I was delighted to be offered an ARC of Janice Hallett’s the Killer Question by Atria Books. I genuinely love reading Hallett’s novels: the books are fun and unpredictable, the characters are well-drawn, and the modern epistolary format even adds freshness. That said, I found this book a little less engaging than her previous works. The twists still worked, but I felt that the main characters were not as well developed and so I was less invested in the story overall. I still had great fun reading this though and would definitely recommend it to other readers! 4 (rounded up from 3.5)/5 stars.

Sue and Mal run a flailing small town pub that hosts weekly trivia. Neither they nor the pub are exactly thriving, but they're getting by and have a group of quiz regulars. That is, until a body is fished out of the river nearby. Now, secrets are coming to light, including some of Sue's and Mal's...

I absolutely adore Janice Hallett's methods of storytelling and cleverly crafted puzzles. With her unconventional nonnarrative format, her books are a pleasant departure from your standard mystery--although they still bring the intrigue, problem-solving, and British flair of a good cozy. This book might even be one of her best yet, with the solution to the mystery really surprising me in the best way. The information was unveiled to us in a truly creative feet of plotting that I will remember for a while.

Thanks to Atria for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars 10/10

I love the format Janet Hallet writes her books in. They’re always completely immersive and unputdownable! This one was no different. I think this is going to be the most memorable for me

Janice Hallett never fails to write a unique story that keeps you begging for more. Presented in a Netflix documentary pitch, episode by episode, the mystery unfolds. When the identity of the mystery quiz team was revealed, mind blown. I will forever love Janice’s writing style and if you love unique whodunnits, she’s the perfect author for you.

There is no other author like Janice Hallett. Having read all of her work, I continue to be surprised and impressed with the narratives she weaves.

I think The Appeal will always be my favorite since it was such a revelation. But I’ve enjoyed all of her books including The Killer Question. As with the other books, there is no traditional prose but the story is told through letters, texts, emails and transcripts.

In the surface, it centers around a weekly pub quiz and a team that may be cheating. But of course it’s more complicated than that and to say more would be to deprive the reader of the pleasure of untangling the read story.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the chance to read this book! I'm a huge Janice Hallett fan and this book is one of her best! A person is found dead after a pub quiz--who killed him? And is a team cheating at the pub quiz? And why do the pub managers keep a few aspects of their pre-pub life secret? This book, told in trademark Janice Hallett style, is so much fun with twist after con after twist after con. I loved it.

I thought this made for a good, light-hearted read. I found the story really interesting, and I enjoyed seeing how everything played out. The non-traditional format, with everything in the form of emails, texts, and articles, made for a unique reading experience.

I regret that I cannot submit a positive review of this book as I found it to be impossible to digest. Thanks for the opportunity to read, and sorry I cannot endorse.

4.5 Stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ' Killer Question' ARC by Janice Hallett. She writes in an epistolary style, which is not for everyone. She has mastered this format, and I have read all her mysteries with pleasure. I admit that I struggled with this one. I found parts overly long and tedious, and wasn't fully engaged by the characters or storyline. There were British words and colloquialisms. It seemed like a 3-star read, but its full impact came after I had finished the book, and everything fell into place in my mind. The characters became stronger and more easily identified, and the plot was brilliant.

The story is told through pub reviews, quiz sheets, WhatsApp, police records, emails, etc. Why is a police investigation included? We are introduced to Mal and Sue Eastwood, a couple who are trying to revive a pub. The Case is Altered Pub is located on an isolated, dark, dismal road near a small English town with several more prosperous pubs. Mal and Sue hold weekly quiz nights, with Mal preparing trivia questions. Their attempt to draw in more customers is working. The quiz teams consist of members of various ages and abilities who enjoy the weekly competitions. One night, a prospective customer and friends enter the bar. He is thrown out after a scuffle, and later is found dead in a nearby river.

Teams must put phones and tablets away during the quiz. A new team enters the competition, and little is known about its members personally. They begin to win every week with perfect or near-perfect scores, much to the chagrin of the other teams. The proprietors watch them closely as they are suspected of cheating, but cannot find anything unusual. Mal manipulates the questions to give the disgruntled losing teams a better chance. Mal and Sue had a secret life before opening the pub. The pub that seemed to be on the verge of success closed quickly. Why?

Their nephew, Dominic, frames the story. Five years later, he is trying to sell the mysterious story of Mal and Sue and the pub's closure as a TV documentary. He presents the outline of his documentary with its timeline out of order, and with clues, cliffhangers, and twists in hopes of keeping future TV viewers interested. What has happened to Mal and Sue?

There are small unexpected revelations, and a major twist that comes as an unforeseen shock.
I recommend this book to all fans of Janice Hallett's mysteries and to anyone willing to try books told in an epistolary format. It was a well-thought-out book with a terrific, complex plot. Publication date is September 23/2025

This book was iconic Hallett - I wasn't sure what the twist would be until the very end, and I DEFINITELY didn't guess the extent of twists that would reveal themselves in the final chapters.

Sue and Mal run a rural pub, with a weekly pub quiz that Mal takes great pride in crafting himself. When new faces start to show up amongst the regulars, and a body is found one evening, a mystery starts to emerge, documented with WhatsApp messages and unsealed police records, rocketing towards a dramatic conclusion where things were, perhaps, not what they seemed all along. In classic Hallett fashion, the book is written in emails, WhatsApps, and case notes, leaving the reader to try and untangle the real mystery behind some of these characters. I really enjoyed The Killer Question and it make me nostalgic for the days that I was on a bar trivia team, though mine dealt with a lot less death. This was my favorite Hallett yet.

