
August 8, 2026A compelling reading experience that pulled me effortlessly through the pages.
The framing device is so effective: you’re tasked with poring through reams of text messages, emails, and other documentation from a community theatre group, in the knowledge that SOMETHING is going to happen and that SOMEONE is likely not what they seem (or many people)… but what and who? It’s a great way to approach a murder mystery, and skillfully done.
I read Janice Hallett’s first book when it came out, which is set among the same theatre group, but this one can be read as a standalone if desired.
Content note: There is QUITE a lot of profanity in some spots. No graphic scenes.
I was offered this digital ARC by Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss; all opinions are my own.
The framing device is so effective: you’re tasked with poring through reams of text messages, emails, and other documentation from a community theatre group, in the knowledge that SOMETHING is going to happen and that SOMEONE is likely not what they seem (or many people)… but what and who? It’s a great way to approach a murder mystery, and skillfully done.
I read Janice Hallett’s first book when it came out, which is set among the same theatre group, but this one can be read as a standalone if desired.
Content note: There is QUITE a lot of profanity in some spots. No graphic scenes.
I was offered this digital ARC by Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss; all opinions are my own.
Want to Read
May 5, 2026Oooo, what's this? More Janice Hallett!
I finally got around to The Killer Question earlier this month, and of course it was so much fun. Thank you so much, Atria! I'm excited for this.
I finally got around to The Killer Question earlier this month, and of course it was so much fun. Thank you so much, Atria! I'm excited for this.
July 8, 2026
Welcome back to the world of the Fairway Players! I must say, I enjoyed this one even more than book 1 in the series, The Appeal! Having just read it recently, I really appreciated the connections made to the first book, although this could be read as a standalone. This plot was a bit easier to follow than The Appeal, in my opinion, but was still a plethora of intricate stories amongst a variety of possible suspects. Like The Appeal, we get a look at a play within a play, this time, Agatha Christie in “The Hollow”. That was initially the draw of this particular book to me, as I love a good Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery! Told in an epistolary fashion, this is kind book is almost a puzzle within itself. Overall, I enjoyed this book but towards the 2/3rds mark, it started to drag a little for me. This would be a 3.5 for me!
Want to Read
January 20, 2026OMGOMGOMG!!! BOOK 2 to The Appeal ?!
One of my favorite authors! Pre-ordered! I can hardly stand the wait!!
One of my favorite authors! Pre-ordered! I can hardly stand the wait!!
August 21, 2026
3.5
I have so many mixed emotions on this one. I LOVE the way Janice Hallett writes a mystery, she’s always able to keep me in the dark until the end. I was also excited to see The Fairway Players again, especially since I really loved The Appeal.
I think this did fall a little short, unfortunately. I love the mixed media format and feeling like a nosy snoop reading through the messages and emails. However, it felt like a majority of the book was focused on such minor gossip and the real mystery didn’t take center stage until the last 30%.
I just don’t think I was as engaged as I was with The Appeal.
I also think some of the reveals just didn’t have the punch that I typically look for like in her previous works.
I have so many mixed emotions on this one. I LOVE the way Janice Hallett writes a mystery, she’s always able to keep me in the dark until the end. I was also excited to see The Fairway Players again, especially since I really loved The Appeal.
I think this did fall a little short, unfortunately. I love the mixed media format and feeling like a nosy snoop reading through the messages and emails. However, it felt like a majority of the book was focused on such minor gossip and the real mystery didn’t take center stage until the last 30%.
I just don’t think I was as engaged as I was with The Appeal.
I also think some of the reveals just didn’t have the punch that I typically look for like in her previous works.
April 8, 2026
Doesn’t seem five minutes since I was reviewing the (audiobook of) The Killer Question, but here we are with an ARC from Netgalley and publisher Viper of the forthcoming sequel to The Appeal, her first novel. Janice Hallett is on fire.
A couple of technical matters to begin with. I’ve consumed all of the Janice Hallett books I have “read” (which is almost all of them) as audiobooks, so I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy actually reading one, with my eyes, as an ebook. This is because she uses the modern-day epistolary form, doing away with a narrator, and having the plot unfold through emails and whatsapps and texts. There are also some facsimiles of paper documents. With the audiobook, you get the entertainment offered by different voices, but reading off the page or screen, you’ve only got your own brain.
As it turned out, it proved impossible to read the Kindle version of this provided by Netgalley, for a couple of reasons. The first was that, as they so often do, the ARC played havoc with my Kindle, causing it to crash literally every time I turned it on while reading the book. The second was that the Kindle formatting was hopeless, completely messing up the various text exchanges, failing to display tabular data, and generally making it difficult to follow. So I resorted to the Netgalley app, and read the facsimile of the printed version provided there. This was a different kind of pain because the pages obviously rendered tiny on my phone and I bloody hate reading on my phone screen, especially in the sun, which is where the Kindle wins every time.
That said, it was great to see how the book was meant to look, with a variety of different fonts and layouts, depending on the communications technology being used.
How was the book, and how was it to read one of these rather than listen?
Well, the reading experience was absolutely fine, though I still intend to get the audiobook version when it’s out, because I love those full cast recordings. And since this one features a particular character who was all over the original Appeal, I do hope they get the same voice actor.
As to the book, it was an odd experience, because I realised that it is a hell of a long time since I enjoyed reading anything quite this much. I’ve read 241 books over the past three years, and, setting aside audiobooks, of those 200+ books, there was not a single one I enjoyed as much as this. I absolutely blasted through it, even having to read it on my phone.
We’re back in Lower Lockwood, where the Fairway Players (excluding those in jail or overseas or otherwise making themselves scarce) are planning a production of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow.
The Hollow was originally a Poirot novel that Christie disliked because she regretted having the Belgian detective in it. So she recast it as a stage play, wrote Poirot out of it, and replaced him with a couple of regular policemen. The play takes place in a country house, with a cast consisting of the owner and his family, several houseguests, and a glamorous movie star. There are love triangles, a murder committed in plain sight, cousin marriages, and a dowdy wife who everybody thinks is slow-witted.
I explain all this because Hallett brilliantly riffs on The Hollow while weaving her own mystery around the amateur dramatics. Successful businessman Kevin McDonald is to direct, with his Microsoft Excel-fixated wife Sarah-Jane as producer. A spanner is thrown in the works when Sarah-Jane’s sister Nicky-Rose reappears after 20 years working in entertainment on cruise ships. When casting the play, they find themselves both short of men and short of anyone willing to play the drudge.
So they send out an appeal to former members of the troupe, and… in they come. If you know, you know, as they say.
There are dodgy dealings, there are drugs, there are risky props, on-stage accidents, charity appeals, affairs, love triangles, pregnancies, cousins, limerent obsessions, and lots and lots and lots of texts, emails, and whatsapps. There’s at least one hilarious “Reply All” and a dangerous copy-paste.
All of this is overseen by lawyers Femi and Charlotte, who have to try to work out what has happened and whether it can be the basis of an appeal for someone who is in jail for murder. The whole thing is a hoot from start to finish, even better, I think, than the original Appeal, because, well, you already know what a certain character is like and what they’re likely to do.
It’s a banger.
A couple of technical matters to begin with. I’ve consumed all of the Janice Hallett books I have “read” (which is almost all of them) as audiobooks, so I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy actually reading one, with my eyes, as an ebook. This is because she uses the modern-day epistolary form, doing away with a narrator, and having the plot unfold through emails and whatsapps and texts. There are also some facsimiles of paper documents. With the audiobook, you get the entertainment offered by different voices, but reading off the page or screen, you’ve only got your own brain.
