The Appeal by Janice Hallett

*REVIEW* and Happy Pub Day to this amazing book!

Q: What is your favorite board game?*

*I stole this question from the wonderful @suzysbookshelf. If you don’t follow her yet, you should!

A: Mine is – and will always be – Clue.

And the reason I LOVED this book so much is that I sort of felt like I was playing Clue while I was reading it.

Also, I can’t believe this is a debut novel!

One-sentence summary:
Documents, emails and communications are compiled, shared and discussed amongst lawyers who are seeking to find the person or persons who murdered someone within the network of a community theater in a small town that was in the midst of an appeal to raise funds for a child with cancer.
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The thing that most stands out about this book is the unique format. From what I can see, some people love it and others are not fans. Personally, I thought it was such an enjoyable read.

Now, did I find reading through one email after another in the first half of the book at times tedious and not exactly easy? Yes, yes I did. But I thought the pay-off in the second part of the book was SO, SO, SO worth it. The emails are engaging and humorous and interesting, but there are a lot of them. All in a row. So be prepared.

Once I made it through those emails and got into the ‘crime-solving’ portion of the book, I was having a blast. This truly manages to do what just about no other book does: it actually makes you feel like you’re piecing together enough evidence to solve a murder. And at some point, having reached the end and knowing what I know now, I want to go back and reread it.

The character of Isabel (Issy) is especially complex, creepy and genius. But the rest of the characters are very specific, relatable and interesting. And Hallett does a beautiful job of telling a compelling story in this format, which can NOT be easy. So, my hat is off to her –

This is out today, and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves mysteries!

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC!