4.5/5

And my Janice Hallett obsession continues!! Thank you so much Serpent’s Tail, Viper Books and Net Galley for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

True-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book about the Alperton Angels. Two decades previously, the Alperton Angels were a cult-like group. They were convinced one of their member's babies was the anti-Christ, and planned to murder it. The baby was saved by the mother and disappeared into the care system. The Angels ended up committed suicide as a result of this

Amanda is in search of the baby for the main angle of her book but she is not the only one. Her old rival author Oliver Menzies is also in search for the baby and is better connected than Amanda. Amanda and Oliver end up an unlikely collaboration and they uncover lots of dark hidden truths.

This was another Epic one from Janice Hallet! The story is so gripping and the ending is so so clever! Like with her other books, this book has an unconventional writing style and the story is presented in emails, texts and transcribed audio files. Something about the format means you can fly through the book easily.

The story line and the number of characters is complex. You have to concentrate and think really hard. So much so you feel immersed in putting the pieces of the story together and solving the ending yourself!!

This Review contains Spoilers!

This is my first dip into a Janice Hallett book, and it certainly won't be my last. The story is told via a series of WhatsApp messages, emails and transcribes and has a contemporary feel due to the use of media and the way the story and plot are revealed.

The book starts with Amanda Bailey intending to write a book about the Alperton Angels, a cult-like group that planned to sacrifice a baby due to their beliefs. When this fails, mass murder of the members occurs, and the leader is found guilty and imprisoned. But now the baby is 18, and Amanda would love to find the child and interview them for her novel. But so too would an old journalist colleague from her past. Should the two of them collaborate to find the Alperton baby despite having a history?

As the story starts to unravel, Oliver (the old colleague) seems to be falling under the cult leader's influence and experiencing some other unusual aspects as a result of investigating the case. I found myself fascinated by the psychology of what was happening and why. When it was revealed what was going on, I felt a little gullible but in a good way. It made me go, oh wow - I almost fell for that myself!

The book is fast-paced, and you find yourself saying, I'll just read the next WhatsApp message or one of Ellie's transcribes, and so it continues. It's cleverly written, and one of the reveals was a fascinating insight into revenge and the lengths people will go to seek it.

This is Janice Hallett's third book, so I'm happy to know there are two others I can get my hands on, as I enjoyed the clever storytelling and her refreshing style of writing.

I'm starting to think of Janice Hallett as the Agatha Christie of our generation. Not because of similarities in the writing of the story, more that she continues to write brilliant book after brilliant book, each one a classic in their own right.
The mysterious case of the alperton angels follows true crime author Amanda Bailey as she writes a book about the Alperton Angels; a cult who were involved in a scandal almost 20 years ago. The more Amanda unravels of the story the darker things become...
Well written, great characters and a fab twisty plot. Thanks for another stunner Janice Hallett!!
Thanks to Netgalley, Janice Hallett and Viper for the ARC.

Yet another success for the wonderful Janice Halley.. Once again she sends us on a journey of twists and turns with many red herrings and characters who you don’t know whether to believe or not. With a slightly supernatural and otherworldly feel to it this book raised the hairs on the back of my neck. There was a huge cast of characters and I think I may have handled them better with a physical copy of the book but this did not detract from my enjoyment. A difficult book to review without spoilers but fans of this author will certainly not be disappointed. I’m looking forward to the next one from this author. Many thanks to net galley the publisher and they also for giving the AFC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately I didn't read the right reviews before I downloaded this book. Almost everybody gave it five stars which I am sure it deserves but I didn't realise it is written as a series of texts and emails. I could not get to grips with it so gave up. Apologies to the author and thank you for letting me try the book. Had I been thirty, forty or even 50 years younger I'm sure I would have coped with the format. Rather than not give feedback I have rated it a neutral 3 stars.

I’m going to start with a bold statement. This is my favourite Janice Hallett novel so far. I’ve been lucky enough to finish my blog tours very early this year, so I now have free reading time until January. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a bulging TBR though. My shelves are groaning with books I’ve purchased and physical proofs that I’m behind on. Similarly, my Netgalley shelves are embarrassing! So I still have things to read, its just I can read them in the order and at the speed I want. I’ve also had my usual autumnal multiple sclerosis relapse ( one at the spring equinox and one in the autumn like clockwork) so I’m rarely able to go out and I’m sat resting for long periods. So thanks to that combination of circumstances I was able to pick this up on Friday and I finished it within twenty-four hours. I was enthralled, addicted and so desperate to find out what actually did happen on the night when the police found a strange cult massacre in a deserted warehouse.

