The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
Published by Serpent's Tail on 26th October 2023
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime
Pages: 208
Format: Audiobook

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?

Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

I adored The Appeal so I was so happy to see that Janice Hallett was bringing out another story set in the same town. I ended up listening to this one on audio because I felt like it suited the tone of the novel better, and I was correct. While reading the print copy I struggled to get into the story, but on audio I had no problems at all and completely flew through it.

The Christmas Appeal is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself as I listened to the drama about the beanstalk, a panto, and a dead Father Christmas.

I found that certain characters were written very stereotypically, but it wasn’t bad enough to ruin my enjoyment.

My husband also listened in to some parts and was laughing out loud, so that’s a really good endorsement!