Book Review | The Appeal

My first book of the year and a good way to start off my 2024 reading.

The Appeal
Janice Hallett

The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—or of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that the killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

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What a book to start the year on. I know that people have been raving about this book for a while but I actually only picked it up because my book club chose The Christmas Appeal as our end-of-year book and I try to read series in order where I can. I’m so glad I decided to read them in order because I really enjoyed this book.

I’m not going to lie I wasn’t sure about the style of the novel at first, you read the story mostly through emails and text messages, but soon grew to love it. It was an exciting way of getting to know the characters of the Fairway Players through the things that they give away about themselves in their everyday correspondence, seeing the difference between their conversations with friends or acquaintances and their more personal messages.

I liked that I wasn’t immediately sure who the victim was, we start to get to know the characters and only find out who has been murdered for sure when they start talking about it (though I did work it out correctly a little sooner). I was second-guessing everyone throughout the story and whilst I had made a few correct guesses here and there about some of the situations, I was still surprised by the outcome.

I kind of love how devious everyone is in this story, there are so many possibilities for who could be the murderer because they are all keeping secrets about something. The small town setting has worked a treat in that regard, as characters try to keep up their community persona. Although it does mean that there are a lot of people to take onboard but thankfully there is a handy list of who is related to whom, so as you get to know everyone a little better it becomes easier to keep track of.

I devoured this book so quickly, it is the kind of story that will have you reading just one more chapter into the early morning. I understand why so many people have been raving about it and would highly recommend reading it.