Open the safe deposit box. Inside you will find research material for a true crime book. You must read the documents, then make a decision. Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police? Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system. Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail. As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over.. After all, the devil is in the detail...

This author is an absolute master of this genre, adept at throwing all the pieces of a puzzle at you, in an order that will intrigue and tempt you to solve it. Eventually I always feel like I’m holding the equivalent of those giant boards, used by TV detectives and CSIs to record all the facts of a case, but mine is in my head. We are then fed these snippets of information by different narrators, who we’re not always sure about and might be there to mislead us. In this case, our main narrator is writer Amanda Bailey and we are privy to all her communications: letter, emails, WhatsApp conversations and recorded conversations or interviews. Her transcripts from interviews are typed up by assistant Elly Carter - who brilliantly puts her own little asides and thoughts into the transcript. Amanda seems okay at first, but there are tiny clues placed here and there that made me doubt her. As she starts research for her book on the so-called Alperton Angels, she finds out that a fellow student from a graduate journalist’s course many years before, is working on a similar book for a different publisher. Maybe she and Oliver should collaborate, suggests the publisher, share information but present it from a different angle. Over time, through their WhatsApp communications, we realise that Oliver is far more susceptible to paranormal activity. In fact he seems to be a ‘sensitive’, often feeling unwell in certain locations or with people who have dabbled in the occult or in deeply religious beliefs.

I spent a large part of my childhood in a deeply evangelical church, a sudden switch from the Catholic upbringing I’d had so far. Even though I’d been at Catholic School, had instruction with the nuns at the local convent and went on Catholic summer camps, I never felt like an overwhelming or restrictive part of life. It felt almost more of a cultural thing than a religious thing, and no matter what I was being taught to the contrary I would always be a Catholic. Many people would dispute that evangelical Christianity is a cult, but my experience with it did flag up some of the warning signs of these damaging organisations. We were taught to avoid friendships or relationships with people not from the church, even family. Our entire social life had to be within church circles, whether that be the Sunday double services with Sunday School inbetween, or mid-week house groups, weekly prayer meetings, women’s groups and youth club on Friday nights. If you attended everything the church did, there wasn’t a lot of time for anything else. I was told what music I could listen to, the books I could read and suddenly my parents were vetting all my programs for pre-marital sex and banning them. They even burned some of their own music and books because they were deemed unsuitable or were false idols. I worked out at the age of twelve that something was very wrong with this way of life, but the hold of a group like this is insidious and it has had it’s long-term effects. Talking about angels and demons fighting for our souls and appearing on earth was quite normal to me, although it sounds insane now. So, the premise of Gabriel’s story and his hypnotic hold over his followers is very real to me. I was fascinated to see whether something divine was at work or whether Holly. Jonah and the baby were caught up in something that was less divine and more earthly, set in motion by the greed of men.

It’s hard to review something where I don’t want to let slip any signal clue, so I won’t comment on the storyline. It’s drip fed to you in these different communications and I loved how we were presented with other people’s opinions and thoughts on the discoveries being made. Who to trust and who to ignore wasn’t always clear and the red herrings, including the involvement of the Royal Family, were incredible. I felt that Amanda had an agenda, that possibly had nothing to do with the story at hand and was more about a personal grudge. Janice Hallet’s research is impeccable and here she has to cover the early 1990’s and 2003, as well as the workings of the police, special forces and the social services - some of which is less than flattering and even corrupt. The e-copy I had from NetGalley was a little bitty in it’s format and I can’t wait to read my real copy when it arrives and see if there’s anything I’ve missed. It wouldn’t be surprising considering the detail and different versions of events the author includes. I found delving into the True Crime genre fascinating considering how popular it is these days, something I’m personally very conflicted about. This has all the aspects of a sensational True Crime investigation with a more nuanced perspective from other characters to balance things out. I was gripped to the end and the end didn’t disappoint.

Janice Hallett has an incredible ability to let her reader's inner detective run wild and the Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels was no different. The synopsis tells you that you are handed a box of documents and you must go through them first before you decide what to do and that was exactly what it felt like. Hallett doesn't write novels, she writes experiences and my inner sleuth was couldn't be dragged from this one.

I read another one of Janice Hallett's books, The Appeal, a few months ago, and I enjoyed it, so I was excited to be approved for a copy of this to review.

