I think this might be my favorite Janice Hallett yet. I highly recommend for anyone who liked her other books, or is interested in mixed media/nontraditional narratives (like current buzzy book Murder in the Family, for instance).

The framing of this story is truly wild. Well, the whole thing is wild. Essentially a woman who writes true crime books is commissioned to write a story about a famous case known as the Alperton Angels, about a group of people (a cult, really) who allegedly believed they were angels and whose cult ended when all but one of them were found brutally slaughtered, with the leader charged and imprisoned. The only people who survived were two teens and a baby, and now that it’s been several decades, nobody knows what happened to any of them. So she works to track down the survivors, to talk to the parties involved - including the police - about what really happened and the solving of the case. Suspiciously, a bunch of people who are tangentially connected, including several who believe in a conspiracy theory surrounding the case, end up mysteriously dead just when she feels like she’s getting close. Then she finds out an old rival is also writing a book about the same case, and they start corresponding and eventually collaborating to try to get to the bottom of things.

Thw twists and turns were unbelievable, completely unexpected, and I could not put it down.

The best thing about reading a Janice Hallett novel is how you find yourself completely immersed in the world she builds. Its like watching an exciting movie in your head. I am a huge Hallett fan and enjoy her mysteries tremendously. I still think The Twyford Code is one of cleverest mysteries written,

The story in this book unfolds entirely in emails and WhatsApp messages (a Hallett trademark). It pertains to an old case relating a baby and a cult that in the current timeline our protagonist - Amanda - wants to solve. There were lots of twists and turns and I zipped through the book wanting to figure out the how.

Looking forward to the next one!

Amanda Bailey wants the truth. As a journalist and writer, she hunts for the facts of serious crimes and murders. The Alperton Angels will be no exception. When tasked to write a book and find the mysterious baby who was said to be the Antichrist, Amanda must use her wit and reasoning to dig deep. The small cult known as the Alperton Angels believed that an infant child would be the end, so when the cult members are found dead by suicide, what happened to the baby? Nearly eighteen years have passed, where is the baby now? Amanda gets stuck with a rival, Oliver who soon seems to be drinking what the Angel's leader is spewing from prison. The two journalists are on a collision course that will reveal much more than meets the eye.

This book is not told in a traditional format. The entire set up is told through text messages, emails, scripts, interviews, and a couple other mix medias. It became hard to follow for awhile at the beginning. There are a lot of players and characters that Amanda and Oliver interact with to keep straight. The plot is pretty twisty though, the ending ties it all up. What you think you know, could be very wrong. Overall cool writing style, hard to keep characters straight.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the advanced copy of this book.

Let me start by being completely honest - I love this book. Somehow Janice Hallett has managed to outdo herself with this one, which I think I enjoy more than the Twyford Code which was one of my favorite reads this year.

In The Appeal, Hallett uses emails and text messages to show the reader what is happening in real time up until the murder is committed. That book works because in many ways there are no main characters and we never get a read insight into what anyone is truly thinking or feeling - the reader - along with the two lawyers analyzing the documents - can only speculate about what is really happening. In the Twyford Code, we get somewhat unreliable transcripts of voice messages saved to an old iphone - most are the impressions and testimonials of a single character. That book is a mystery within a mystery. And finally, in this book, we get a combination of both. There are several main characters who are involved in the crime (crimes?) but we learn about them mainly through the point of view of Amanda Bailey - noted true crime author. It works extremely well. Amanda is a flawed but relatable main character and her former assistant Elie, who does most of the transcribing is a good stand-in for the audience.

Amanda has been tasked with covering an 18-year-old story for a true crime book series. The story centers on the suicide of three cult members, a murder, and two runaway teens and their baby. Amanda’s job is to find the baby for an exclusive before the child’s 18th birthday and it takes her down a twisty path that includes police, social workers, spiritualists, authors, etc.

I learned after finishing Hallett’s first mystery how important inconsistencies and discrepancies are. Rarely are they just a matter of witnesses getting something wrong or forgetting details and even with my close attention to detail there were a few wild twists in this one towards the end. In addition to delivering a fascinating mystery, Hallett is also commenting on out obsession with true crime and what it can do to us as people. Amanda and her competitor, turned collaborator, Oliver both begin to unravel somewhat as they pursue their stories. It also reveals some of the unscrupulous and unethical ways these stories are reported and brought to consumers.

The beauty of Hallett’s work is that while the mystery is front and center - her insight into our society and the human condition is always the larger takeaway. At the end of the Twyford Code, I thought about redemption for days. At the end of Alperton Angels, I was left thinking about forgiveness and ghosts of the past.

I have a few nitpicks but nothing major - there were some threads that didnt quite connect for me at the end. I won’t spoil but I was confused about the significance of the “missing pages.” I also didnt think the excerpts from the works of fiction moved the plot very much. One or two would have been fine but they kept going on for pages.

That said, this was an excellent mystery that I will probably reread in the future. Hallett has done it again.

This book isn’t yet widely available to US readers but as soon as it is you should gran a copy.

Very grateful to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Note: This ARC was provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my 3rd read from Janice Hallett. As an avid mystery and thriller reader, I thoroughly enjoy her writing style as it forces you to be fully engaged. The outline of the book encourages readers to feel as if they’re fully immersed in the storyline.
The fresh perspective on the power of cults or any sort of manipulative, controlling relationship gives the reader a deeper understanding of the human condition.

All in all, such a treat of a read. I look forward to future works by the author.

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of The Mysterious Case of The Alperton Angels. Janice Hallett is quickly becoming a "must read" author for me with her unique writing style and this one is no different. Presented as WhatsApp messages, emails, and transcripts of conversations, we are given details into the gruesome Alperton Angels case. Hallett keeps you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the last pages. Lots of interesting characters and twists and turns.

This was gifted by Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Janice Hallett back at it again with a new thriller. This time we must open the safe deposit box in which contains material for a new true crime book? What should you do with these documents? Will you take them to law-enforcement or will you destroy them? Everyone knows the story of this cult like group that were convinced the antichrist was living among them and they had one mission which was to kill that person. Only that plan was ruined by one of the mothers who called the police, that mother and her baby strangely disappeared. Now it’s decades later, and a true crime author is writing a book all about the events that happened. The famous baby is an adult and can finally be interviewed to tell their side of the story. However, there’s another person who’s trying to get the real story of what happened in this group, and so the two journalists begin fighting for the real story. However, the truth is much more than they could bargained for.

This author always makes great books that keep you very engaged. It feels as though you’re actually part of the investigation you get a lot of mixed media aspects in here, which I really enjoy. I think that pretty much anybody could pick up one of the authors books any of the authors books and enjoy them. This one seemed to be darker than some of her other books tend to go, so just check out trigger warnings. If this is something that you want to read even if you don’t use this book, I think that the author makes books that are easily digestible for most people.

I love a book where I don't guess the ending. I'm an experienced -- maybe a little jaded -- thriller reader, which means I usually see the resolution coming from miles away. In "The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels," Janice Hallett managed to lay out every single clue, yet still blew me away with an ending I never could have guessed. Told in her traditional style of mixed media, emails, texts, and other pieced-together clues, this book was the return to form I was looking for after not loving "The Twyford Code." Alpterton felt much more like "The Appeal" to me, but also managed to somehow be completely different in all the best ways. I loved the characters, and I loved having the things I thought I knew about them completely erased and replaced the further I got into the book. A well-earned five stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I am an avid reader of "found footage" books and films, and Janice Hallett is a master in using this unique way to tell a story. This is my third book of hers that I've read and she is a must buy author of mine. This book doesn't disappoint.

Amanda Bailey is true crime writer. She is researching an intriguing crime that occurred twenty years ago and the anniversary is coming up. The crime includes angels, demons, an Antichrist baby that was secreted away. No one knows the baby's identity and where it ended up and this is the hook for her book. She pairs up with another journalist that she used to work with (and caused her great harm during her first internship) to help her find this baby that was taken into care and lost to the public. The twists and turns this mystery takes, all told through email, text messages, pages of sensational novels and plays written about the Alperton Angels, phone calls and meeting transcriptions, is mesmerizing.

I savored all the strands of this story and literally raced to the ending. Another 5-star read by Janice Hallett.

Did I mention I need another book by this author as soon as possible?

Even with the shocking unveiling, it took far too long to get to the point and I got kind of bored. <spoiler>I didn't like that Amanda and Oliver both got killed. By whom? Was it set up by Don and Georgina? Was Jonah the mad squaddie? Did Ellie have anything to do with it, did she tell Don that that's where they were going and she took the money Georgina offered to Amanda for keeping the real facts out of the book? Where did the white feathers come from? Did Marie-Claire and her special forces unit kill the other people that got too close to the truth? They must have and that's also why Amanda and Oliver got killed.</spoiler> IDK I just feel duped. There were too many questions at the end.

Yet another clever mystery from Janice Hallett. THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE APLERTON ANGELS is an engaging read - even if it doesn’t quite measure up to her previous two.

The reader is given the same sorts of evidence as her previous books, with a collection of found documents (WhatsApp messages, emails, newspaper clippings, etc) replacing a traditional narrative. (It feels a bit like a game which is honestly very, very fun!) This book is all about cults and the personalities that are both drawn to them and lead them. (Huge appreciation to Hallett for citing Amanda Montell’s CULTISH because it’s a stellar read.)

While it’s interesting, the characters fall flat and parts of the plot feel rushed - more telling, not enough showing. It was still a thoroughly enjoyable read but I didn’t close the book struck by how creative it was, or what a story she was able to craft.

If you’ve enjoyed Hallett’s previous books, I recommend this one too but I also don’t think it’s a must read. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my entirely honest review.

This is a novel about a true crime writer and her investigations into the deaths of the Alperton Angels some years earlier. The Angels were a cult like group who considered themselves to be heaven sent and who were planning to destroy a baby whom they considered to be the AntiChrist. The novel consists of notes and copies of conversations that were recorded. At times it was confusing as to whom she was interviewing. It was engrossing and certainly captured the reader’s interest. Thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for an ARC for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC.
Janice Hallet has such a clever way of telling stories and drawing a reader into the world. You will not know what’s going on until the end.

"Funny, the closer you get, the further away you are."

If you haven't picked up a Janice Hallett story, YOU NEED TO! The books area always an experience. They are puzzles - where you are given pieces through text messages, emails, phone call and recording transcriptions and other unique items. You don't just read the story, you are fully immersed and you are tasked with solving the mystery.

This is my 3rd read from this author and I've loved every one. In this one, you are along for the ride as a journalist, Amanda, researches an old case for a new true crime book. A story about a gruesome night when the police stumbled on a girl covered in blood with a baby in a bag and a building of dead bodies in what looks like a ritualistic cult suicide.

I loved the characters in the story. You wouldn't think you'd get to know them so well but you do because you see their little chat exchanges and little messages. You see the ups and downs of the research as well as the dead ends. You see strings and you wait for Amanda to link them to a conclusion. You are just as much a part of the team as Ellie, her transcriber, is. As the story shaped it's self around 50%, I was completely sucked in and was not stopping until I knew the answers. I loved the twists, never guessed the turns, and am amazed at how well crafted the reveals and ending were. I love that I'm done but sad I don't have another of Janice Hallett to immediately start reading. I'll definitely be looking for her next release!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book

If you like to piece together mysteries and read through secret files to uncover the truth, then this book is for you. It did a great job at slowly feeding you information to uncover the mystery of the Alperton Angels.

I really enjoyed my read and it gave an awesome perspective on cults and the judicial system. Nicely done.

I have to say this is my favorite book I read in August. I could hardly put it down but I had to sleep. I love how Janice Hallett draws me into the world and keeps me there. I feel like I am reading all the documents along with everyone else. It also made me feel like this was a real case that I need to look up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for letting me give my honest review.

I loved the way this book started out but the second half went downhill for me. I thought it was too long and didn't;t feel the ending worked.

Wonderful mystery with all the twists and turns you hope for. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and pulls you in to every word in hopes you’ll uncover something that might be important later in the book. As always with Janice Hallett’s books, the ending is satisfying and shocking. Definitely recommend!

I love the unique formats Hallett writes in so I knew I had to pick this one up! The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is told through WhatsApp message exchanges, transcribed interviews, and a script. It leaves the reader trying to figure out what they believe to be the truth at the same time the journalist is researching the case. I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see what Janice Hallett comes up with next!

Janice Hallett is a master at weaving together a clever and engaging plot, and this one had me gripped from the start. Darker than The Appeal but told in a similar way through evidence rather than narration, it's another mystery thriller than I just couldn't take my eyes off!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy