The Christmas Appeal

by Janice Hallet

I found myself confused at the beginning of The Christmas Appeal and puzzled most of the way through. I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that I would have understood more of this novella if I had read The Appeal first. Notes at the end of this book tell me it is set in Lockwood, the location of The Appeal written three years earlier. The Fairway Players, a community theater group, are the focus of both books. This is an epistolary novel of sorts composed entirely of a few emails, some transcriptions of police interviews, and lots of  What’s App messages. It was very confusing because none of the characters were actually “knowns” to me. The story begins with a lawyer presenting these documents to two other lawyers for their review. The reason is obscured. The characters are mainly theater people   presenting a traditional British Christmas pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for reroofing the church where they present their productions. A good portion of the novella is mean- spirited exchanges regarding power struggles within the theater group. Eventually a skeleton makes an onstage appearance. Fortunately the cast improvises and carries on to the amusement of the audience.

The mystery and the ethical questions raised were marginally interesting. I found some good laughs in a few of the lines, but in general this British novella was not my cup of tea.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 3/5

Category: Mystery, Fiction, Novella, Epistolary

Notes: According to Goodreads,The Appeal, the parent book to The Christmas Appeal (#1.5), follows this same format.

Publication:  October 24,2023—Atria Books

Memorable Lines:

Mrs. Walford: The truth is, we don’t talk about it. Not the bad memories. You focus on the good things—that’s the way to live.

Sgt. Crowe: You may be right there, Joyce.                              

Mrs. Walford: When us Walfords find an obstacle, we pick it up, give it a wink, then a kick out the park.