Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for a copy of this book!

Janice Hallett does it again! While I thought it started a little slow, I got sucked right into this book! Written in the same unique style as Janice's other books, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is told through a series of emails, texts, news articles, and book chapter excerpts. This makes it such a quick and fun read.

While it can be a little confusing, we're learning the facts at the same time as our main character, Amanda. You see her get mislead and confused about the information, same as you may be. There's lies, there's fiction, there's conspiracies all leading to the actual truth about the Alperton Angels.

I've read all of Janice's other books and I would rank this #2 (The Appeal, Alperton Angels, The Christmas Appeal, Twyford Code), but have had a lot of fun reading them all. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Read. This. Book!

I couldn’t put this book down and it kept me up too late at night. Crime writer Amanda is investigating the case of the Alperton Angels, a cult from the early 2000’s who committed suicide after they failed to kill an infant they believed was the Antichrist.

Epistolary novels are a favorite of mine and this was one of the best ones I’ve read! Through texts, emails, excerpts from book/screenplays, news article and WhatsApp messages, the mixed media really brought this story together.

The characters are really well developed and Ellie, the assistant was one of my favorites and definitely one of the smartest! The plot is twisty and complex, which I love, but be warned- you need to pay attention. Too often I found myself going back in the book to refresh my memory around plot points given in a certain interview or conversation as I tried to guess where this story was headed. I thought the ending was great and really brought everything back full circle.

This is one not to be missed and I am so glad I was able to read this with some great friends as we played amateur slueths🙂

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS is a fictional true-crime investigation with an ending I am still reeling over. With her unique style, Hallett compiles various formats of our character's research to carefully construct a multilayered mystery.

There was something about this story. It is downright addictive. When I wasn’t reading the book, I was thinking about it. Personally, I believe it is the blend of exploration into the Alperton Angels cult, the relationships Amanda has, and the realness Amanda Bailey’s character brings to it all. I wasn’t sure how it would all come together, but it did. The mystery of what happened is revealed one fact at a time. Reading Amanda’s emails, interviews, and messages, allows the reader to feel as if you are right there. What she learns, we learn. And yet, there is also the distinctively personal side of our true crime writer seeping into the narrative. All bringing it to an entertaining and surprising ending.

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS takes the best of what we all love about true crime, the investigation, and still manages to showcase intriguing, flawed, and honest characters throughout. With this book, Hallett has converted me into a fan.

Reader’s Note: I will be honest. I have tried and failed to read one of this author’s books before. I don’t know if it was the timing or if I wasn’t ready to read a book with this type of formatting, but I didn’t finish. And yet, when I got this book in the mail, something told me to keep going. And boy am I glad I did. I loved it so much that I am going to go back and try to read Hallett’s other books.

I loved the format of this book, it was really fun to read and to see the differences in people's perceptions of the same events. The story and subject matter were interesting, although confusing at points near the end. I would highly recommend this.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is a very well written and cleverly constructed standalone mystery by Janice Hallett. Released 23rd Jan 2023 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 432 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out in 3rd quarter 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author is well known for her multimedia style of writing. Readers are given the key to a fictive safe deposit box full of letters and other materials and tasked with solving a decades old true crime case of a religious cult suicide alongside the investigative journalist protagonist. A rival journalist is on the same trail, trying to locate a baby who is now 18 years old and interviewed, if successfully found.

The format of the mystery is very challenging, and readers might struggle for immersion. This one is also -very- character heavy with a large cast, and there are some difficulties with keeping them all straight. That being said, once the book achieves liftoff, it's an engaging and surprisingly cleverly constructed puzzle.

Three and a half stars. This would be a good candidate for a mystery book club read/discussion, public library acquisition, and home use. It's a very oddly formatted book, but readable and engaging after a while (the first third is something of a slog).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Janice Hallet writes mysteries that have multiple viewpoints, multiple plotlines, and deserve multiple stars!
In this, we read the WhatsApp messages, emails, and recording transcriptions of two vying true crime authors, each seeking to break open the aftermath of a cult murder from 18 years ago. The truth is labyrinthine, with each author reaching out to connect new information, old memories and track down the lone survivor who is not in prison.

What is truth?
What is conspiracy?
What is loyalty?

These questions and more come up time and time again, peeling back layers of info to make you wonder what is the just thing to do. Superb!