As it turned out, it proved impossible to read the Kindle version of this provided by Netgalley, for a couple of reasons. The first was that, as they so often do, the ARC played havoc with my Kindle, causing it to crash literally every time I turned it on while reading the book. The second was that the Kindle formatting was hopeless, completely messing up the various text exchanges, failing to display tabular data, and generally making it difficult to follow. So I resorted to the Netgalley app, and read the facsimile of the printed version provided there. This was a different kind of pain because the pages obviously rendered tiny on my phone and I bloody hate reading on my phone screen, especially in the sun, which is where the Kindle wins every time.
That said, it was great to see how the book was meant to look, with a variety of different fonts and layouts, depending on the communications technology being used.
How was the book, and how was it to read one of these rather than listen?
Well, the reading experience was absolutely fine, though I still intend to get the audiobook version when it’s out, because I love those full cast recordings. And since this one features a particular character who was all over the original Appeal, I do hope they get the same voice actor.
As to the book, it was an odd experience, because I realised that it is a hell of a long time since I enjoyed reading anything quite this much. I’ve read 241 books over the past three years, and, setting aside audiobooks, of those 200+ books, there was not a single one I enjoyed as much as this. I absolutely blasted through it, even having to read it on my phone.
We’re back in Lower Lockwood, where the Fairway Players (excluding those in jail or overseas or otherwise making themselves scarce) are planning a production of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow.
The Hollow was originally a Poirot novel that Christie disliked because she regretted having the Belgian detective in it. So she recast it as a stage play, wrote Poirot out of it, and replaced him with a couple of regular policemen. The play takes place in a country house, with a cast consisting of the owner and his family, several houseguests, and a glamorous movie star. There are love triangles, a murder committed in plain sight, cousin marriages, and a dowdy wife who everybody thinks is slow-witted.
I explain all this because Hallett brilliantly riffs on The Hollow while weaving her own mystery around the amateur dramatics. Successful businessman Kevin McDonald is to direct, with his Microsoft Excel-fixated wife Sarah-Jane as producer. A spanner is thrown in the works when Sarah-Jane’s sister Nicky-Rose reappears after 20 years working in entertainment on cruise ships. When casting the play, they find themselves both short of men and short of anyone willing to play the drudge.
So they send out an appeal to former members of the troupe, and… in they come. If you know, you know, as they say.
There are dodgy dealings, there are drugs, there are risky props, on-stage accidents, charity appeals, affairs, love triangles, pregnancies, cousins, limerent obsessions, and lots and lots and lots of texts, emails, and whatsapps. There’s at least one hilarious “Reply All” and a dangerous copy-paste.
All of this is overseen by lawyers Femi and Charlotte, who have to try to work out what has happened and whether it can be the basis of an appeal for someone who is in jail for murder. The whole thing is a hoot from start to finish, even better, I think, than the original Appeal, because, well, you already know what a certain character is like and what they’re likely to do.
It’s a banger.
May 7, 2026
Five stars again for this epistolary mystery by Janice Hallett. I completely adore all her books. I have loved a puzzle mystery since I was a teenager and read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I feel like these books are a worthy successor to that legendary author. Everything is so creative and it feels just like found material in vibe and tone and characterization. The way each person writes is unique just like in real life but it takes a talented writer to pull that off in a mystery of this type. And if you are really observant you will find the Easter eggs (clues) in The Silent Appeal. I spotted a few but missed several others. The mystery is very tight and well constructed. I know this form of book isn’t everyone’s cuppa but I would urge all mystery lovers to pick up this book or one of her others. They are so unique. I already can’t wait for her next book!
I received this advanced readers copy via NetGalley and thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide an honest review.
I received this advanced readers copy via NetGalley and thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide an honest review.
May 13, 2026
THE SILENT APPEAL by @janice.hallett
📖 book review • out 08.25.26
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
thank you @atriabooks @atriathrillers for my gifted copy #atriapartner
yesss, I know this review is way early, but I was very unmotivated by any books that I was looking at.. and sometimes a Janice Hallett book just hits the right way 👌🏻 told in texts & emails, our favorite investigators are back solving ANOTHER murder with the fairway players. and with the way it’s written out, it’s sooo easy to say, just a few more pages!
definitely read book one, The Appeal, first. that’s where you really learn these characters and their personalities. Something about the way her books are written feel like solving a puzzle in my brain is so gratifying, I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you Atria Books for helping me find one of my new favorite mystery writers 🫶
📖 book review • out 08.25.26
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
thank you @atriabooks @atriathrillers for my gifted copy #atriapartner
yesss, I know this review is way early, but I was very unmotivated by any books that I was looking at.. and sometimes a Janice Hallett book just hits the right way 👌🏻 told in texts & emails, our favorite investigators are back solving ANOTHER murder with the fairway players. and with the way it’s written out, it’s sooo easy to say, just a few more pages!
definitely read book one, The Appeal, first. that’s where you really learn these characters and their personalities. Something about the way her books are written feel like solving a puzzle in my brain is so gratifying, I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you Atria Books for helping me find one of my new favorite mystery writers 🫶
August 25, 2026
The modern queen of epistolary mysteries, Janice Hallett, has returned with “The Silent Appeal,” which can definitely be a standalone although it returns with some familiar characters who are again putting on a play in Lower Lockwood. The Fairway Players company present Agatha Christie’s “The Hollow” and, again, a murder interrupts the performances.
As readers, we are reading the attached documentation that was presented at trial and now in the hands of two young lawyers (Femi and Charlotte). The convicted person’s barrister (Roderick Tanner) is asking his colleagues to review the adjudicated case and read in between the lines, “the silent parts,” to determine if a wrongful conviction has occurred and an appeal filed.
As the trial evidence, transcripts of texts, and emails unfold (while not in chronological order), we’re trying to keep up with Femi, Charlotte and Tanner’s observations (especially multiple love triangles, not only in the play, but among the theatrical players).
I absolutely loved Hallett’s characters, many of whom were first introduced in “The Appeal.”. The chaos personality is Isabel who provides loads of gossip in her journals; Sarah-Jane and her mother Carol have the weirdest “I’m not talking to you” text messages; prodigal daughter Nicky-Rose has returned and no one knows why. The alternating rivalry and barely disguised animosity between the two teams of producer/directors, the MacDonalds and the Hallidays, is droll and amusing. Again, 5 stars for another of Hallett’s literary puzzles!
Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): No eye colors mentioned.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): Usually yellow roses are priced similarly to red ones, but, yes, Valentine’s Day is when price gouging for red ones occurs.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.
As readers, we are reading the attached documentation that was presented at trial and now in the hands of two young lawyers (Femi and Charlotte). The convicted person’s barrister (Roderick Tanner) is asking his colleagues to review the adjudicated case and read in between the lines, “the silent parts,” to determine if a wrongful conviction has occurred and an appeal filed.
As the trial evidence, transcripts of texts, and emails unfold (while not in chronological order), we’re trying to keep up with Femi, Charlotte and Tanner’s observations (especially multiple love triangles, not only in the play, but among the theatrical players).
I absolutely loved Hallett’s characters, many of whom were first introduced in “The Appeal.”. The chaos personality is Isabel who provides loads of gossip in her journals; Sarah-Jane and her mother Carol have the weirdest “I’m not talking to you” text messages; prodigal daughter Nicky-Rose has returned and no one knows why. The alternating rivalry and barely disguised animosity between the two teams of producer/directors, the MacDonalds and the Hallidays, is droll and amusing. Again, 5 stars for another of Hallett’s literary puzzles!
Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): No eye colors mentioned.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): Usually yellow roses are priced similarly to red ones, but, yes, Valentine’s Day is when price gouging for red ones occurs.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.
August 17, 2026
Having not had chance to read the first in this series but hearing great reviews about it I decided to dive right in and see if I could understand the story without book 1 knowledge.
There is a huge cast of characters, mainly members and family of the Fairway players amateur dramatics society. I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t understand who was who but I soon picked this up. The dialogue is mainly in email/text exchange format, giving a different feel to the book, more current despite the play they are putting in being set in the 1950’s. The plot is really a convoluted and engaging murder mystery with a quirky twist at every turn. Who is with who? Who is falling out with who and many more questions, all of which are answered well by the author.
I loved the different characters and their interactions with each other. The huge rows, the lies and deceit and the big question who is guilty of murder and more.
Highly recommended and definitely worth reading even if you have not read book 1, which I now absolutely intend to do.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
There is a huge cast of characters, mainly members and family of the Fairway players amateur dramatics society. I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t understand who was who but I soon picked this up. The dialogue is mainly in email/text exchange format, giving a different feel to the book, more current despite the play they are putting in being set in the 1950’s. The plot is really a convoluted and engaging murder mystery with a quirky twist at every turn. Who is with who? Who is falling out with who and many more questions, all of which are answered well by the author.
I loved the different characters and their interactions with each other. The huge rows, the lies and deceit and the big question who is guilty of murder and more.
Highly recommended and definitely worth reading even if you have not read book 1, which I now absolutely intend to do.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Back at it again with another Hallett mystery, and unfortunately, it's a let down.
This one followed the familiar characters of The Appeal and its Fairway Players, but did nothing to cause interest in the character's well beings. The themes touched on in this book were about love and family, yet it seemed that Hallett was more focused on the nostalgia factor than writing a layered and complex mystery.
The ending did make logical sense--it just fizzled out in an unspectacular way. None of the threads that were laid down were ever picked up (i.e., a development of the Charlotte/Femi side of the story, Fran's possible overcoming of her harmful selflessness, etc.), and a lot of info dumping and asides from the lawyers diminished the fun of solving the case as a reader.
In conclusion, still waiting for another knockout from Hallett, but I'm not holding my breath for one anytime soon.
This one followed the familiar characters of The Appeal and its Fairway Players, but did nothing to cause interest in the character's well beings. The themes touched on in this book were about love and family, yet it seemed that Hallett was more focused on the nostalgia factor than writing a layered and complex mystery.
The ending did make logical sense--it just fizzled out in an unspectacular way. None of the threads that were laid down were ever picked up (i.e., a development of the Charlotte/Femi side of the story, Fran's possible overcoming of her harmful selflessness, etc.), and a lot of info dumping and asides from the lawyers diminished the fun of solving the case as a reader.
In conclusion, still waiting for another knockout from Hallett, but I'm not holding my breath for one anytime soon.
April 17, 2026
As a big fan and Janice Hallett completist, I was thrilled to win an advanced copy of her upcoming book The Silent Appeal.
Here we return to Lockwood, the scene of prior books The Appeal and The Christmas Appeal, and the world of the Fairway Players. This time they are staging Agatha Christie’s “The Hollow”, a murder mystery; as tensions steadily mount, we are left guessing for quite some time who will be the victim of the crime and why. Meanwhile, in signature Hallett style, we are given a kaleidoscope of perspectives, clues, and red herrings through a series of texts, emails, and letters. We meet some new characters here, though many are familiar personalities from the prior books.
I found the pacing to be a bit less successful than some of her other books; it takes almost 400 pages to find out who’s been murdered. While I appreciated the steady build up, I began to wonder if there was even going to be a crime committed at all!
I did appreciate the return of Issy Beck, who I find sympathetic despite being off kilter. The chaotic Nicky-Rose was also interesting. Overall I most enjoyed the dynamics of this quirky group, their power struggles and games of telephone and all the drama that felt very true to life in a small town setting such as this.
All in all, a good read for fans of Hallett, best enjoyed after at least The Appeal for a better grasp on the large cast of characters and the appreciation of returning to their world.
Here we return to Lockwood, the scene of prior books The Appeal and The Christmas Appeal, and the world of the Fairway Players. This time they are staging Agatha Christie’s “The Hollow”, a murder mystery; as tensions steadily mount, we are left guessing for quite some time who will be the victim of the crime and why. Meanwhile, in signature Hallett style, we are given a kaleidoscope of perspectives, clues, and red herrings through a series of texts, emails, and letters. We meet some new characters here, though many are familiar personalities from the prior books.
I found the pacing to be a bit less successful than some of her other books; it takes almost 400 pages to find out who’s been murdered. While I appreciated the steady build up, I began to wonder if there was even going to be a crime committed at all!
I did appreciate the return of Issy Beck, who I find sympathetic despite being off kilter. The chaotic Nicky-Rose was also interesting. Overall I most enjoyed the dynamics of this quirky group, their power struggles and games of telephone and all the drama that felt very true to life in a small town setting such as this.
All in all, a good read for fans of Hallett, best enjoyed after at least The Appeal for a better grasp on the large cast of characters and the appreciation of returning to their world.
August 18, 2026
Felt great to be back with The Fairway Players and like book 1 I really enjoyed the common place petty elements of the story more than the murder mystery.
Compared to book 1 this slightly fell short. I found the murder to be fine. It didn’t shock me or grab as much as book 1 did. The characters were just as good and I love Janice Hallett’s epistolary style. I just wish the mystery was more interesting.
Compared to book 1 this slightly fell short. I found the murder to be fine. It didn’t shock me or grab as much as book 1 did. The characters were just as good and I love Janice Hallett’s epistolary style. I just wish the mystery was more interesting.
August 25, 2026
Oh how I loved this one! Not surprising, as I am a huge Janice Hallett fan!! These characters are so entertaining between the behaviors and their banter! I was kept guessing up until the end too! Highly recommend!! 👏
Thank you partner Atria Books for the gifted eARC and physical ARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️
Thank you partner Atria Books for the gifted eARC and physical ARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️
July 14, 2026
The Fairway Players return for another production with a crime right at the center. Femi and Charlotte, now lawyers are tasked with seeing the crime from another angle.
This was such a good one!
If you are a fan of Hallett's books, this one is for you. It has her usual humor and sleight of hand twists and turns. If you haven't read her books, now is the time. If you are a fan of murder mystery games where you get objects and have to solve the case, this is perfect for you. The entire book is told in texts, emails, and other source documents. You have to read all of them so carefully to see the actual mystery come through. Can you see what happened before Femi and Charlotte? That's the goal!
This book, like all of Hallett's are so unique!
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy!
This was such a good one!
If you are a fan of Hallett's books, this one is for you. It has her usual humor and sleight of hand twists and turns. If you haven't read her books, now is the time. If you are a fan of murder mystery games where you get objects and have to solve the case, this is perfect for you. The entire book is told in texts, emails, and other source documents. You have to read all of them so carefully to see the actual mystery come through. Can you see what happened before Femi and Charlotte? That's the goal!
This book, like all of Hallett's are so unique!
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy!
July 19, 2026
Hallett is back with a breakneck follow-up to sensational who-dun-it The Appeal. The style is compulsively readable and the epistolary nature and the author’s mystery expertise keep you piecing it together until the very end.
July 27, 2026
Another read from Janice Hallett that totally delivered. The Appeal is my favorite of her books, so this follow up returning to some of the same characters was really fun. The book is told as a case file made up of emails, texts, letters, etc. and while that may not be for every reader, I throughly enjoy the unique reading experience. Highly recommend!
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc
May 17, 2026
A theater group with more secrets than members. A bad accident. A murder victim.
I love reading books from this author. This is written in the form of emails, texts and letters. It’s such a fun format, even if the content isn’t that much “fun”. This book keeps you guessing the whole time. At first you’re guessing what will even happen, as the “narrators” don’t tell you. Then you’re trying to figure out who is responsible.
