One Murder. Fifteen Suspects. Can You Uncover The Truth?
As the strapline suggests, this is a crime novel that, to a greater than usual degree, invites the reader to solve the case alongside the investigators. Personally, I like to sit back and see what happens, but I was intrigued by the narrative style of this modern epistolary novel, which is related entirely through emails, texts and, occasionally, other documents.
What’s it about?
A murder has happened in Lockwood and the perpetrator has been convicted – or have they? Roderick Tanner, QC, suspects there has been a miscarriage of justice and that there are far murkier secrets hiding in Lockwood.
Determined to test his hypothesis before bringing it before a jury, he requests that law students Femi and Charlotte read the materials he has gathered around the incident and share their thoughts with him. Gradually, as they read through the correspondence between members of the local amateur dramatic society, they begin to uncover the truth…
What’s it like?
Bite-sized. Easy to read. Consistently amusing. Hallett creates distinct characters through the differing style and tone of the emails, from enthusiastic Issy to efficient Sarah-Jane, and the conflicts between them arise vividly as a result.
There are no conventional chapters, making this an easy book to pick up and put down when you only have small pockets of time to spare, but the central thread is sufficiently intriguing that (once I got a firm grip on who the characters were) I read this within a week.
As is conventional in crime fiction, further crucial information is released towards the end of the story, and although I really didn’t like the way this was done, I did like the fact that all the narrative threads were, ultimately, wound together and the story felt complete. Moreover, the final email from Issy is a masterstroke.
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed this while I was reading the main story, looking between the lines for what was actually happening. All of the characters are wonderfully consistent and the minor characters bring a surprising amount of humour to the fore in their very recognisable personalities.
‘The Appeal’ is cleverly structured and although some elements become clear early on, (very quickly there’s a distinct whiff of fraud around the charity fundraising,) other elements take longer to become obvious and are, ultimately, more disturbing.
Most of the book passes before we know who was murdered, and then there are plenty of suspects, but in the end, the evidence is all there. Can you solve it before Charlotte and Femi?
