I love Janice Hallett; her books have an unusual style and format that I know doesn’t work for everyone, but it does for me and I’ve enjoyed all of her adult novels so far. The Killer Question is another good one, this time with a plot revolving around one of the staples of British culture: the pub quiz.
Mal and Sue Eastwood have recently become landlords of a country pub called The Case is Altered (the name refers to a new piece of evidence that emerges in court and could change the outcome of a case). The pub is in a lonely location at the end of a road that leads nowhere and previous landlords have struggled to attract customers, but the Eastwoods are sure they can make a success of it. One of their plans is to start hosting a weekly quiz – Mal loves trivia and is looking forward to compiling his own sets of questions.
Mal’s Monday night quizzes prove popular and soon several teams are coming back week after week to join in. Some of them just see it as a chance to have fun with their friends, but others are much more competitive. Then, one night, a new team arrives, calling themselves The Shadow Knights, and they win the quiz with an almost perfect score. They win again the next week and the next, until Mal becomes convinced that they must be cheating – if only he could find a way to prove it. But soon Mal and Sue will have bigger things to worry about, because a man’s body has been pulled from the nearby river and the police have come to question them…
Like Hallett’s previous novels, this one is written entirely in the form of texts, emails, WhatsApp messages, transcriptions of conversations and other forms of media. Having read other reviews, this definitely seems to be something people either love or hate, and as her books are all written in the same way I think trying one or two of them should be enough to give you an idea of whether her style is for you or not. Personally I find it very clever, because only getting to know the characters through what they choose to reveal of themselves in a text or an email allows for all sorts of surprising twists and revelations. And the twists come one after another throughout the second half of this book, none of which I saw coming in advance!
Although there is a subplot set several years earlier, involving a kidnapping and a police investigation known as Operation Honeyguide, I found this book less complex than some of Hallett’s others so it could be a good place for new readers to start. I also loved the quiz element of the story, seeing how seriously some of the teams take their performances and the lengths they go to in their efforts to win. The arrival of the mysterious Shadow Knights causes a lot of disruption, with some of the existing players becoming angry and determined to beat them. There’s also a lot of humour; I particularly liked the WhatsApp group formed by Mal, Sue and the other local pub landlords, where they share one-star reviews posted by disgruntled customers!
I certainly won’t be giving this book a one-star review as I thought it was excellent – maybe slightly too long, but the format made it a quicker read than it would otherwise have been. I’m looking forward to her next book, The Silent Appeal, coming later this year.
She Reads Novels 
I enjoy her books too although so far I’ve only listened to audio versions which work well. I have this in book format and I’m looking forward to seeing how I find it.
I haven’t tried the audio versions of her books, but I can imagine they would work very well. I hope you enjoy this one in book format!
I’ve now tried two of Hallett’s books as the found documents idea really appeals to me – but unfortunately I’ve found them both too depressing to get through and I’m not sure why! Maybe it’s just the kind of England she chooses to focus on.
That’s a shame, but not every author works for every reader, I suppose!
This does sound like a really good one! I really need to read her this year. I think I would like her books.
Yes, I think you might like them. They’re very entertaining. I hope you’ll be able to try one this year!
I havent tried any of her books yet but I definitely want to. The format is actually the biggest draw for me as I’m curious to see how it works. The WhatsApp group linked to one star ratings sounds entertaining. I hope you enjoy the authors next book just as much.
I hope you have a chance to try one of her books soon. I wasn’t sure I would like the format at first, but I actually love it and I think it’s very effective. There are always lot of big plot twists and surprises and the books are usually quite funny as well. I’m looking forward to her new one, which is a sequel to her earlier books, The Appeal and The Christmas Appeal.
I’ll definitely be trying them sometime. Im thinking about asking a friend if they want to buddy read one of them as I think discussing theories along the way would be fun, especially with the format. But if not I’ll definitely still check it out myself. And its great that there’s a mix of twists and humor. I hope you love her new one too 🥰
I have read this book and enjoyed the characters and the twists. It was my first Janice Hallett book and I’m thinking of reading her other ones now. Very different technique of writing and really effective for telling the story.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one, Margaret. Janice Hallett’s books are all written in a similar format (although The Twyford Code is slightly different), so I think you’ll like her others too.