Janice Hallett does it again!!! Janice always throws in the best plot twists most of which I never see coming or don't until the last minute. Each of her books has a unique setting with a unique set of characters waiting for you to find out their secrets.

janice hallett’s creativity is unmatched!! her way of storytelling through emails, transcripts, and text messages is captive, fast-paced, and always a jaw dropping great time!

this time, the epistolary writer tackles the mystery behind an english pub quiz bowl and its owners, and boy was it a fun cast of characters! it took me a bit to get back into the style of writing & the large quantity of characters / storylines - but it had me so invested from the beginning!

the way the story unfolds is not linear, which I loved since it kept the reader wondering how all of these storylines intersect until the very end… and while a few of the characters got on my nerves with their self-righteous attitudes, it all made sense by the end!

and that ending? had my jaw on the floor 😳😳

another bravo to janice for creating another intelligent and fun mystery!! thank you atria books for the gifted advanced copy!

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: mosel riesling

i received an advanced reader copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really interested in this novel because of its epistolary format, however I found it very hard to get into the plot because the plot advertised in the synopsis did not come to fruition until almost 50% of the way through. by the end, I was just ready for it all to wrap up. although I did not predict the twists, by the time they were revealed, I was bored.

The Killer Question was my favorite of Janice Hallett’s books so far! It’s a similar format to those I have read previously- lots of documents,’ text conversations, and other documents that tell the story. It includes many different characters, which can be hard to keep track of for some readers. However, the humor throughout paired with this twisty story will keep readers engaged through the surprising ending. Loved it!

Janice Hallett is an auto-buy author for me, so when I was approved for this eARC I was ecstatic. This was my most anticipated read for 2025 and as always Janice knocked it out of the park. Her books draw you in with an intriguing premise, keep you guessing with twist after twist and the epistolary format has you speeding through, losing track of time. The Killer Question is no different and was a solid 4.75 ⭐
The setting of this book was outstanding, a pub on a gloomy, rural dead-end lane, leading to an unused boatyard & dilapidated pier, hosting weekly quiz nights with a quirky community of regular patrons. It felt very cozy. However, everything is not what it seems. Shortly after a new group of quizzers show up and disrupt the scene a body is found in the river at the unused boatyard & dilapidated pier leaving the question whodunit? We start the book five years later: the pub is abandoned, and the nephew of the pub owners is trying to pitch a true crime producer the story for a Netflix documentary. The plot unfolds from there via WhatsApp group chats, pub reviews, quiz sheets, posters, text messages, emails and various police statements, transcripts and records. The pacing at the beginning of the book is a little slow, but it quickly takes off and is hard to put down once it gets going! I recommend this book to anyone looking for a mystery in an entertaining format.
Thanks to Janice Hallett, Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

I am a huge Janice Hallet fan, and have enjoyed all of her previous books. This one was a bit of a struggle, though.

If you have read her previous books, you know about the unique format/style. There are usually chunks of data (documents, emails, newspaper articles) interspersed with readers (I.e. law students) commenting on the data ( I.e law students finding incongruities and intriguing facts regarding the data from criminal case).

However, on this book we go almost 90 tedious pages with back and forth messages between various pub owners about their business, especially quiz night. I know this author is building towards something, and it will be worth the wait. However, if I had not read and enjoyed her previous books I probably would have DNF’d it as this point. A dead body is found and it does start to pick up , thank goodness!

Not my favourite book by this author. Tedious and boring at the start.

The story telling of Janice Hallett is amazing. I enjoy reading stories that are told in a different way. Using texts, email, listening devices and more, this story kept me reading into the night. If you haven’t read a Hallett book, do it now.

I discovered Janice Hallett a few years ago via The Christmas Appeal when I was looking for holiday books to read in December. I've been a fan of her work ever since. No one writes twisty, turny, epistolary novels like Janice!

I have The Killer Question on pre-order, but I couldn't wait for September, so I requested an ARC from NetGalley and read most of the book in one day.

Sue and Mal Eastwood run a rural pub called The Case is Altered. It's popular with the locals for its Monday night quiz. Unfortunately, a body is found in the nearby river, and soon a mysterious new team arrives and wins every game. Sue and Mal suspect they are cheating, but how? And who committed the murder?

Five years later, Dominic Eastwood contacts a documentary film production company, hoping to get a Netflix series made about his aunt and uncle and their derelict, abandoned pub.
I found that parts of the book dragged a little, with too much time spent on the topic of pub quiz question. I was anxious to move things along, and I had no idea where the story was going to go from there. Oh boy, did they move along! The twists upon twists were worth the wait. I'm keeping my pre-order, because I'm sure I'll be back to read this again.

“The Killer Question” by Janice Hallett is another one of her multi layered mysteries cleverly told through emails, text messages, newspaper articles and quiz sheets. The story takes place in a run down local Pub in a small village in England. The owners run a weekly trivia quiz night for the local teams when a new group suddenly shows up and starts winning every week. Who are these players that seem to always know the answers and disclose nothing personal about themselves….and then there is a dead body found in the river next to the Pub?
A lot of unexpected twists and turns and a lot of British humor and colloquialism that were a bit distracting. Not the easiest read but a totally unexpected reveal at the end. A fun mystery for those interested in the contemporary British Pub scene. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by Janice Hallett and it was so much fun! I absolutely loved the format and loved the tie in with the documentary film. This did feel a bit long but overall a really fun read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!