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The Appeal

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The Appeal

By: Janice Hallett
Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Daniel Philpott, Rachel Adedeji, Sid Sagar
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About this listen

The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year

Winner of the 2022 CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger

One murder. Fifteen suspects. Can you uncover the truth?

There is a mystery to solve in the sleepy town of Lower Lockwood. It starts with the arrival of two secretive newcomers, and ends with a tragic death. Roderick Tanner QC has assigned law students Charlotte and Femi to the case. Someone has already been sent to prison for murder, but he suspects that they are innocent. And that far darker secrets have yet to be revealed...

Throughout the amateur dramatics society's disastrous staging of All My Sons and the shady charity appeal for a little girl's medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. The evidence is all there, waiting to be found. But will Charlotte and Femi solve the case? Will you?

©2021 Janice Hallett (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Crime Thrillers Psychological Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting Suspense

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Critic reviews

"This dazzlingly clever cosy crime novel completely trumps Richard Osman. A modern Agatha Christie." (Sunday Times)

"This is a case you're about to become obsessed with. A triumph." (Alex North)

"Very different but very satisfying. I thoroughly recommend The Appeal." (Elly Griffiths)
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This is good story and it was performed really well. However, and as a devoted audible fan it’s hard for me to admit, this is probably better done in print.

Maybe even better in print

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Any one who loves Agatha Christie or court room dramas will love this. The characters are amazing as is the story. The narrators are also excellent.

Right till the last I didn’t fully get the conclusion and I really do not want to spoil it because I enjoyed the never ending twists and turns.

Only warning once you start listening you won’t stop so only on a day off or when you don’t have to get up for work. About to start from beginning to see if I catch it right during second listen.

Absolutely brilliant!!!!

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The email format is difficult to get into but do persevere. The endless reading of date and time and subject of emails becomes disjointed in audio format. I’d skip over some of these details if reading.
I’d recommend the book as it was great, but for book format only!

Great book but difficult to listen to due to format

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I wasn't quite sure about it at first, but I got quite invested and by the end was desperate to know if I got it right! very cleverly written and I liked the different characters.

quite different but good.

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A smart, ingenious thriller that drops clues like breadcrumbs. I was hooked. Hugely entertaining

A Very Clever Book

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Interesting start then seemed a bit slow a few chapters in, but luckily I continued (because it’s the Book Group’s choice) and it became really gripping! I was really reluctant to wash my hair, the only thing that prevented continuous listening.
I had doubted I’d be able to cope with so many characters, but the readers made that easy with their clever creative choices of accents, characterisation, etc.
A great production all round!

Great!

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Did not think I would get into this story at all
Difficult to keep concentration and a bit laborious at the beginning
So glad I persevered
It was one of the best books I’ve ever listened to
So cleverly written
Highly recommend it
Give it a try

Really good read

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An original, engrossing story, cleverly told through the medium of emails and texts. There are some incredulous moments but the plot carries them away. Some of the characters did end up being superfluous to the ‘crime’ but every voice had a role to play in bringing the events to life. All of the characters were well shaped, a result probably of the different voices (this book js not likely to have worked so well with just one narrator). It might take you a while to get used to the email format (for me, it might sound silly but the most annoying bit was that the ‘to’ field came after the other details, I’d have liked to know both the sender and the recipient at the outset) but once you’re in, you’ll take it as part of the plot. Paying attention to the time of each message adds to the building tension. I literally could not stop listening to this

Smart and riveting

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The idea of having almost the whole book as emails and texts is unusual and took a little getting used to.
It also took me a while to get into the 'story' but once I did I was hooked!
A clever format for what is basically a who dunnit?

unusual format and very compelling

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Enjoyed the story. The way it was delivered was initially tedious, but I wanted to see where it was going so persevered. Glad I did. Some clever twists and turns.

Definitely different

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