At first, I didn't know what to think of this book. It's about a true crime author and her research. The whole book is written in a format of text messages and transcribed interviews. Takes a little while to get used to, but it didn't stop me from enjoying this book! The lengths that people go to for revenge, and how it leads to their own downfall. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. This is the second book I've read from this author and this was even better than the first. I really loved the mixed media epistolary style and found the story itself very engaging. This would have been a five star read for me except that I found the ending a bit rushed.

Highly recommend it! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced read!

I love a thriller novel with an unreliable narrator and @janice.hallett does a great job of creating one through her unique style of storytelling. I have loved her previous books The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal, and The Twyford Code. Janice is definitely on my must read author list!

It should be no surprise that I loved Janice’s most recent book, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. The story is told through all different forms of writing: emails, WhatsApp, text messages, transcripts of recorded interviews, scripts for phone calls, and some book excerpts. The main character, Amanda Bailey, is a true crime author writing her latest book. The book is looking into the group suicide of the cult known as the Alperton Angels.

I highly recommend this book if you love unreliable narrators and found footage thrillers!

Thank you @atriabooks for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

(This same review was shared on the Barnes & Noble website)

Phew this book captivated me. Something about Janice Hallett's epistolary style - in this case letters, emails, transcriptions of interviews and more - is apparently my kryptonite because I could not stop reading. I felt like I was going through these documents myself and loved following the crazy storyline and how everything was collated to really lead you down so many paths and never knowing what to believe. I can say I gasped out loud multiple times and the ending was wild. I cannot wait to read more of her books!

This book hit all my buzzwords. Mystery, Cult, Angels and Divinity and told in a non-traditional formant? Sign me up.

The story is told entirely through emails, letters, transcripts of interviews or phone calls, news articles, screenplays, and excerpts from books. Our lead is Amanda Bailey, journalist turned true crime writer who wants to write about something different and fresh. Seventeen years ago, there was a cult known as the Alperton Angels. There was a baby involved, who will now be turning 18 years old and Amanda and her publisher think finding the baby (now adult) would be an incredible story. Turns out a rival author, Oliver, and his publisher had the same thought. Oliver and Amanda have history from a journalist program years back and while they don't get along, they are encouraged to work together and share resources to get the best story.

The story unravels the Alperton Angels and the history between Amanda and Oliver. It also digs deep into the pressure of publishing and the competition authors can feel in that environment. There was absolutely brilliant information and examples on how manipulation, coercive control and the need to feel special can lead people to do things that seem completely unbelievable to anyone looking in from outside of the situation.

I can absolutely see myself reading this again, but I didn't rate it 5 stars because I wasn't super satisfied with the ending. I also figured out a huge part of the story right near the start and I'm not sure if the author intended for it to be as obvious as it seemed to me but it did make me have a little less excitement for the reveal at the end. I don't want to give anything more away because this is a book where I think the less you know going in, the more you'll be sucked in and unable to put it down until you reach the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy of the book to read and review!

Epistolary novels can be hit or miss for me, and this one was definitely a hit! The full cast narration made all the different forms of media really come to life, and I was totally drawn into this story. I loved the authors use of mixed media including texts, emails, news articles, interviews, and excerpts from books and screenplays to tell this story.

The characters were fully developed which can be hard with a story like this, and the cult storyline was done so well. Cults are another trope that doesn’t always work for me, but the way the author handled it was brilliantly done. I loved the twists and trying to figure out what actually happened to the baby.

I’ve heard some people recommend reading a physical copy over listening to the audiobook, but I loved hearing the narrators bring this story to life. Annie Aldington, Nneka Okoye, Gareth Armstrong, Sid Sagar, and Kristin Atherton all did a fantastic job. It was easy to differentiate the characters and follow the story.

This was my second read from Hallett, and I love her unique writing style. She always does something different, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up next.

Thank you Simon Audio and Atria Books for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

4.5/5!

I love Janice Hallett. I think at this point I would read her grocery list and still be 100% invested. I’ve never read anything written epistolary-style except from Hallett and I honestly am just blown away each time. How does someone create an entire book in just the form of email transcripts, texts, articles, book blurbs, etc. and totally make it work? I don’t know, but Hallett has that magic!

Cults are probably one of the topics I find most fascinating to read about, so naturally I knew I would be interested in the premise of this story. Trying to uncover the mystery surrounding the Alperton Angels alongside Amanda was a ton of fun! Add onto that a rivalry with Oliver that seems to have more than a few secrets and this book will keep you on your toes. There were quite a few reveals that I didn’t see coming and one that I was really glad my guess came true about because the reveal was executed perfectly.

My only gripe with this book is very minor and that’s just that the pacing lulled a bit in the middle of the book. I was still invested, but it felt like it took me much longer to get through the middle compared to the build up of the beginning and the tense ending.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
By Janice Hallett
Thriller
Atria Books
January 2024

Amanda Bailey has written best-selling true crime stories and has been commissioned to write a new one to help launch a publishing imprint. The case she has been assigned is a multiple-murder cult killing. The cult leader has been sentenced to life.

But in The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett, questions surrounding the case remain. Primarily, what happened to the infant that the cult was planning to kill, believing it to be the Antichrist?

The baby survived, as did the teenagers who had it in their care. They were believed to be new recruits to the cult of the Alperton Angels. Their leader, Gabriel, convinced those involved that he was an archangel, and that others already in the group were angels when the teens brought the baby to them.

Bailey is a go-getter with steely determination and a way to talking around people's objections to get what she wants. In texts, interview transcriptions, an unproduced screenplay and pages from novels, the story of Bailey's investigation and attempts at writing the opening chapter of her book result in a twisty story that doesn't let up until the very end.

She'll need all that grit because within 48 hours, the publisher wants to know if she has found the baby yet. The child will soon turn 18, so interest in the case will be high again.

But just as Bailey gets rolling with her research and contacts, there is bad news. A rival publisher has commissioned Oliver Menzies to also write a book about the case of the Alperton Angels. Menzies and Amanda have a history that goes back to when they were both in a beginning journalism program. Amanda dropped out and went on to success. Oliver, whose mother had connections that got him into the program, has never quite managed to find and write successfully about a big story.

The novel weaves together the ideas of real trauma, whether angels are real, the power of suggestion, manipulation by those someone trusts and how facts can be accurate yet misleading. It's a balancing act that Hallett carries out with aplomb. This is a twisty novel that can keep a reader guessing and not assuming. When it's all laid out, it holds together. A highly entertaining and thought-provoking suspense tale.

Amanda Bailey, a true crime author, is asked to take on the case of the Alperton Angels. Seventeen years earlier two teenagers, a baby and the leader of the cult were the only survivors of a group suicide. Amanda’s first objective is finding out what happened to the baby. As she interviews the nurse who treated the survivors, the social workers and the police involved in the investigation she gets conflicting stories of the events. Oliver Menzies, a rival author, is also working on a book about the Angels. He has a substantial budget, which Amanda is lacking. He has also received access to Gabriel, the cult leader, who is serving time in prison. Pushed to work together by their publishers, Amanda and Oliver agree to focus on different aspects of the case. It falls to Amanda to discover the fate of the child, which leads to a threat if she does not stop her search. As they continue Amanda and Oliver are drawn in and become a part of the story and someone will not survive.

Like her previous books, Janice Hallett uses phone calls, texts, emails recordings and WhatsApp to tell the story, making it move quickly. Ellie is Amanda’s transcriber. Her comments and observations inject some levity in what is often a dark tale. Twist after twist each offer a hint at what actually happened seventeen years ago until it all comes together with a major twist at the end. I would like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book for my review.

In "The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels" author Janice Hallett carves out a fun new niche in the mystery genre with a story inventively told entirely in primary documents including emails, text and WhatsApp messages, excerpts from a novel and a screenplay, lists, newspaper clippings, transcriptions of interviews and meetings, phishing phone call scripts--really, all the scraps of information that true crime author Amanda Bailey has gathered in her research for a book about the s0-called Alperton Angels case, a murder and triple suicide with occult overtones that gripped London in the early 2000s. As the documents accumulate, it's clear that the case is more perplexing--and dangerous--than it initially seemed, as many of the people Amanda contacts suddenly die in mysterious circumstances and witnesses are less than forthcoming. Amanda herself is not above some subterfuge and downright deception of her own as she races to solve the crime and put out her book before rival author Oliver Menzies publishes his. Hallett's structure injects plenty of freshness into the detective fiction tropes and I was happily along for the ride (although I did think she kept one major piece of information from readers until a bit late in the day for fair play). Recommended for fans of "Dear Committee Members" and other epistolary novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review. Fun stuff!