I think that anyone who enjoyed The Appeal would also love this. It's a very interesting concept for a story to be told through emails, messages on social media etc, and I find that somehow, it helps the story move along more quickly. This was entertaining, funny, and had a very good story. The format also made it easy to read, and I was quite gripped by it.

Towards the end, there was something that I didn't anticipate, and it struck me as surprisingly sad. Of course, when you're reading a book in the mystery genre, you expect a surprise or two.

Some of my fellow book club members loved The Appeal, so I think they would enjoy this too, and I will recommend it to them. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my free copy to review.

Another very fun and totally gripping story from Janice Hallett! I am not a crime reader but I am an absolute sucker for Hallett's found media format and I absolutely devoured this one. The various twists and turns kept coming and left with with an unexpected and plausibly ridiculous ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viper for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

How I’m expected to write a review of this book that gives enough justice to its brilliance is beyond me.

Well, she’s done it again. There was no risk that she wouldn’t really was there? Janice is the star of modern crime stories and she’s simply sublime at it. How she has managed to maintain this original way of writing for three books now, and keep it at such a high level is just ridiculous.

I had an advanced e-copy and some of the text isn’t split by line breaks, so it took a little while to get my head round when one email turned into a text message and then a transcript. I assume this is clearer in the finished book. But it only bothered me for about….2% of the book. She sucks you in so well that you almost forget the layout, you’re just so involved in the story itself.

The first thing I saw when I opened it was that she’s got another book coming out, hopefully, in 2024. So even before I’d started this one, I was excited for the next. That’s how thrilling her work is.

Now, what I will say is, it is quite a bit over 400 pages long, and my ideal book is no more than 300. I think very few books warrant being longer and I find myself getting bored. So my gut feeling was apprehension when I saw the page count but they just disappear. It doesn’t feel like it takes any longer to read which is where her skill at writing pace and flow excels.

What I want to know is how she keeps on top of it all. The people, the sub-stories, the link, the history - I go slightly mad just thinking about it. The way it’s written, all the layers, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be impossible to keep up with it and remember who was who and what was what but it just works. It is a quite complicated plot with various threads and whatnot, but her skill makes it such an easy plot to follow.

She tells the story through WhatsApp and text messages, emails, book extracts, scripts, transcripts - you name it. It is a format that, once upon a time, I would never have thought would work but this is the third time she’s used this style of writing and it’s so expertly done that I can’t even imagine it being written in any other way. I don’t think it would work as brilliantly if it was just a straight piece of narrative.

There are a lot - and I mean a lot - of characters in this book, some with large parts, some merely mentioned. But for me, this is definitely Amanda and Oliver’s story. They are both - but particularly Oliver - fabulously created characters, so full of depth and pain that they are thrilling to read. There was something different about the writing style of this book compared to her previous ones when it comes to the characters. It felt more…personal. Like Amanda was replying all this information directly to the reader.

What I really like about this format is that you end up following the story at the same time as the characters do, you’re finding out clues and reveals at the same time, you discover the shocks and surprises at the same time. It makes for a rapid, fast-paced, frenzied reading experience.

When I read Janice’s first book The Appeal, I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Then The Twyford Code, still brilliant, but The Appeal still held top spot, possibly because it was the original. And then this came along. And if it’s possible, I’d even say it has the edge on the other two. There’s just something so fresh about it.

Whilst I know this is a fictional book, it does give you things to think about. To think about the possibility of spirits and angels and demons and the antichrist. What’s to say they don’t exist? How would we, as a race, react if it was discovered they were real? What are our thoughts on cults? It’s a very thought provoking story, as well as vastly entertaining.

I don’t really think it matters if you’re a huge fan of crime stories or murder mysteries and the such like. I don’t think the genre is actually all that important here. It’s all about her writing style and I feel that everyone should experience it as it’s just so mind blowing how it’s so perfect every time.

I’ve had this on my pile of books for a while now and I kept putting it off and putting it off, but once I started, I was hooked. It is so absorbing and all encompassing that the outside world might as well not be there. I’m just sad now that I don’t get the change to read it for the first time again - not unless I borrow the Men in Black Neuralyzer to wipe my memory.

Janice is a genius writer, every single book is a work of art. There’s no author like her around. She has a very special gift and I’m very happy that I have been given a chance to appreciate it.

I am aware that this review was 95% gushing about how much I love Janice’s work but I’m not going to apologise for that. In my opinion,s he is one of the best writers I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness.

This is not a book I would normally read. But I am so very glad that I did! Wow! The unusual writing style had be gripped and I was racing ahead to uncover more clues. It was just so brilliantly executed. The plot was well thought out and the characters felt real and relatable. Superb!

Ok but requesting this book on NetGally on a complete whim was such a good decision. I’ve not read anything else by Janice Hallett, but I’ve heard very good things about her other books, and this mystery-esque novel sounded absolutely fascinating! It was that good that I read this in less than 24 hours because I couldn’t put this book down.
The format of this book is a little different to what I’m used to. It’s essentially written as a series of texts, emails, letters, various inserts of scripts, book chapters and so on, but it works brilliantly. It’s a bit confusing at first but after a couple of pages everything starts making sense.

There are so many twists and turns in this book and it keeps you guessing all the time, although I think the ending is a little sporadic and took me a few minutes to process everything that happened. Overall an absolutely fabulous book, I’d highly recommend to any thriller/mystery lovers!

It has been a while since I devoured a book in a single day but The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels went everywhere with me until I turned the final page. The recent fashion for True Crime is explored here in a very unique way. The reader opens a safe deposit box and inside is all the research for a True Crime book about the notorious case of the Alperton Angels. You must read all of the documents and then make a decision about whether to take the new information to the police or destroy the information forever.

The story of the Alperton Angels is fairly well known. Nearly eighteen years ago a cult-like group believed that the child of one of their members was the Anti-Christ and it was their duty to destroy it before the child destroyed the world. Holly, the child's mother, called the police at the last moment and rather than go to prison the Angels committed suicide and Holly and the child disappeared into the care system.

Amanda Bailey is convinced that if she can find the now adult "child" and interview them, her new book on the cult will be the true crime scoop of the year. Unfortunately she is in a race with another author - Oliver Menzies - who has also been commissioned by a rival publisher. Oliver has better connections than Amanda and is just as canny so she has a real fight on her hands. Oliver has been able to get an interview with the only surviving angel - Gabriel - who is serving a life sentence in prison. As they are forced to collaborate they realise that everything that is believed about the Angels is wrong. The truth is much darker, much more sinister.

It is quite a complex read as you sift through the timeline of texts, WhatsApp messages, emails and transcripts of interviews and conversations but it just made the book completely compulsive reading. The ending still knocked me for six and I had been paying attention all the way through. It might even warrant a re-read just to see if I pick up on the clues that I missed first time round! The Alperton Angels story is just so cleverly written that although you are essentially sifting through Amanda's research notes there is real heart and emotional depth in this book. A story that will stay with me for a long time.

Supplied by Net Galley and Viper in exchange for an honest review.

UK Publication Date: Jan 19 2023. 528 pages.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett is a gripping mystery, which imaginatively unfolds using text messages, emails, interview transcripts, scripts, and the research material from the investigative journalist/author Amanda Bailey.

The eighteenth anniversary of the fateful night that most of The Alperton Angels committed suicide in a disused factory in North London is fast approaching and media interest is growing. The events have fascinated people and spawned a series of books and films based on the events. The charismatic cult leader, Gabriel, survived and is imprisoned in a maximum security prison. Amanda Bailey is writing a book on The Alperton Angels specifically focussing on what happened to the two surviving teenagers, who had been brainwashed by the cult, and their baby who is soon to turn eighteen years old. Adding to the urgency of finding them is the fact that another journalist, Oliver Menzies is also writing a similar true-crime book.

I found the book absolutely gripping and it moved at quite the pace with the use of text messages, interview transcripts, emails from the investigative journalists/authors. I felt very plugged into the book and that I wasn’t just the reader, I was taking on the role of detective and trying to piece everything together with the evidence presented.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have read both of Janice Hallett’s former books, so I was super exited to read her new book and even more excited to get a review copy via NetGalley so I could read it early.
Like her previous books, this has such a unique style. The book addresses you as the reader, you are to pretend that you have found the research material conducted by an author who was investigating an old case. 18 years ago, a cult who convinced people they were angels, tried to sacrifice a baby and after failing, were believed to have all committed suicide. The baby is now turning 18 and the author wants to track the baby down, interview them and publish a book about the cult. We are able to read all of her emails, texts, call transcripts etc and we begin to see that everything is not as it seems with the case.
The book was really gripping and fast paced and I think fans of Janice Hallett’s other books will definitely enjoy this one. It’s very cleverly written and will leave you thinking. It’s the sort of book that once you’ve read it, you want to read it again looking for all the clues that you missed.
It sits firmly between The Appeal and The Tywford Code for me in terms of enjoyability and I’d really recommend it.