I love reading books from this author. This is written in the form of emails, texts and letters. It’s such a fun format, even if the content isn’t that much “fun”. This book keeps you guessing the whole time. At first you’re guessing what will even happen, as the “narrators” don’t tell you. Then you’re trying to figure out who is responsible.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
It’s been over 5 years since Hallett burst onto the scene with her successful debut mixed-media mystery, The Appeal. It was quirky, charming and incredibly well received.
Since then, Hallett has had four more stand-alone novels, two children’s books and a Christmas novella tie-in, The Christmas Appeal, published. Now it’s finally time to return to Lockwood with this sequel and be reunited with the Fairway Players and Issy Beck!
This time the amateur dramatic group are undertaking Agatha Christie’s The Hollow and the book unfolds throughout rehearsals and past the final performance nights. This leads to one of my favourite lines in the book: “I’m the biggest fan and have read ALL her books: Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.”
If you’re already a fan, you’ll know what to expect here: a mysterious murder that, like The Appeal, doesn’t actually occur until much later in the book and a story that unfolds through diary entries, emails and text messages. Plus a list of characters which you’ll need for the whopping cast of 37 plus the 4 on the law team, who are reading through all the documents.
I love the way Hallett uses mixed media. We get to see the characters from all sorts of angles and observe how they present themselves to different people through different forms of communication. An email to a member of the am-dram team might be eloquent and carefully drafted, while a text message to a friend reveals what they really think about X, Y and Z.
This was a great addition to the series and Hallett’s wider catalogue of stand alone mysteries. She is one of my favourite authors and her new books are always one of the highlights of my reading year!
If you haven’t read the first book (and novella) then I would recommend doing so first, as this does contain characters from both and some have quite the background
Which leads me onto a slight tangent here, but bear with me. One of my favourite video game series is Dragon Quest; it’s a huge story-driven role-playing game spanning hours of content and lore. When you continue a saved game, you’re presented with “The Story So Far“, which summarises your recent progress and the plot up to that point. Hear me out: I’d love books in a series to have this kind of recap, especially when they feature large casts of characters and intricate plots. This isn’t meant as a slight on this, or any one, book in particular as I’m also the type of person who needs to fire up a YouTube recap video refresher before starting a new season in a TV series.
Since then, Hallett has had four more stand-alone novels, two children’s books and a Christmas novella tie-in, The Christmas Appeal, published. Now it’s finally time to return to Lockwood with this sequel and be reunited with the Fairway Players and Issy Beck!
This time the amateur dramatic group are undertaking Agatha Christie’s The Hollow and the book unfolds throughout rehearsals and past the final performance nights. This leads to one of my favourite lines in the book: “I’m the biggest fan and have read ALL her books: Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.”
If you’re already a fan, you’ll know what to expect here: a mysterious murder that, like The Appeal, doesn’t actually occur until much later in the book and a story that unfolds through diary entries, emails and text messages. Plus a list of characters which you’ll need for the whopping cast of 37 plus the 4 on the law team, who are reading through all the documents.
I love the way Hallett uses mixed media. We get to see the characters from all sorts of angles and observe how they present themselves to different people through different forms of communication. An email to a member of the am-dram team might be eloquent and carefully drafted, while a text message to a friend reveals what they really think about X, Y and Z.
This was a great addition to the series and Hallett’s wider catalogue of stand alone mysteries. She is one of my favourite authors and her new books are always one of the highlights of my reading year!
If you haven’t read the first book (and novella) then I would recommend doing so first, as this does contain characters from both and some have quite the background
Which leads me onto a slight tangent here, but bear with me. One of my favourite video game series is Dragon Quest; it’s a huge story-driven role-playing game spanning hours of content and lore. When you continue a saved game, you’re presented with “The Story So Far“, which summarises your recent progress and the plot up to that point. Hear me out: I’d love books in a series to have this kind of recap, especially when they feature large casts of characters and intricate plots. This isn’t meant as a slight on this, or any one, book in particular as I’m also the type of person who needs to fire up a YouTube recap video refresher before starting a new season in a TV series.
May 12, 2026
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I was SO excited to receive a copy of this ARC. It's not even publishing until August and I've already read it in early March because I simply could not wait! I loved revisiting some of our favorite characters (even the ones we don't like or can't stand lol) and watching the Fairway Players prepare for their next play while navigating the various relationships and background plots/development of each character. I absolutely INHALED book 1 (The Appeal) and I still to this day think it is one of the most incredibly creative books, so I had high hopes for this one because ISSY IS BACK!!!! YASSS! I missed her in the Christmas special and having her back in full swing was an absolute delight. We have returning family members, church dramas, multiple affairs, and honestly just epic chaos and I loved every single second of this. There were no boring bits, just the amazingness you'd expect from Ms. Hallett! A++ book from me! Five wonderful stars!
August 4, 2026
Janice Hallett's The Appeal is the rare mystery that I have read four times through. I also loved the follow-up novella, The Christmas Appeal, so I was beyond excited for this third installment in the series. The Silent Appeal returns to the community theatre group/amateur dramatic society The Fairway Players, and this time they are staging a production of Agatha Christie's The Hollow. Like the two previous installments, this is written in an epistolary fashion; the story is told through text messages, emails, and notes. Fans of backstage shenanigans, romantic intrigue, organized chaos, and of course a good old-fashioned whodunnit that keeps you guessing but somehow still makes perfect sense at the end will love this.
I can't wait for the audiobook!
My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
I can't wait for the audiobook!
My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A big thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC of this story, as well as to Atria books for sending me a physical ARC!
Another entertaining story full of gossip and secrets, just as I've come to expect from Janice Hallett. I love that her books let me bring out my inner snoop - I'm a Gemini, of course I wanna know everyone's business. I find the author is really good with characterization and ensuring everyone has a distinct voice, personality, and opinions, which can be even harder given its not written as a traditional story and there are quite a few characters to keep track of.
Overall, while I absolutely had fun trying to determine who all was involved in what, I think the ending we got was a bit underwhelming compared to how many bonkers twists were set up for. Of all the books I've read by this author, this one definitely had the least absurd ending, and I think we got so many juicy avenues we could've taken that where we ended up felt a little underwhelming.
I have two main gripes in terms of plot holes, and they're both easy enough that you could gloss over them and just have fun, but unfortunately I am very not prone to glossing over plot holes, so here is a small rant about those:
Gripe #1
The entire creation of the story comes from Tanner enlisting Femi and Charlotte to help dig through evidence to hopefully come to a different conclusion about the events than what was presented in court. A, Tanner claims to have not read any of the evidence he's sending to the junior lawyers and that he's for the most part reading it in real time along with them, but then how are they sent in a more or less correct chronological / logical order, and with convenient stopping points for Femi and Charlotte to pause and relay their thoughts? B, we spend the entire book sleuthing along with them, while /they're also learning everything for the first time/, but this case only came to conviction a few months ago, and the lawyers had never heard of it before? We don't even learn who died until 80% through the book, and we watch them ponder and scheme and theorize what all happened, when either of them doing a single google search would've gotten them (and the reader, which is why this wasn't done) lightyears ahead in their research. I'm supposed to believe they spent 12 days digging through hundreds of pages of correspondence without doing a single online look? We even get a Daily Mail article, they must've seen something on the news that would've pushed them forward! Which BTW 12 days, considering they're currently practicing lawyers and just looking into the mystery in spare time, feels way fast. But this could have been glossed over with like two more sentences from Tanner on PAGE 1, saying like "by the way, I want to test your skills, use this as an opportunity don't go looking for outside sources or information I want to work your sleuthing muscles without any hints" or whatever, but without it I spent the whole book going "bro just google a single name! Any name! This town has already seen some shit before, you're bound to find something!"
