The Appeal: The smash-hit bestseller

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The overall premise is that two young lawyers are tasked with sifting through these piles of communication. Someone has been murdered and the powers that be need to be certain that the one who is in jail is the person who should be there. A prominent family finds out that their granddaughter, Poppy, has a rare form of cancer. The family learns of an experimental treatment that they hope will cure Poppy. Since the treatment does not qualify for health coverage, the family calls in the help of their amateur theatre company, and together, they begin to raise funds for Poppy’s treatment. This book had a very large cast of characters that required notes as I attempted to uncover the truth and answer the senior partner’s questions. It’s the second book that I have read with an epistolary format in 2021 and it worked for me. Some of the correspondence is just gossip and others provide key information if one reads them carefully while others seem enigmatic or irrelevant. But are they? To my surprise, given the format of the narrative, suspense was built as details were revealed. Who was murdered, why, and by whom? What is happening regarding Poppy's medical treatment, and will the child survive? Are there problems and even fraud connected to the fundraising, and is the experimental drug even effective?

Set in a small town in England, the leading and most influential figures are Martin and Helen Haywood. The couple owns the Grange Golf and Country Club and are instrumental in forming the Fairway Players, an amateur drama society. Helen is considered the most talented actor in the group, and every play chosen must have a leading role for her. A couple of new arrivals, Samantha and husband Kel, are drawn into the dramatic society. They are former medical workers for MSF in war-torn Central Africa. Both are soon employed as nurses in nearby hospitals.

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The plotting was irksome! I have seen elements of this plot before on a tv show that I cannot remember and in another book. If someone knows which show(s) or books, please let me know in the comments? This is driving me crazy. A group of caregivers and Thespians rally around a young child diagnosed with cancer by raising money for treatment that is costly and currently unavailable, except in America. There's reason to believe that the incarcerated person is actually innocent, however, but if they are, who is the murderer?

This mystery is a superb top drawer attention holder as good as the best of Agatha Christie; but that wasn't enough for Janice Hallett, Janice takes a long dark look at close-knit hierarchal communities, local fundraising, digital communications and joy-beyond-joy the creation, management and possible repercussions of digitally-based conspiracy. It could also be argued that it's a much needed tale on the plight and strength of whistleblowers! Confused. Just read the book already! Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What's more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed. I was very satisfied with the ending and felt like everything was explained. It just took a little too long to get there. Still, if you are looking for a uniquely presented mystery, then this one should have strong appeal. The format was unique and well-composed. I felt like I was getting a secret peek into these people's lives that I shouldn't have been having. It felt a bit illicit. We, the reader join them in their endeavor, as the story is told ENTIRELY through these various means of correspondence, as they attempt to determine who is guilty and who is innocent.It is good to pay close attention in this one although after a while the characters do come together, and the plot becomes easier to follow. It was interesting to read something in a different format, although I think it did get a bit long. There has been a murder. Someone is in prison for it. What was the motive? Is the person incarcerated truly guilty of the crime?

It seems like the family is tight lipped about the drug therapy and other details which is suspicious a little and when we add murder into equation, things get juicer and more complex! I started off on Cosmetics International, an industry magazine, and then worked for magazines aimed at retailers of beauty products. Most people got fed up with writing about bubble bath after two years – it took me 15 before I moved on. They're presented chronologically, so what you get is actually a fairly thorough picture of what has occurred among this chaotic group of characters; and what a group of characters they are! stretching the parameters of the goal a little bit, since this book isn't one that's been languishing on my shelves for years, like many others, but one i JUST RECEIVED from my gr secret santa this year. still, it ain't published here (yet), so i'm counting it! Some of the correspondence does provide for comic relief. Not just tactless comments, but how info gets twisted and gossip gets passed around.For mystery fans that are open to trying a new format with a book – this one is filled with messages, texts, social media posts, and news articles – but has all the trademark elements of a case to solve. There’s a murder, a wide cast of characters, and lots of details to read! I particularly loved trekking round Madagascar. I went there for the wild life – there are lemurs you can’t see anywhere else on earth and crazy-looking giraffe weevils – but it was the people that most enthralled me. I found it such an education. Little Poppy has been diagnosed with cancer and there is a massive fund raising campaign to raise money for an experimental treatment. But is everyone on the up and up? Enter nurse Samantha who is very focused on the truth and weeding out corruption. She knows all about corruption because she lost her last job trying to expose it. Now she's seeing the signs again and she wants the bad characters exposed. The community she lands in for her new job is led by Poppy's well respected family. The Fairway Players, a local theatre group run by this family, is central to the story as are the goings on at the local hospitals. Pay attention to everything! If you don't you could miss important clues but also you could miss some funny tidbits. I felt like I was a fly on the wall, getting to peek into the lives of these people but I also knew that much of what was being written was meant to deceive. It's just that it isn't clear just who is in on the deception or not. And then there is Issy who is one big mess of weirdness, contradictions, lies, and creepy clinginess. My involvement has been lifelong. I joined the Raglan Players – based in Northolt in west London where I still live – when I was 14. I met my partner there. I’ve done everything from prompting to props to wardrobe. I’ve directed, written plays for them, been in plays. I’ve served behind the bar, cleaned up after… it’s an all-encompassing hobby. But we’ve found, like a lot of amateur drama groups, that we can’t generate new members. In the 21st century, people don’t want to go out to take part in that kind of hobby. The Raglan Players, sadly, folded in 2013. The novel is my love letter to them – though some people might say it’s a strange love letter.

Suspicions mount, accusations are made and the tension leads to a DEAD body, and an ARREST on the night of the play’s dress rehearsal . Yes, there is more drama off the stage than on it!, You must have felt like a detective yourself when planning the plot – your book is so meticulously detailed… As they begin to fundraise, some begin to question the treatment, the fundraising itself, and even the oncologist. Janice Hallett's The Appeal is definitely a fun change of pace in the standard Murder Mystery genre.

There were a ton of shady players, involved in all sorts of super shady activities; things such as fraud, blatantly lying to friends and stealing. I'm frankly surprised only one of them ended up dead. Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer team up to exonerate a woman who’s already served five years for killing her ex-husband.