Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for this ARC!

"The Christmas Appeal" is a short 108-page whodunit tale. Told via text messages and emails, the story centers around the Fairway Players theater group, their rivalries, their secrets, and their upcoming production of Jack and the Beanstalk. The group soon discovers a dead body amongst the crew, but who could it be? Femi and Charlotte pour over the messages to find the culprit responsible for the body and the ensuing chaos.

This story is a fun, chaotic mess sure to entertain readers as they try to decipher the messages alongside Femi and Charlotte. The characters and events will have readers go through different emotions, from exasperation to hilarity. Readers will enjoy this quick read as they put clues together to figure out the mystery behind the dead body.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the eARC of one of my most anticipated reads of the year! I didn’t know how much I wanted to step back into the world crafted in The Appeal until this was announced. This desire was further confirmed when I was reading. As per usual, Janice Hallett’s epistolary style and exper writing enables an intriguing mystery that captivates the reader. My only qualm is that I wasn’t ready for this to end! If you loved The Appeal this is an excellent treat. if you haven’t read The Appeal, go read it immediately and then read this as soon as it releases this October!
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The Fairway Players are back and busy practicing for a Christmas play. Things go awry when during the middle of the performance, a dead Santa shows up.

I really loved this one! The style here with the interviews, texts, emails, etc is right up my alley. I also liked that since it was Christmas based the crime ended up being lower stakes (not like a full blown murder mystery). The Appeal was on my list to read but now it moved up a lot because of how much I enjoyed the writing here! If you haven’t read The Appeal (like me), you will still be fine here as the author does a great job not spoiling anything!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in exchange for a honest review!

Christmas Caper!
Janice Hallett takes us back to the small town Fairway Players (The Appeal) where inexplicably another murder may have occurred!
Join Femi and Charlotte as they read through letters, emails and police transcripts to determine what actually happened when the Fairway Players presented "Jack and the Beanstalk" in pantomime at the local church.

The insanity is real as any competitive neighborly get-together can be! I devoured this story and only wish someone was murdered every month on or off stage! Join our players as the modern day Agatha Christie takes us through the motions. Keep your detective hat handy as there are plenty of suspects and more then one crime occurring!
#Atria #ATriabooks #Netgalley #TheChristmasAppeal #JaniceHallett

Janice Hallett is the only person I would willingly and enthusiastically read a Christmas story in August for.

The Christmas Appeal was an excellent sequel to The Appeal. Femi and Charlotte are back to solve another mystery involving The Fairway Players’ Christmas pantomime and are confronted with an interesting ethical dilemma in the end.

This novella is jam packed with laughs, shock, and some egregious behavior. I wish it were longer!

Thanks to all for this eARC!

I read The Appeal last year and absolutely loved it. When I saw this come across my Netgalley requests, I was so excited to read it. The story follows The Fairway Players once again. I love how this novella is written. By using epistolary style, the story is constantly moving forward at a quick pace and encourages the reader to continue. I didn’t want to put this book down. I laughed out loud multiple times and overall, it kept me guessing. I do wish that there was a little more mystery to it, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it.

So, I'm a little let-down, because I didn't realize how similarly this was written with a Christmas twist in relation to The Appeal, but I guess I should have seen that coming. I am really thankful to Janice Hallett, Atria Books, and Netgalley for letting me experience this yuletide nightmare in August.