Gripe #2
The final whodunnit plot twist hinges almost entirely on speculation - we have no real evidence that Amelia poisoned anyone other than a single flimsy "oh she's predisposed atm", which can easily be waved away with the right questioning from her lawyer. It hinges on A) Amelia admitting that she intended to drug Nicky Rose, which why would she admit to that, and B) proving that Fran drank the drugged water instead, and as far as we know they didn't do any tox reports because they had no reason to, so either way there is no real proof that this is the outcome that actually occurred. Of all the jaw dropping endings we could've taken, the one we're actually given . . . isn't even for certain?
I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy this book - not at all! I love feeling a little nosy and getting up in these posh theater nerds' business, which Hallett excels at. I will continue to read everything else she wants to put out - based on The Appeal and The Killer Question, I was just expecting a wilder ending!
Another entertaining story full of gossip and secrets, just as I've come to expect from Janice Hallett. I love that her books let me bring out my inner snoop - I'm a Gemini, of course I wanna know everyone's business. I find the author is really good with characterization and ensuring everyone has a distinct voice, personality, and opinions, which can be even harder given its not written as a traditional story and there are quite a few characters to keep track of.
Overall, while I absolutely had fun trying to determine who all was involved in what, I think the ending we got was a bit underwhelming compared to how many bonkers twists were set up for. Of all the books I've read by this author, this one definitely had the least absurd ending, and I think we got so many juicy avenues we could've taken that where we ended up felt a little underwhelming.
I have two main gripes in terms of plot holes, and they're both easy enough that you could gloss over them and just have fun, but unfortunately I am very not prone to glossing over plot holes, so here is a small rant about those:
Gripe #1
The entire creation of the story comes from Tanner enlisting Femi and Charlotte to help dig through evidence to hopefully come to a different conclusion about the events than what was presented in court. A, Tanner claims to have not read any of the evidence he's sending to the junior lawyers and that he's for the most part reading it in real time along with them, but then how are they sent in a more or less correct chronological / logical order, and with convenient stopping points for Femi and Charlotte to pause and relay their thoughts? B, we spend the entire book sleuthing along with them, while /they're also learning everything for the first time/, but this case only came to conviction a few months ago, and the lawyers had never heard of it before? We don't even learn who died until 80% through the book, and we watch them ponder and scheme and theorize what all happened, when either of them doing a single google search would've gotten them (and the reader, which is why this wasn't done) lightyears ahead in their research. I'm supposed to believe they spent 12 days digging through hundreds of pages of correspondence without doing a single online look? We even get a Daily Mail article, they must've seen something on the news that would've pushed them forward! Which BTW 12 days, considering they're currently practicing lawyers and just looking into the mystery in spare time, feels way fast. But this could have been glossed over with like two more sentences from Tanner on PAGE 1, saying like "by the way, I want to test your skills, use this as an opportunity don't go looking for outside sources or information I want to work your sleuthing muscles without any hints" or whatever, but without it I spent the whole book going "bro just google a single name! Any name! This town has already seen some shit before, you're bound to find something!"
Gripe #2
The final whodunnit plot twist hinges almost entirely on speculation - we have no real evidence that Amelia poisoned anyone other than a single flimsy "oh she's predisposed atm", which can easily be waved away with the right questioning from her lawyer. It hinges on A) Amelia admitting that she intended to drug Nicky Rose, which why would she admit to that, and B) proving that Fran drank the drugged water instead, and as far as we know they didn't do any tox reports because they had no reason to, so either way there is no real proof that this is the outcome that actually occurred. Of all the jaw dropping endings we could've taken, the one we're actually given . . . isn't even for certain?
I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy this book - not at all! I love feeling a little nosy and getting up in these posh theater nerds' business, which Hallett excels at. I will continue to read everything else she wants to put out - based on The Appeal and The Killer Question, I was just expecting a wilder ending!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Most murder mysteries conceal the identity of the murderer. Janice Hallett goes a step further and also conceals the identity of the murder victim. The Silent Appeal is Hallett's sixth full-length novel written in her signature style and her second return to the Fairway Players in Lower Lockwood, following The Appeal and the novella, The Christmas Appeal.
Hallett tells her story entirely through emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, and brief memos and journal entries. While this is the third time Hallett has visited the Fairway Players, she gives plenty of context so that new readers won't feel lost and returning readers will enjoy revisiting old friends.
Sarah Jane and Kevin MacDonald are co-chairing the Fairway Players as they prepare to put on Agatha Christie's The Hollow. Sarah Jane's sister, Nicky Rose, returns to Lockwood under mysterious circumstances after spending the last 20 years in Barbados. Along with returning members of the group, the cast adds some young friends of Fran Elroy-Jones and returning member Isabel (Issy) Beck.
The framing device is two young attorneys, Charlotte and Femi, searching for grounds for a possible appeal of a murder conviction at the behest of their old mentor. They do this by reading through mountains of messages among the various characters. This is part of the joy of this story. It places you, the reader, in their shoes. Can you see what they see? Can you spot what they missed? Can you find not only what is written in the lines, but what is hidden between the lines? There is an excitement to reading along, in mostly chronological order, trying to determine who will be murdered and by whom!
As clever as the mystery is, it wouldn't be half as enjoyable without such appealing characters. Sarah Jane and Kevin are juggling the roles of producer and director of the play alongside family dynamics, including a young child and the return of a long-absent sister. Lonely Issy is so happy to be invited back and so desperate for friendship. Fran wants to be helpful to a young couple and their cousin, while they appear to be walking all over her.
The story moves along briskly with the staging of the play as the backdrop while you pick up clues about the characters and the secrets many of them are hiding. As in real life, tone can sometimes be difficult to detect in emails or texts. One of the clever ways that Hallett deals with this is by recontextualizing messages. A group email and its responses may convey one message. A WhatsApp conversation about the email may change or clarify the message, and a text between a couple of people may further clarify or interpret the message. This introduces clues as well as red herrings. All are effective because even when the clues aren't pointing at the murder, they are usually pointing at a secret. The humor arises from the very relatable interpersonal relationships between the players. There are some things you're willing to share with a large group, and some more pointed comments that are reserved for a select few.
One of the difficult things about this style of writing is finding a natural place to pause reading. I often paused at a particularly funny line or a shocking revelation, of which there are several. Hallett also pauses the story to give Charlotte and Femi a chance to confer, trading reactions and guesses about what they've read so far. It gives you the chance to see if your guesses match theirs or if you've spotted things they haven't. I spotted some clues and missed others, but I never felt cheated.
If you enjoy this style of storytelling, I think you will enjoy this book immensely. If you are a fan of more traditional narratives, your mileage may vary. I found this story addictive and difficult to put down. Hallett has a talent for both jaw-dropping revelations and laugh-out-loud humor. Trying to guess the murder victim as well as the murderer turns out to be a lot of fun!
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.
Hallett tells her story entirely through emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, and brief memos and journal entries. While this is the third time Hallett has visited the Fairway Players, she gives plenty of context so that new readers won't feel lost and returning readers will enjoy revisiting old friends.
Sarah Jane and Kevin MacDonald are co-chairing the Fairway Players as they prepare to put on Agatha Christie's The Hollow. Sarah Jane's sister, Nicky Rose, returns to Lockwood under mysterious circumstances after spending the last 20 years in Barbados. Along with returning members of the group, the cast adds some young friends of Fran Elroy-Jones and returning member Isabel (Issy) Beck.
The framing device is two young attorneys, Charlotte and Femi, searching for grounds for a possible appeal of a murder conviction at the behest of their old mentor. They do this by reading through mountains of messages among the various characters. This is part of the joy of this story. It places you, the reader, in their shoes. Can you see what they see? Can you spot what they missed? Can you find not only what is written in the lines, but what is hidden between the lines? There is an excitement to reading along, in mostly chronological order, trying to determine who will be murdered and by whom!
