Pages: 445
Published: 14th January 2021
Genre: Mystery
Content warnings: Cancer storyline
The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.
But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy – or of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material – emails, messages, letters – with a growing suspicion that the killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.
You are on a corporate away day, and you have been divided into groups. Everyone has been handed a large stapled printout with a set of emails and a handful of text messages, and is tasked with sifting through them to try and find the clues which will lead them to solving a fictional murder. There are a few bonus questions thrown in for good measure which teammates will have the opportunity to discuss as they go along. Ready, steady, go.
Well, if only corporate away days were as exciting as that. The lucky sleuths are actually Femi and Charlotte, two budding lawyers who are given the dossier of communications by their senior partner and told to crack the codes that lurk within. But the great thing is that you, the reader, also get to play along, in a book that is wonderfully interactive and perhaps just a little bit too smart for its own good.
Written entirely in multimedia with vast sections of email correspondence between suspects, the devil is truly in the detail and as such, it is a remarkably clever mystery. It is also exceedingly addictive, making you read between the lines and scrutinise every sentence, every turn of phrase the characters use – and make sense of every piece of information you have.
The timeline is particularly crucial. There will be moments during the book where you will need to go back and check when a specific incident occurred, or reference was made to a minor detail. You will build your own impression of the characters and suspects as you go, but it is interesting to see the occasional thoughts of Femi and Charlotte. Then when the pleasingly well spoken Roderick Tanner comes in with more riddles to ponder, does it prompt you to look at it all again from a slightly different perspective.
To have created something so sophisticated and full of intricate plot strands without even a line of standard prose is worthy of considerable praise. The format ensures that this book is a very quick read from start to finish, but trying to untangle everyone’s motives and spot the hidden connections is part of the fun, so the time it takes to actually put it down with any finality depends on how fully you decide to commit to solving the mystery.
If there is one thing to say against it, that is the story is rather far-fetched. Whether or not reading about middle class people who think an amateur dramatics group is the most important thing in the world is your bag, the fact that all its members use lengthy emails to communicate – even for informal social messages – rather than WhatsApp or something similar is rather curious. Some of the secrets that the characters are hiding seem unlikely, too.
That aside, it is gloriously intriguing to unpick everyone’s emails. One striking element is that Sam, established early on as one of the most important characters, is only referred to or addressed by others. We never see any of her own correspondence, or her husband Kel’s for that matter. But what we do get is lots and lots of Isabel Beck.
Issy is a fascinating, multi-layered character in many respects. From the tone of her emails, on the surface you would surmise that she is a friendly, bubbly person who is also caring and selfless. Dig a little deeper, however, and you find that she is lonely and simply desperate to be liked; a trait that manifests itself into unhealthy obsession and duplicitous behaviour.
Her complexity amplifies the more you learn about her, and your opinion of her is always subject to change. At times you may find her relatable and well intentioned, as well as having sympathy for the way she is regarded with such indifference by the others. In other moments, she can be incredibly frustrating and clingy in a way that grates on your mind. Either way, she rarely stops being the most enjoyable character to read.
As much as the Haywards attempt to portray a controlled, united front to their friends, to the reader it is obvious that there are a lot of cracks behind that façade. The exchanges between Martin and Tish are extremely interesting and perhaps the most intricate strands of the plot, with both having their own agenda and reasons for self-preservation.
Most of the narrative surrounds two events – raising money for Poppy’s cancer treatment and the upcoming performance of the Fairway Players. These are the ongoing themes, but alongside that they act as a backdrop for all the internal politics between the main characters, offering an insight into their relationships, social hierarchy, and how resistant they are towards admitting outsiders.
It is hard to describe any of them as likeable. A lot of them – especially Sarah-Jane – are quite stuffy personalities who would frankly be boring in real life and suck all the positive energy out of a room, so it is testament to the author that they are all entertaining when their words are written down. The Haywards are revered by their friends because they have influence, which totally clouds their judgment as the more disruptive Sam finds out to her cost.
Even with the clues, the mystery is still fiendishly hard to work out unless you make a note of every small detail and physically create a timeline of events. It is a fun ride and when you finally come upon the answers, several of them are shocking in a way but at the same time, not altogether surprising. What makes it more satisfying is that there are no loose ends.
Despite the excess of emails, the multimedia format is very well realised. We only get to know the characters in their written mode and they largely come across as believable. The author clearly has fun with the concept too, with highlights including Issy’s meeting minutes, and the odd corrupted message from Carol. Not all the humour is on point, but when it is done well, it is hilarious.
Overall, it is surely impossible not to like this book or at least appreciate how well the mystery is executed. A sizeable cast of characters, some with insidious motives and others shallow or insincere, are brought to life strongly within the limits of the format, and the urge to play along to find out who is hiding what is far too tempting to ignore. It is the very epitome of what it is like to read for fun.
Janice Hallett is a playwright and screenwriter with credits including the film Retreat and the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy Netherbard, but she is now most famous for writing The Appeal. This mystery, which is her debut novel, has spawned two follow-ups – The Twyford Code and The Christmas Appeal.
Her diverse body of writing has also taken her into the territory of government speeches, magazine editing, and award-winning journalism.
A book that I had seen around for a long time and dithered over where I should read it, but I certainly made the right decision to pick it up. I brought it with me on holiday and it was highly addictive.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 