Totally forgot to come here and say I read this one and I enjoyed it but thought The Appeal was better.

Unravel secrets, untangle tinsel, and let this festive mystery warm your heart like a cup of spiced cider. The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett delivers a delightful holiday caper set in Lower Lockwood. Meet the quirky Fairway Players theatre group. They are preparing for a Christmas play. One thing leads to another and the group unexpectedly find themselves solving a murder.

I adored the eccentric amateur theatre enthusiasts rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Their camaraderie is laced with petty rivalries and mysterious absences. Hallett captures the chaos of community theatre during the holiday season. The blend of humour, suspense, and seasonal cheer keeps readers engaged at every turn.

I found Hallett's writing style to be layered, revealing a new surprise every chapter. The characters are endearing, flawed, and utterly relatable. The murder mystery unfolds against a backdrop of goodwill and goodwill-gone-awry. Whether you're a theatre enthusiast, a mystery lover, or simply craving holiday vibes at any time of the year, this book delivers. Prepare for laughter, intrigue, and a dash of cinnamon-scented nostalgia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love, love, love Janice Hallett. Her books are so captivating and fun. I'm enamored with the mixed media that she uses and I think it makes the books so interesting to read. I was very happy to see that this little novella revisited the characters from The Appeal.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick novella with the Fairway Players putting on a Christmas panto. It is just as entertaining as The Appeal. I am constantly in awe of authors who can write epistolary novels and do it so well. An super fun read that is engaging and entertaining!

I really enjoy a holiday themed book. Add in a murder mystery and I'm set! I thought this book was well-written, I enjoyed the mystery portion against the backdrop of a play and the holidays. I loved the characters.

When their former professor sends them a packet of notes concerning a crime, Femi and Charlotte take time out of their fresh law careers to work out who is responsible for the dead body that makes an unexpected appearance at the yearly Christmas pantomime put on by the local theatre group the Fairway Players. The events leading up to the performance are told through various emails, texts, and group messages among the various members of the group. The Hallidays, who were previously in charge, are not happy at the direction of the group, and are doing anything they can to ensure the current production fails (so everyone will remember how much better things were when they were making all the decisions). This year's production of Jack and the Beanstalk is being put together by Sarah-Jane McDonald, who has her hands full wrangling not only the actors, but also the props. She was able to source an enormous beanstalk that had been used for another performance years before. The beanstalk becomes a major point of contention for being too big, too heavy, dominating the stage, and (possibly) containing toxic substances. So poor Sarah-Jane really doesn't need the added stress of Celia Halliday working behind the scenes to sabotage the production. When something goes terribly wrong on the night of the play, everyone is left scrambling for an explanation.

I really liked the way the story was told from different points of view as they sent of humorous message to each other. I didn't think the whole over-arching story of the retired lawyer trying to get his former students to work out "whodunnit" was necessary. The students then exchanged texts with each other here and there throughout the story as they tried to work through all the documents related to the case. I think the story would have been more enjoyable without that interruption to the action that popped up from time to time. Overall the story was funny and enjoyable with some twists and turns to keep the reader guessing!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

Although I decided to read this after Christmas I see found it to be a fun mystery. It had a lot of Agatha Christie in it.

Even though its after the holidays I highly recommend this one.

This was a really cute book that I enjoyed reading. I had a little bit of a hard time getting started, but I really enjoyed it when we got more invested in the story.

This has a fun cast of characters and an interesting departure from the normal narrative structure with the epistolary approach. The mystery itself was slightly disappointing at the end and I felt it could've been way more satisfying.

A great mystery with fun included. It is humorous and I love the quirky characters.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love all of Hallett's books and this one is no exception. The writing style is always a blast and I love to see how everything pieces together one bit at a time. If you enjoyed Hallett's other works- read this one!

Cute follow-up to THE APPEAL that was more humor-based than mystery-based in my opinion. I struggled a bit with it because I didn't remember much from THE APPEAL after reading it ~2 years ago. Definitely a fun read for the holidays though.

This Christmas Crime novella was the perfect book to read over the holidays. I am a big fan of Janice Hallett and love her writing style and this book was no different. It does link with The Appeal but it's like a little added extra - fun, engaging and quirky. Even though I mainly read dark crime and thriller books, I really enjoyed the sarcasm and humor in this story.

As a fan of the appeal, I was very much looking forward to this novella! I had a good time all the way through, Hallett's witty writing and character made for a a very fun reading experience. I just felt the pacing to be a little off, there was a lot of build up for what felt like very minor action and resolution. The overall idea for the plot was really fun and well thought out but it could have used a few more pages to feel satisfying!

I enjoyed this quick, holiday read. I have not read The Appeal, but I don't feel like that took anything away from this story. Written in the emerging style of text and email messages, transcripts, new stories, etc, The Christmas Appeal follows what happens when a dead body is discovered during the local Christmas play. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a short, entertaining mystery for the Christmas season.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #AtriaBooks for a free copy of #TheChristmasAppeal by Janice Hallett. All opinions are my own.

I read this book without reading the previous book that introduced these characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the style the author used to write the story-emails, texts, transcripts. As a quick read over my holiday break, it was an engaging read that I easily followed without reading the previous book. I was curious to the outcome right up to the end. And since I did have a few questions about what happened before The Christmas Appeal, I read the original The Appeal from the library, which I found good but less satisfying. If I'd read them in order, the first book might have impressed me more.

I love the format Janice Hallett uses and this was a fun read.
Why don’t have the panto tradition in the US?
I loved the way the social pecking order and various character quirks gets revealed in people’s messages to each other.
I can’t wait for the author’s next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and atria books for this e-arc.

I absolutely loved this book. It was really well written and it was also surprising. Thank you for the arc. I really appreciate it.

A really quick and entertaining read. Just like Hallett’s book The Appeal, this short novel is about the same UK small town theater troupe, set a few years later, and told all in the form of emails and texts. And once again, it’s told all in the form of emails and instant messages, and once again you don’t really know what the mystery is going to be.

It’s actually not a particularly Christmas-y though its set in December - it’s just about the troupe putting on a Christmas pantomime which I think is a British thing - basically just a one night only show for families. It’s so short that the mystery is not very deep - by the time you figure out what is going on, you find out the answers fairly quickly. But it was a very enjoyable read which you literally can knock out in a few hours.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett is an intriguing epistolarian mystery that feels like a nod to the past, but set in the present. This author is known as the modern Agatha Christie & I totally can see that.

This is book #1.5 in The Appeal series. This is the first book I’ve read by this author & I think it would’ve been easier if I had read the first book & known the characters. I struggled to get into the story because I had trouble keeping track of everyone.

The Christmas Appeal is great for fans of…
🎄 Immersive Caper
🎄 Epistolary Novel
🎄 Christmas
🎄Agatha Christie

Although I struggled in the beginning trying to understand, I enjoyed when I got into it. It was a very quick read & easy to pass through in an afternoon. I appreciate holiday mysteries that aren’t too gory & this one delivered on that. It also provided humor, community & just a touch of drama.

If you’re looking for a holiday based mystery told only through texts, interviews, e-mails & various messages, I recommend The Christmas Appeal!


Massive thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.