As clever as the mystery is, it wouldn't be half as enjoyable without such appealing characters. Sarah Jane and Kevin are juggling the roles of producer and director of the play alongside family dynamics, including a young child and the return of a long-absent sister. Lonely Issy is so happy to be invited back and so desperate for friendship. Fran wants to be helpful to a young couple and their cousin, while they appear to be walking all over her.
The story moves along briskly with the staging of the play as the backdrop while you pick up clues about the characters and the secrets many of them are hiding. As in real life, tone can sometimes be difficult to detect in emails or texts. One of the clever ways that Hallett deals with this is by recontextualizing messages. A group email and its responses may convey one message. A WhatsApp conversation about the email may change or clarify the message, and a text between a couple of people may further clarify or interpret the message. This introduces clues as well as red herrings. All are effective because even when the clues aren't pointing at the murder, they are usually pointing at a secret. The humor arises from the very relatable interpersonal relationships between the players. There are some things you're willing to share with a large group, and some more pointed comments that are reserved for a select few.
One of the difficult things about this style of writing is finding a natural place to pause reading. I often paused at a particularly funny line or a shocking revelation, of which there are several. Hallett also pauses the story to give Charlotte and Femi a chance to confer, trading reactions and guesses about what they've read so far. It gives you the chance to see if your guesses match theirs or if you've spotted things they haven't. I spotted some clues and missed others, but I never felt cheated.
If you enjoy this style of storytelling, I think you will enjoy this book immensely. If you are a fan of more traditional narratives, your mileage may vary. I found this story addictive and difficult to put down. Hallett has a talent for both jaw-dropping revelations and laugh-out-loud humor. Trying to guess the murder victim as well as the murderer turns out to be a lot of fun!
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I read Janice Hallett’s first novel, The Appeal, almost five years ago. Now we’re back in the village of Lockwood for a new mystery involving The Fairway Players. Previously, this amateur theater company reflected a strictly stratified social hierarchy in the village, headed by the Haywards, with Martin Hayward choosing all the plays and directing, and his wife, Helen, always nabbing the female lead. Now, after the events of the first novel, the Haywards are gone, and the second level in the social order, the MacDonalds and Dearings, have moved up. They alternate choosing and directing plays, and right now it’s Kevin MacDonald who has chosen Agatha Christie’s The Hollow.
As usual, casting is a challenge, with the actors behaving like spoiled children wanting only to play one specific role, and there never being enough men available. Kevin’s wife, Sarah-Jane, is unavailable because nobody wants to help her with caring for their three-year-old daughter, Sammy. This is particularly unfortunate, since she is much more organized than Kevin—as she frequently reminds him. Fran, who is new to the company, offers up three friends of hers, a married couple named Amelia and Lucas, and the Lucas’s cousin Georgia. Fran doesn’t disclose that Lucas has a criminal past and that she knows him through her counseling work with ex-prisoners. Because nobody will agree to play one particular role, Kevin feels forced to reach out to Issy Beck, an unpopular person to all who knew her earlier, but someone who will do absolutely anything to feel like she is liked and part of something.
In the midst of all the play planning hubbub, Sarah-Jane’s sister Nicky-Rose returns, after spending the last two decades in Barbados, working in a company that arranges cruise ship entertainment. Nicky-Rose is extremely close-mouthed about her time in Barbados and what led to her sudden reappearance in Lockwood.
As with all of Hallett’s mysteries, the story is told through a trove of documents, mostly emails and texts among the characters. This not only gives you the same events told from different angles, but fairly quickly shows you that there are a whole lot of unreliable narrators running around here. As in the first mystery, the reason we have this trove of documents is that they are part of the document discovery in a case that is undisclosed, and a senior lawyer has asked two more junior lawyers, Femi and Charlotte, to read through the documents and give him their thoughts. We are given the lawyers’ communications as well as the players’ as we go along.
There are many, many pages of texts and group chats about the play and the characters’ personal concerns before we get to anything like a crime needing solving, and quite a bit further yet before there is a murder. The lawyers, Femi and Charlotte, are puzzled by having to spend their time on all this (now very valuable time, as they are practicing lawyers), but their old mentor is adamant that he will only release files to them a chunk at a time. I found the first half of the book a bit of a slog, in large part because so many of the characters are passive-aggressive jerks, which I don’t tend to find very amusing. It’s also a little difficult to keep straight the minor characters who are only mentioned in the documents, not authoring them. But once the show opens and the murder occurs, the action gets lively and the plot twisty, leading to a bang-up last quarter of the book.
As usual, casting is a challenge, with the actors behaving like spoiled children wanting only to play one specific role, and there never being enough men available. Kevin’s wife, Sarah-Jane, is unavailable because nobody wants to help her with caring for their three-year-old daughter, Sammy. This is particularly unfortunate, since she is much more organized than Kevin—as she frequently reminds him. Fran, who is new to the company, offers up three friends of hers, a married couple named Amelia and Lucas, and the Lucas’s cousin Georgia. Fran doesn’t disclose that Lucas has a criminal past and that she knows him through her counseling work with ex-prisoners. Because nobody will agree to play one particular role, Kevin feels forced to reach out to Issy Beck, an unpopular person to all who knew her earlier, but someone who will do absolutely anything to feel like she is liked and part of something.
In the midst of all the play planning hubbub, Sarah-Jane’s sister Nicky-Rose returns, after spending the last two decades in Barbados, working in a company that arranges cruise ship entertainment. Nicky-Rose is extremely close-mouthed about her time in Barbados and what led to her sudden reappearance in Lockwood.
As with all of Hallett’s mysteries, the story is told through a trove of documents, mostly emails and texts among the characters. This not only gives you the same events told from different angles, but fairly quickly shows you that there are a whole lot of unreliable narrators running around here. As in the first mystery, the reason we have this trove of documents is that they are part of the document discovery in a case that is undisclosed, and a senior lawyer has asked two more junior lawyers, Femi and Charlotte, to read through the documents and give him their thoughts. We are given the lawyers’ communications as well as the players’ as we go along.
There are many, many pages of texts and group chats about the play and the characters’ personal concerns before we get to anything like a crime needing solving, and quite a bit further yet before there is a murder. The lawyers, Femi and Charlotte, are puzzled by having to spend their time on all this (now very valuable time, as they are practicing lawyers), but their old mentor is adamant that he will only release files to them a chunk at a time. I found the first half of the book a bit of a slog, in large part because so many of the characters are passive-aggressive jerks, which I don’t tend to find very amusing. It’s also a little difficult to keep straight the minor characters who are only mentioned in the documents, not authoring them. But once the show opens and the murder occurs, the action gets lively and the plot twisty, leading to a bang-up last quarter of the book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The Fairway Players, the community theatre group that starred in Hallett’s début novel, The Appeal, is back and putting on another show. Conflicts abound, keeping the characters equally busy off stage.
In the first book, two young lawyers, Charlotte and Fermi, were tasked by their senior with untangling a series of unfortunate events, including larceny. Here, the action kicks off with the two (now more experienced) lawyers reunited to re-examine a murder. Their now-retired senior’s former client confessed to the crime, but there’s some doubt about whether the full story came out.
A lot has happened since our last glimpse at the village of Lower Lockwood.
The events of the previous novel have shifted the troupe’s dynamics and consigned a handful of former stars to a range of fates.
And there’s a provocative newcomer: Nicky-Rose, Sarah-Jane’s younger sister, is a gifted dancer who departed at eighteen for Juilliard and has spent most of the last two decades largely incommunicado. A series of acrimonious email exchanges suggest that Nicky-Rose parted ways with her long-time business partner in Barbados in a painful–and possibly bloody-manner.
Sarah and her husband, Kevin are producing and directing, respectively, Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. It’s a perfect am dram production: there are a number of meaty roles, and the female characters outnumber the male ones.
Famously, Christie (dissatisfied with her original novel version) re-wrote the work as a play and cut out Hercule Poirot’s role.
It’s a poignant story: Gerda, a put-upon frump will do everything in her power to prevent her arrogant husband, a doctor, from leaving her. She’s weathered his previous infidelities, but during a country weekend party, the husband encounters the glamorous Hollywood actress who was once the love of his life. And now (which is a bit baffling) she wants him back.
Parallel dynamics are playing out in complicated ways off-stage. Through the emails, readers eventually realize how many of the cast members are concealing intimate and potentially dangerous secrets.
One of the most consistently annoying characters in the first novel, Izzy, is rendered more poignant here. Her desperate need for love and attention making her a valuable ally for Nicky-Rose, but while Issy is earnestly beading friendship bracelets, Nicky-Rose is setting Izzy up as a dupe.
Meanwhile, Sarah’s stuck at home with the baby during rehearsals, after both her mother and teenage son decline to provide childcare. Worse, her mother has signed on with a competing community theatre company that has the same performance week schedule.
Fortunately, Kevin acquires the able assistance of Nicky-Rose. With her professional experience, he’s hoping for an award in an amateur theatre competition. The judge will be in attendance on opening night, so nothing can be permitted to go wrong. But maybe Kevin and Nicky-Rose are becoming a bit too close?
Hallett’s furious exchange of texts and emails between the characters is a narrative method that fosters a lot of humour and irony.
The Fairway Players, the community theatre group that starred in Hallett’s début novel, The Appeal, is back and putting on another show. Conflicts abound, keeping the characters equally busy off stage.
In the first book, two young lawyers, Charlotte and Fermi, were tasked by their senior with untangling a series of unfortunate events, including larceny. Here, the action kicks off with the two (now more experienced) lawyers reunited to re-examine a murder. Their now-retired senior’s former client confessed to the crime, but there’s some doubt about whether the full story came out.
A lot has happened since our last glimpse at the village of Lower Lockwood.
The events of the previous novel have shifted the troupe’s dynamics and consigned a handful of former stars to a range of fates.
And there’s a provocative newcomer: Nicky-Rose, Sarah-Jane’s younger sister, is a gifted dancer who departed at eighteen for Juilliard and has spent most of the last two decades largely incommunicado. A series of acrimonious email exchanges suggest that Nicky-Rose parted ways with her long-time business partner in Barbados in a painful–and possibly bloody-manner.
Sarah and her husband, Kevin are producing and directing, respectively, Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. It’s a perfect am dram production: there are a number of meaty roles, and the female characters outnumber the male ones.
Famously, Christie (dissatisfied with her original novel version) re-wrote the work as a play and cut out Hercule Poirot’s role.
It’s a poignant story: Gerda, a put-upon frump will do everything in her power to prevent her arrogant husband, a doctor, from leaving her. She’s weathered his previous infidelities, but during a country weekend party, the husband encounters the glamorous Hollywood actress who was once the love of his life. And now (which is a bit baffling) she wants him back.
Parallel dynamics are playing out in complicated ways off-stage. Through the emails, readers eventually realize how many of the cast members are concealing intimate and potentially dangerous secrets.
One of the most consistently annoying characters in the first novel, Izzy, is rendered more poignant here. Her desperate need for love and attention making her a valuable ally for Nicky-Rose, but while Issy is earnestly beading friendship bracelets, Nicky-Rose is setting Izzy up as a dupe.
Meanwhile, Sarah’s stuck at home with the baby during rehearsals, after both her mother and teenage son decline to provide childcare. Worse, her mother has signed on with a competing community theatre company that has the same performance week schedule.
Fortunately, Kevin acquires the able assistance of Nicky-Rose. With her professional experience, he’s hoping for an award in an amateur theatre competition. The judge will be in attendance on opening night, so nothing can be permitted to go wrong. But maybe Kevin and Nicky-Rose are becoming a bit too close?
Hallett’s furious exchange of texts and emails between the characters is a narrative method that fosters a lot of humour and irony.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I enjoyed Janice Hallett’s previous books, especially ‘The Appeal’, so I was keen to read the sequel, ‘The Silent Appeal’. Unfortunately, it proved too predictable, unbelievable and contrived to be a satisfying read. I liked the epistolary format, with the emails, texts, journal entries and newspaper clippings, but the rest was a bit of a letdown.
First, the set up feels incredibly manufactured: lawyers are asked to review a case they know nothing about by someone who also hasn’t read any of the relevant files. To make matters worse, certain documents are deliberately withheld and presented out of chronological order. This feels entirely inauthentic to the scenario, employed purely to prevent readers from gathering key information too early and ruining the unfolding plot.
The actions of the characters, too, feel contrived, driven by the author’s desire to mirror elements of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Hollow’, rather than being true to their (or human) nature. Furthermore, the cast is massive, yet only a handful are standout enough to be memorable. A cast list is included, but really, who wants to keep flicking back to work out who each person in a text exchange is? (The very fact that a cast list is required tells you there’s a serious problem with the writing.) The characters also feel more like stereotypes than real people, and the author's constant mockery of them adds an unpleasant tone to the book.
This superficiality extends to the dialogue, resulting in a fair number of "As you know, Bob" moments where backstory is delivered ham-handedly. For example, a wife texts her sister’s entire life history to her husband in a way that feels utterly unnatural. There are plenty of other unbelievable moments, too—not least the ending. The idea that someone could perform in a live play while tripping on LSD, delivering all their lines perfectly without arousing a shred of suspicion, is laughable to say the least.
It’s also hard to believe that the lawyers reviewing the material are really that dense. They take everything at face value and show zero critical thinking skills. It’s deeply frustrating to keep reading their obviously wrong conclusions, especially when it is so clear (and predictable) what’s actually going on. Readers don’t need that much hand-holding to guide them through a mystery—especially not when the ones doing the recapping are getting everything wrong.
All in all, there’s plenty to dissect in ‘The Silent Appeal’, so it will probably make a great book club pick for sparking lively discussions. I just wish there had been more positives to talk about.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Janice Hallett, and Viper for the ARC.
⚠️ Infidelity, disordered eating, sexism, drug use, mental illness, murder
First, the set up feels incredibly manufactured: lawyers are asked to review a case they know nothing about by someone who also hasn’t read any of the relevant files. To make matters worse, certain documents are deliberately withheld and presented out of chronological order. This feels entirely inauthentic to the scenario, employed purely to prevent readers from gathering key information too early and ruining the unfolding plot.
The actions of the characters, too, feel contrived, driven by the author’s desire to mirror elements of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Hollow’, rather than being true to their (or human) nature. Furthermore, the cast is massive, yet only a handful are standout enough to be memorable. A cast list is included, but really, who wants to keep flicking back to work out who each person in a text exchange is? (The very fact that a cast list is required tells you there’s a serious problem with the writing.) The characters also feel more like stereotypes than real people, and the author's constant mockery of them adds an unpleasant tone to the book.
This superficiality extends to the dialogue, resulting in a fair number of "As you know, Bob" moments where backstory is delivered ham-handedly. For example, a wife texts her sister’s entire life history to her husband in a way that feels utterly unnatural. There are plenty of other unbelievable moments, too—not least the ending. The idea that someone could perform in a live play while tripping on LSD, delivering all their lines perfectly without arousing a shred of suspicion, is laughable to say the least.
It’s also hard to believe that the lawyers reviewing the material are really that dense. They take everything at face value and show zero critical thinking skills. It’s deeply frustrating to keep reading their obviously wrong conclusions, especially when it is so clear (and predictable) what’s actually going on. Readers don’t need that much hand-holding to guide them through a mystery—especially not when the ones doing the recapping are getting everything wrong.
