I absolutely loved my reading experience with The Appeal by Janice Hallett, a contemporary British mystery. The entire story is told in emails, text messages, social media posts, and other types of written communication. I read this while on an informal "reading retreat" and read all 400+ pages in a day and a half.
The premise: Two young lawyers are tasked with reviewing a vast amount of communication regarding a murder case. There's many suspects, and the senior attorney wants to be sure the guilty party was convicted of the crime. The correspondence was written by members of a small British community theater group who are staging a production of All My Sons. Most members of the Fairway Players have been involved for years and include two generations of a few families.
When the director's young granddaughter receives a devastating medical diagnosis, the group launches a fundraising effort (the titular appeal) so the family can buy costly and lifesaving medication in the US. Then a cast member dies suddenly ... was it murder? if so, who did it?
I felt like such a voyeur (in the very best way) while reading the personal communication between group members. Having the young lawyers occasionally check in with each other gave me the opportunity to compare my theories to theirs. I completely related to many aspects of the plot as a former fundraising event planner and former community theater backstage volunteer. Thankfully I never experienced a murder in either role!
I'll be book bossy and demand that this title be read as a paper book (which I seldom do these days). I often flipped back to the list of characters or previous sections, which would be difficult if not impossible with the ebook or audiobook.
I'm so eager to read Ms. Hallett's next novel The Twyford Code as it promises to be another mystery with a puzzle at its center!
The premise: Two young lawyers are tasked with reviewing a vast amount of communication regarding a murder case. There's many suspects, and the senior attorney wants to be sure the guilty party was convicted of the crime. The correspondence was written by members of a small British community theater group who are staging a production of All My Sons. Most members of the Fairway Players have been involved for years and include two generations of a few families.
When the director's young granddaughter receives a devastating medical diagnosis, the group launches a fundraising effort (the titular appeal) so the family can buy costly and lifesaving medication in the US. Then a cast member dies suddenly ... was it murder? if so, who did it?
I felt like such a voyeur (in the very best way) while reading the personal communication between group members. Having the young lawyers occasionally check in with each other gave me the opportunity to compare my theories to theirs. I completely related to many aspects of the plot as a former fundraising event planner and former community theater backstage volunteer. Thankfully I never experienced a murder in either role!
I'll be book bossy and demand that this title be read as a paper book (which I seldom do these days). I often flipped back to the list of characters or previous sections, which would be difficult if not impossible with the ebook or audiobook.
I'm so eager to read Ms. Hallett's next novel The Twyford Code as it promises to be another mystery with a puzzle at its center!