Another epistolary mystery told through text messages, emails, and scripts from Janice Hallett. This one explores the infamous Alperton Angles, a cult with a deadly past, and the writer trying to tell their story. Like Hallett's other books, the story unfolds gradually through the found documents and the reader gets the enjoyment of trying to piece the case together before the big reveal.

Unique mystery thriller.

This is an absolutely different type of crime or mystery thriller because of the way it is written and how the narrative evolves through different writing styles. Using the various communication formats of emails, texts, WhatsApp messaging, etc., the complicated story evolves via random snippets. The reader is not sure what is true which heightens the skepticism about the story line.

The Alperton Angels case is infamous. Apparently some crazed fools decided they were angels and that they were meant to destroy the Antichrist in the form of a newborn baby. Or was that really what they were doing? Amanda Bailey, a journalist, has been asked to write a book about the old crime. She tries to track down old witnesses and police who were involved in the investigation. Meanwhile, an old colleague turned nemesis, Oliver Menzies, is also tasked with writing about the Alperton madness. As they both try to figure out what happened way back when, people start dying before they can interview them. Very convenient. The cover up is real and somebody doesn’t want them to know what really happened in the warehouse that night.

This was quite an interesting story and I enjoyed it as I tried to discern what was going on so it kept me on my toes. I really like when an author takes a different storytelling approach and does it in such a fascinating way. Some might not like that this is not a linear narrative but I certainly did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

As with most of Hallett's books, this one takes patience for everything to come together.

Told entirely in mixed media format: emails, WhatsApp messages, transcripts of conversations, movie scripts etc., this is the tale of true crime writer Amanda Bailey's investigation into the eighteen-year old Mystery of the Alperton Angels.

At the time, a cult was formed by Gabriel, who convinced its members he was an archangel sent to protect the world from the Antichrist. When all was said and done, three members of the cult committed suicide, one other was found dead and Gabriel was incarcerated for the crime. Two teen cult members, Holly and Jonah, survived, as did the baby "Antichrist." They were all taken into care and no one knows what happened to them. Amanda sets out to find this baby, who is turning eighteen, and figuring out what exactly happened. She soon finds out that Oliver Menzies, another journalist and writer, is also assigned to the story from another publisher. She proposes they work together to uncover the truth.

As with the previous books I've read by this author, this book is long and intricately detailed. Almost a bit too detailed and drawn out at times, as the format is not always the easiest to read and there are occasionally interviews and details that don't seem relevant until things get put together in the end. There's some repetition as things are looked at by different people.

That said, I truly loved the way that all of the pieces to the puzzle and the mystery slot together in the end. Hallett is truly a master of storycraft where she takes all of these disparate points and weaves them together to create an ending that you won't see coming. She drops clues throughout so a clever reader might put some of it together, but overall it's more masterful if you just let the story unfold. Various characters contradict each other and the evidence presented doesn't always match the verbal account. Are they lies? Deliberate cover-ups? Supernatural events?

Once the author started revealing the truth, my jaw just about dropped because she was able to surprise me yet again. Just like she did in The Appeal and The Twyford Code, she manages to construct a highly original tale filled with secrets and deception.

This is my first book by Hallett and I am impressed! The format is unique with the reader: First, you (the reader) are in possession of a key that goes to a safety deposit box that has many documents. Then you have a choice: Put everything back and throw the key away or take everything to the police. These documents are composed of newspaper articles, transcribed phone calls/meetings, WhatsApp messages, emails, and more.

Through these documents you go on a journey with Amanda Bailey. She is a True Crime author hoping to revive her career by writing a book about an infamous case: The Alperton Angels. It was a small cult that killed themselves and involved a teenage mother who thought her infant is the Anti-Christ. It turns out that Amanda is not the only one planning on writing a book on this case, she has competition. And they communicate.

This multi-layered mystery where the details must be paid attention to while reading. There are many twists and turns that occur and keep going all the way to the truth and the shocking ending! I found myself tuned into the story even more as I progressed in my reading. As I read, I felt like I really got to know Amanda through this journey. I absolutely adored Ellie Cooper, the transcriber, who gave her opinions throughout the journey as she transcribed. She was hilarious, and a comic relief was needed for this novel.

I read an arc, so I know formatting was changed around for the finished book, but I would definitely like to see how the finished product turned out. Many thanks to the publisher Atria Books for granting me a copy. I enjoyed this one!