All in all, there’s plenty to dissect in ‘The Silent Appeal’, so it will probably make a great book club pick for sparking lively discussions. I just wish there had been more positives to talk about.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Janice Hallett, and Viper for the ARC.
⚠️ Infidelity, disordered eating, sexism, drug use, mental illness, murder
August 24, 2026
It's a new theatrical season in Lower Lockwood, and the amateur thespians of the Fairway Players are starting rehearsals for their production of Agatha Christie's The Hollow. Despite troublesome new arrivals, countless petty squabbles and a gruesome accident with the lighting rig, surely this will be their greatest show to date? But someone is hiding a devastating secret... and they won't make it to opening night. Could it be Sarah-Jane's sister, back in Lockwood after twenty years abroad?New member Lucas, whose shady business dealings may be his downfall? Or is it Issy, out of prison but still up to her old tricks? Lawyers Charlotte and Femi must sift through the evidence to identify the victim and find out why the convicted murderer refuses to speak in their own defence... Will they uncover the truth in time? Will you?
It’s no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Janice’s books but this one I was even more especially excited for, the sequel to The Appeal - one of my favourite ever books.
When it was first announced that this sequel was happening I was equally excited but also apprehensive, you always worry if a second book will live up to the first. Well, I needn’t have worried, I should’ve know Janice wouldn’t let me down, this is an absolutely superb sequel!
I devoured this book over 24 hours, I literally didn’t want to stop reading. It was absolutely wonderful to be back with the inhabitants of Lower Lockwood, and of course the return of the fabulous character that is Issy. When reading I felt like I was retuning to old friends, their lives once again being the talk of the town.
The mixed media format is, as always, perfectly executed and it will constantly amaze me how Janice manages to seamlessly entwine the story telling through emails, text messages and diary entries. This talent enables the reader to fully engage with the characters, feeling like you are part of the conversation. And I think we’ve all sent a ‘Reply All’ email we wish we hadn’t!🤣
The play in this book being an Agatha Christie is definitely apt as Janice is definitely an author keeping her writing style alive by adding a modern twist. It’s hard to say much more about the plot without any spoilers but I would say, whilst you can read this as a standalone, I highly recommend reading The Appeal first to get so much more enjoyment out of the characters.
This is a book that you will laugh out loud at, puzzle along with and generally enjoy every single moment of. Well done Janice, you’ve done it again, thank you for yet another intriguing and captivating read that I just couldn’t put down❤️
It’s no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Janice’s books but this one I was even more especially excited for, the sequel to The Appeal - one of my favourite ever books.
When it was first announced that this sequel was happening I was equally excited but also apprehensive, you always worry if a second book will live up to the first. Well, I needn’t have worried, I should’ve know Janice wouldn’t let me down, this is an absolutely superb sequel!
I devoured this book over 24 hours, I literally didn’t want to stop reading. It was absolutely wonderful to be back with the inhabitants of Lower Lockwood, and of course the return of the fabulous character that is Issy. When reading I felt like I was retuning to old friends, their lives once again being the talk of the town.
The mixed media format is, as always, perfectly executed and it will constantly amaze me how Janice manages to seamlessly entwine the story telling through emails, text messages and diary entries. This talent enables the reader to fully engage with the characters, feeling like you are part of the conversation. And I think we’ve all sent a ‘Reply All’ email we wish we hadn’t!🤣
The play in this book being an Agatha Christie is definitely apt as Janice is definitely an author keeping her writing style alive by adding a modern twist. It’s hard to say much more about the plot without any spoilers but I would say, whilst you can read this as a standalone, I highly recommend reading The Appeal first to get so much more enjoyment out of the characters.
This is a book that you will laugh out loud at, puzzle along with and generally enjoy every single moment of. Well done Janice, you’ve done it again, thank you for yet another intriguing and captivating read that I just couldn’t put down❤️
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The moment I heard that Janice Hallett was planning a literary return to Lower Lockwood and the Fairway Players I knew I wanted to be along for the ride, and this latest mystery absolutely did not disappoint!
Intrepid lawyers Femi and Charlotte are back, having heard from their old mentor about a case in Lower Lockwood that may need their intervention. There's been another murder during a theatrical season from the Fairway Players and not all appears to be aboveboard. Poring over countless pages of emails, text messages, and even some private journal pages, Femi and Charlotte are tasked with discovering the who, what, where, when, and why of it all.
I love Janice Hallett's mysteries because they're just so clever. Using only "found evidence" in the form of messages and correspondence, she pieces together a devilishly smart mystery with twists galore. I've been tempted to make a "murder board" while I read, to mark down the important clues I manage to spot while reading, but I fear it'd look like a conspiracy theorist's board with red string and chaos and me no closer to the answer. Remarkably, the clues are there for the finding, and Hallett rewards the particularly eagle-eyed among her readers with tiny, vital details peppered throughout her mystery. I proudly caught onto one or two threads but still had no idea of the bigger picture until it was revealed. It's an incredibly fun way to experience a murder mystery.
It was also a genuine delight to return to Lower Lockwood and reencounter this particular cast of characters. In a format like this, characterization can be tricky as there is no central narrator, but Hallett manages to present very clear pictures of the Fairway Players throughout. I particularly loved a few callbacks to the first book, The Appeal, and Kevin McDonald's staunch refusal to remember to include the OBE when mentioning Joel Halliday, and the "woo woo" vibes from local yoga instructor Emma Brooks. This felt like catching up with old friends in a way and I quite enjoyed the catch-up. And the new faces among the cast of characters definitely brought in some new energy and drama to the story.
In all, this was a cleverly-written mystery that's perfect for anyone who enjoys playing detective as they read along. It is the second in a series, but can definitely be read as a standalone, though I recommend reading the first to enjoy the antics of what is definitely a cursed amateur theatre group. I'm definitely hoping for a third return to Lockwood myself!
*I received a copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher, Atria Books; this review is entirely my own opinion.
Intrepid lawyers Femi and Charlotte are back, having heard from their old mentor about a case in Lower Lockwood that may need their intervention. There's been another murder during a theatrical season from the Fairway Players and not all appears to be aboveboard. Poring over countless pages of emails, text messages, and even some private journal pages, Femi and Charlotte are tasked with discovering the who, what, where, when, and why of it all.
I love Janice Hallett's mysteries because they're just so clever. Using only "found evidence" in the form of messages and correspondence, she pieces together a devilishly smart mystery with twists galore. I've been tempted to make a "murder board" while I read, to mark down the important clues I manage to spot while reading, but I fear it'd look like a conspiracy theorist's board with red string and chaos and me no closer to the answer. Remarkably, the clues are there for the finding, and Hallett rewards the particularly eagle-eyed among her readers with tiny, vital details peppered throughout her mystery. I proudly caught onto one or two threads but still had no idea of the bigger picture until it was revealed. It's an incredibly fun way to experience a murder mystery.
It was also a genuine delight to return to Lower Lockwood and reencounter this particular cast of characters. In a format like this, characterization can be tricky as there is no central narrator, but Hallett manages to present very clear pictures of the Fairway Players throughout. I particularly loved a few callbacks to the first book, The Appeal, and Kevin McDonald's staunch refusal to remember to include the OBE when mentioning Joel Halliday, and the "woo woo" vibes from local yoga instructor Emma Brooks. This felt like catching up with old friends in a way and I quite enjoyed the catch-up. And the new faces among the cast of characters definitely brought in some new energy and drama to the story.
In all, this was a cleverly-written mystery that's perfect for anyone who enjoys playing detective as they read along. It is the second in a series, but can definitely be read as a standalone, though I recommend reading the first to enjoy the antics of what is definitely a cursed amateur theatre group. I'm definitely hoping for a third return to Lockwood myself!
*I received a copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher, Atria Books; this review is entirely my own opinion.
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