The Appeal: The smash-hit bestseller

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Hallett, a screenwriter before she turned to fiction, defined “cosy crime” as a genre that “reduces the horror, and amplifies the mystery,” creating a “safe space to consider and to explore the very worst experiences of humanity”. Martin and Helen reveal that Helen lost a child to meningitis years ago, before their children Paige and James were born.

These stories are falling into the hands of a very diverse array of authors at the moment, and that’s giving them a new life, ” agreed Jeffs, pointing to books from Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad to more recent works by Madeline Miller, Monique Roffey and Natalie Haynes. “And maybe in difficult times, that freshness and that inspiration, and just a really good story, is something we yearn for.” Fiendishly clever, highly original and totally gripping -- Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage in a Wood From Matt Wesolowski’s Six Stories to Only Murders in the Building, fictional true crime and epistolary storytelling have become pretty popular – it might even be a movement. Do you see it that way and why do you think readers are gravitating to this and indeed to true crime?Brilliantly original, inventive and clever. I loved this book and you will too -- Phoebe Morgan, author of The Doll House Allowing each character to speak for themselves is a great benefit of this style. I much prefer writing in the first person, where I can jump into that character and see the world from their perspective. As a screenwriter I had to write dialogue from every character’s perspective and I think my novels demonstrate an extension of that. There must be downsides but I haven’t discovered them yet. It feels quite natural to me to write this kind of novel. But not everybody is convince of the good intentions of those involved. New actress Sam raises doubts.

Very gripping. I loved the ambitious and unusual approach -- Sophie Hannah, bestselling author of Haven't They Grown What a book. It has galvanised me to do better! Exceptional -- Matt Wesolowski, author of Six Stories Hallett seems to have done that rae things of pleasing the classicists and the modernists…no mean feat for her first novel! Michelle’s book is brilliantly written. She was an accomplished wordsmith and absolutely wrote from her heart in a way not all true crime authors do. But when you watch the documentary about her, you can see she becomes so engaged with trying to solve the case that she simply can’t write the book, yet she’s desperately trying to finish it in time for a deadline. I identified with that completely and I’m sure most writers do. The summary files, as you say, are just an irritating way of summarising what we already know and don't add anything. It's like the author doesn't trust you to follow anything.Dr. Bhatoa has financial worries of her own. Her father is in poor health and her brother who went missing while doing charity work overseas. A very clever novel that puts you in the place of an investigator. A hugely enjoyable challenge and a most original book -- Jane Lythell, author of The Lie of You I raced through it and liked it a lot, but I did find the law student framing really annoying and contrived:

A murder has been committed and someone has gone to prison. But were they the right person? A QC uses the evidence to test his star pupils.

So many writers have inspired me: Cervantes, Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Patricia Leitch, Douglas Adams… and that’s only a few.

I felt exactly as you do! My brother-in-law who doesn’t read much at all, mentioned it to me (‘you know all these crime books, you must know this one’), and I had never heard of it. I absolutely ripped through it, and enjoyed it very much. Yes, too much periphery, and actually I did not find the solution satisfying – but it made me laugh & kept me guessing,and I will certainly be looking out for her next one. I haven't enjoyed a book this much since Standard Deviation. Congratulations, Janice Hallett! -- Louise Voss, author of The Last StageThe Appeal is also a love letter to another kind of masquerade, to acting even in amateur dramatics. As Issy writes to James Hayward, Martin’s son and the play director, who’s called away to his heavily pregnant wife’s bedside ahead of the opening night performance: I haven’t read All My Sons for a while, and my memory is fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure it’s about a family who is hiding a dark and shameful secret. If anyone has insights into the connection between the play and this story, please let me know in comments!