by Janice Hallett
SYNOPSIS
One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?
Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.
Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?
REVIEW
I am such a huge fan of Janice Hallett - I've read all of her books and I just can't fault them in any way. I love her unique style, I love the epistolary crime format and I love how immersive they are, allowing the reader to take part in the mystery alongside the characters in the stories. I do tend to get a thrill when I hear about upcoming crime releases, but the excitement level when I saw the news about The Christmas Appeal was honestly through the roof! I think this was mainly because The Appeal was such an iconic book which made such a big impact on me when I read it, but this also meant that there was a lot of expectation on my part, and I'm very happy to say that I absolutely loved returning to Lower Lockwood!
With some familiar characters back and rehearsing for their production of Jack and the Beanstalk, the pressure is on to raise money for a new roof for the church hall, but this is the Fairway Players we're talking about, so obviously things aren't going to go to plan. A dead Santa is discovered leaving the am-dram group at the centre of a mystery once again...
In my opinion, it's the characters in this book that really make this story pop. When I was younger I used to do a ballet routine with my dance school in the local pantomime every Christmas, so I am very familiar with the am-dram crowd. What makes this so funny is that to anyone who hasn't had this type of experience, that drama and the backstabbing and the pettiness might seem over the top, but let me tell you, it's incredibly realistic! For me, part of the charm of this story is that it took me right back to those rehearsals, waiting backstage and just observing the hilarious behaviour of some of the people involved. We may not have had any suspicious deaths to deal with, but it put a smile on my face the whole way through.
A dead Santa at a pantomime, a festive murder mystery and a sprinkling of sarcasm - what's not to love? The Christmas Appeal even got this grinch into the Christmas spirit!
Thanks to Random Things Tours - @RandomTTours, Janice Hallett @JaniceHallett and Viper Books - @ViperBooks for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Viper Books Genre: Murder Mystery
ISBN: 978-1800817357
Pages: 208pp
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