Janice Hallett is an autobuy for me so I was very excited when approved for an early look at this clever book. Was not disappointed as it lived up to my high expectations of this author's work.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this book is most definitely unique!! When I first had a flick through it I was a bit concerned in the way it is formatted being entirely composed using WhatsApp messaging, Emails and other communications as well as scripts from other 'books'. I have never come across anything like it before and considering I have read hundreds of books that is quite a feat!! I became hooked on the storyline immediately and was surprised to find that I was actually enjoying reading the storyline in the different media formats as it gave a larger picture of what peoples thoughts and ideas were from many different perspectives!! It is definitely a gripping storyline and I was completely invested from the beginning to the end. Once I started reading it I just did not want to put it down and was glued to the pages every time I got a moment to read through. I love the fact that because of the way it is formatted that even though there are only 8 actual chapters you can stop the book at many different places without feeling lost as to where you were in the book. The storyline is packed full of mystery, the supernatural, manipulation, suspense, deceit, crime, cover ups, friendship and it really makes you question what is actually going on. Janice also uses the topic of manipulation and how easy it is for someone to manipulate somebody who is vulnerable with nobody to talk to and how it is so easy for crimes such as grooming and child abuse to go so unnoticed in the world we live in now. I love that everything is wrapped up in the end leaving no plot holes as that is a pet hate of mine when it comes to reading mystery books when something is mentioned then seems to be entirely forgotten by the end of the book. Janice weaves several links and storylines together absolutely perfectly keeping the reader drawn in hook, line and sinker!! Janice has a fantastic imagination and I was absolutely gobsmacked when the ending happened as well as some of the truths being revealed. There was no way I would have expected any of it, which is again another fantastic achievement as it does get harder and harder to shock me the more books I read!!! This truly is a fantastic work of art in book form and I will be recommending it to anyone and everyone!! An absolutely incredible, complex, twisted, addictive and explosive work of art written in the form of multiple media that will have you questioning yourself by the end. An absolute must read that I could never score less than a 10/10!! I cannot wait to read more books by this incredible author!!!

This was a different genre of book than what I normally read but I enjoyed it and would recommend it if you are looking for something different than your usual read!

I found this less of a mystery than Janice Hallet’s previous books, and more a sad thriller. The subject of a cult is immediately gripping, and as the story unfolded in a culmination of action it was hard to put down. A different read from what I have come to expect from Janice Hallet, but certainly thrilling.

This book honestly gave me chills! It’s a fantastic mystery and will have you gripped from the first page until the last !
If you’re looking to completely get lost in a story then look no further!
Would highly recommend

great book, i have loved books by this author previously and this did not disappoint! would highly recommend to others

The story is told in multimedia format. It is beautiful written and well plotted. The story is interesting and engaging. The characterisation is well done. An excellent book

The subject matter of this Hallett novel did not appeal to me as much - cult, possible child sacrifice - but the construction is excellent fun with our investigators being much of the entertainment. Will definitely recommend.

I love Janice Hallett's novels. She always writes in such an unusual way, but it is every bit as compelling. This novel is set in one of my favourite ways- text messages and emails. I have no idea why, but they make the book so much more fun and engaging than regular prose!
This book centres around a true crime writer hoping to revive her career, and funnily enough, I love books about this too!
There were times that I was a little confused with the plot, but I enjoyed this nonetheless.

It took me a while to start reading this for some reason but once I started I wouldn't put it down.

I read it on holiday so luckily I was able to just concentrate and read and wished I had started it sooner.

Brilliant characters that are a bit like marmite but the storyline was absolutely superb.

Highly recommended from me.

I'm on the fence about this one. As with her previous books, the mystery is great and sets up a lot of headscratching and wondering to what the solution could be.

However, unlike The Appeal, how we got there was a bit of a slog, and the whole thing was too far fetched (I can take ,most things with a pinch of salt, but this was pushing it a bit.

I'll read future books by this author, but this wasn't a classic in the way The Appeal was.

Absolutely loved this book!! After loving The Appeal, and not being as keen on The Twyford Code, I wasn’t sure how I was going to find this but I raced through it!

The format was right up my street and I loved all the different formats this book takes. You really feel yourself become immersed in the story! Definitely one you have to pay attention to as there’s so many little snippets of information dotted throughout the book, but they all come together pleasing at the end!

One I will be recommending to others and looking forward to The Examinor coming out later this year!

I felt really disappointed by this book. I found it really difficult to physically read as the formatting just wasn't working on my kindle at all. This wasn't anything to do with the style of writing, as I have read other books by this author and loved them, but it was really frustrating to have lines cut up and words in the wrong place.

The story itself was fine. It took me a really long time to read it, as I got disinterested half way through and wanted to read something else, but wanted to make sure I finished it so did pick it back up again. I did find it underwhelming. I liked the journalist side of the story, wanting to collect information but I didn't like the whole thing based around a cult. Not that I was to know, I hadn't read anything on this topic before.

Even though I didn't enjoy this book, I will be reading other books by this author as I have enjoyed other books by her in the past, and will continue to recommend those. This just won't be the top of my list.

Thank you NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

The tagline for this states ’The Devil is in the detail…’ and my goodness, there is a devilish amount of detail that Janice packs into this book – with its wings spanning almost 500 pages.

There's a lot to take in as a reader, but even the main protagonist here – true-crime author Amanda Bailey – ends up with a full plate. Just the amount of witnesses she wants to interview totals almost 40 (all mentioned before we jump in to the story properly).

So as Amanda and rival (maybe nemesis) Oliver Menzies investigate more about the sinister Alperton Angels cult, we are thrown red herrings, false identities, conspiracy theories, possibly unreliable narrators, misremembered facts and timelines – you may find yourself flicking back and forth to keep up.

After two previous novels (The Christmas Appeal and The Twyford Code), I'm quite used to the style of Janice's books and I do really like them. I love how the author manages to tie up every loose end and brings their plan together.

So I enjoyed how everything slotted together as Amanda and Oliver race to find the elusive Alperton baby – I just felt this time round there was too much going on.

I do find it strange though how this is positioned as a cosy crime novel, because given the circumstances of the crime involved and the potential sacrifice of a baby – it's anything but cosy in my opinion.

If you like Janice's other books then this is definitely recommended even though it's a little darker. I now look forward to jumping back to ‘The Appeal’ before examining the next release in September.

This is my second book by Janice Hallett and whilst I absolutely adored the first book, I just couldn't connect as much with the characters or plotline.

The story is told again through texts, emails and transcripts which the author does so well. Following true-crime author Amanda Bailey as she re-investigates a notorious cult called the Alperton Angels.

The mystery at the heart of the book was quite interesting, and I quite liked the book. However, although I imagine other readers loved it, I wasn't keen at all on the narrative style. The book is made up of a collection of messages, pages torn from books, recordings from interviews etc and it really disrupted the flow for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A true crime writer is writing a book on a well known case of the cult of the Alperton Angels, who brainwashed a teenage girl into believing that her baby was the anti-Christ.

This is written in Janice Hallett’s untraditional style. This book uses a mixture of newspaper articles, transcribed interviews, phone calls, WhatsApp messages, emails and conversations. This creates great pacing as information is revealed.

I enjoyed the main character Amanda’s story and her rivalry with fellow true crime writer Oliver.

I do think this is the most complex of Hallett’s mysteries and needs focus in order to take in the details. I loved the twists in this, and that the ending still felt surprising.

I have enjoyed all of Janice’s books and will continue to read anything she creates.

AD - this copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion

I loved this and was hooked from page one. I love the layout of Hallett's books and she is quickly becoming an auto-read author in a genre I don't tend to read! In this book I was hooked on the story of the angels and was shocked by the information we learnt as I kept reading. Needless to say, I highly recommend this and any of her books and I will be reading anything else she puts out!

'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels' is Janice Hallett's third book and she is really showing no stopping in her ability to write additive mysteries that keep you intrigued until the last page.

This story looks at the mysterious case of a cult called the Alperton Angels, who believed that they would save the world by killing an infant who was the anti-christ. Two decades later Amanda Bailey looks up this case to write a true crime story on the case and what has happened since then.

The novel is told through Janice Hallett's style of emails, text messages, book excerpts and interview transcripts among other media. This format just flows and just because it is not the classic narrative of a book does not mean it does not grip you and make you want to keep on reading. In some ways it is more addictive as you think, just one more section, and then another.

The plot of this story keeps you interested and guessing along the way and there are so many twists and turns along the way that you are truly addicted.

I cannot praise this author enough for her style of writing and she has truly fetched a new style in a classic genre.

Highly recommended and I can wait for more from this author.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review..

I'm just wasn't not feeling this sadly. And I thought this would be right up my street as it has elements that I should be loving: a cult, a murder, a story told via transcripts, lead characters have their own agenda. Plus, everyone I know loves her previous novels and have been recommending her to me NON STOP.

And yet... and yet, I never felt connected to this and always felt very "meh" towards it. I can't put my finger on whether it was how the story was told, the writing, the mystery itself or my frame of mind when I was reading this.

I do want to try this again in the future when am in a better headspace, as I feel I might be acting quite harsh on this title, and there is potential for this to be gripping.

***

I tried again with this. I thought I was in the wrong head space when I tried to read this the first time.

Sadly, I didn’t enjoy my outing the second time either.

It was a slog to read this, even though it’s multimedia storytelling (something I would normally be all over) and the leads were awful. I didn’t warm nor like the case they were looking into (not the people, the case. That was something I did like - how this book tackled the public’s thirst for true crime without looking at how it affects those involved). It was world-building and the plot wasn’t moving forward.

This isn’t for me, sadly.