God bless Janice Hallett and her especially twisty thrillers that, if you work even a shred of detail out, you feel amazing. Her third novel is brilliant, focusing on the Alperton Angels, a cult who convinced a young woman that her baby was the anti-Christ. Attempting to kill the baby, they’re fortunately stopped when the baby’s mother contacts the police. While the angels could not stand trial – for reasons explained – the mother and infant disappeared in the care system. Moving on 20 years later and true crime author Amanda Bailey is researching for a book on the Angels. She desperately wants to find the baby and secure that exclusive interview. However, she is forced to collaborate with rival author Olivier Menzies (who happens to be better connected). Neither of them is prepared for what is to be revealed. After all, you didn’t expect the case to come smoothly did you?

Before I start, I’m a firm fan of Hallett’s books (if you’ve not read them, stop everything and get them and devour them) and when I heard book 3 was coming out, I was sold. I managed to sneak a peak of the intro in my special edition copy of The Twyford Code, and this had me hooked. So thankfully I was approved to read an early copy!

I’ll start off with the premise for this one being slightly different, and again the writing style used is uniquely Janice Hallett. I honestly don’t know where she gets the ideas for her books - but this one is genius. Famed true crime writer Amanda Bailey is researching her new book: the case of a cult that believed sacrificing a baby would prevent the end of the world. But it didn’t go to plan and instead the cult all ended up dead.

This one honestly had me guessing as you follow Amanda’s research: touting for clues, speaking to witnesses, digging up the past, interviewing those involved in the case, and some untoward tactics. And it was such a wild ride. I loved how this one had the mystical element thrown in the mix, with some dark bits and of course Hallett’s genius plotting.

* CONTAINS SPOILERS**

This is another fantastic story for Janice Hallett. The mystery itself is so compelling, I became slightly obsessed with finding out what actually happened to the angels.

As always with this authors work, the characters are it's main strength. I will be forever impressed at how she gives a fully rounded representation of a character using a single sentence / comment / text message / email.

Olivers decent into madness was so compelling to read, almost chilling at times. The reveal that Amanda had been his tormentor all along was genius! I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Did he get what was coming to him, or was it simply a very cruel result of her ego and ambition. I still don't know! This is why it's genius.

The ending was amazing! I didnt work out any of the many twists that came out in the last 20% of the book.

I did find parts of the book slightly repetitive, but I am not a fan of the "book within a book" trope, and there are several books within this book! So if you feel the same this is something to consider before going in. I'm aware that I was so enthralled in the story and impatient to find out what on earth was going on, this slightly got in the way for me at times.

No doubt this will.be another huge and well-deserved hit!

"The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels" by Janice Hallet is a modern take on an epistolary novel. Using text from Whatsapp messages, emails, scripts, novel excerpts and transcribed interviews, Hallet majestically creates a story full of mystery and suspense that is as nuanced as if she had written it in prose (if not more so). She adds a whole new layer through having her lead character be a true Crime writer/journalist and the mechanics behind finding the best story, dealing with rivals and publishers was a joy to read. This is an extremely clever book that I loved reading and would highly recommend.

As fans of Janice Hallett’s previous novels The Appeal and The Twyford Code will know she has previously favoured a non standard narrative using emails and voice recordings to tell the story instead. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels continues this style choice (which I enjoy hugely, it makes a refreshing change and is very engaging) this time telling the story with a mixture of transcribed conversation, written notes and pages pulled from other ‘books’.

Like Halletts previous works this one kept me guessing all the way through, I felt like I had glimpses of the bits of information that would set me on the path to understanding but never quite enough to get there until she wanted the reveal to come.

This was a fascinating story with many layers, an author carrying past resentments, a study into what makes cults possible and how they come about, a look into journalism and true crime writing and then the mystery itself, all skilfully woven together to made a book that’s very hard to put down (partly because the narrative grabs you and partly because owing to the format there are no chapters and everything blends seamlessly together.)

I can’t really say to much more about the plot without giving something away, but I will say this was a good read and very much worth picking up. If you’ve enjoyed Halletts previous works you’ll enjoy this one too, although on balance I think Twyford Code remains my favourite so far!