Book Review: The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

Janice Hallett’s latest witty, effervescent murder mystery brings us back to the world of the Fairway Players in all their dysfunctional glory, two years after the events chronicled in her excellent novel The Appeal. Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd have once again been drawn into a case by their retired mentor Roderick Tanner, who’s sent them a massive amount of correspondence to sort through in order to determine who died and whodunnit, and what they as barristers establishing themselves in the legal field ought to do about it.

The correspondence begins innocuously enough, with Celia Halliday boasting about her family in her annual Christmas email. It quickly becomes clear, however, that the snobbish woman is less than pleased with the direction in which the annual Christmas pantomime is going. While the Fairway Players’ one night only production of Jack And The Beanstalk is meant to be a fundraiser, Celia’s subsequent emails find plenty to complain about, from set design changes to the rest of the group’s efforts at recruiting more bodies to fill up the stage:

It’s lucky for us that, in [my husband] Joel Halliday, OBE, we have the best, most creative set designer and builder the group has ever known!

 

Accruing new members is all very well–if those members are young, fit, and talented, with a positive attitude, and are prepared to throw themselves into the cut and thrust of community theater. Attracting hordes of society’s “passengers” will do us no good at all. Please ensure that anyone you encourage to join is the sort of person who reflects our established values and work ethic.

Fortunately, most of the rest of the players have her number, including the harried co-chair of the group, Sarah-Jane MacDonald. Sarah-Jane has the unenviable task of dealing not only with the insufferable Hallidays but also the petty jealousies of the rest of the performers and crew, while simultaneously reassuring the skeptical Reverend Harries that their performance in his church will not bring any more structural damage to the building. Through no fault of their own, the roof fell in during their last staging, and this Christmas play will hopefully help pay to repair it completely.

But nothing is as easy as it seems when it comes to the Fairway Players. When a dead body slides out on stage, will even this irrepressible group be able to ensure that the play goes on? And will Femi and Charlotte be able to sort through all the clues to figure out what their mentor is trying to show them?

So much of this book will ring true to anyone who’s participated in amateur (and even some professional) theatricals. Its unique format as an epistolary novel only adds to the immersive quality of the communications, as if we’re really privy to the exasperated and often humorous conversations of the people involved. As Sarah-Jane texts with her husband Kevin over a perceived slight Celia has taken umbrage at:

2:11 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

We had this with Glengarry and Gary Lineker. Do you deliberately “forget” Joel’s OBE every time you send draft program text? Are you really that petty?

 

2:15 p.m. Kevin wrote:

You bet I do. And yes, I am.

 

2:21 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

Remember, we must stand for reelection as joint chairs every year, and exhibitions of pique will only fuel the Hallidays’ next campaign. I like to think we are cochairs through our hard work, clear heads, and sense of fairness. To lead, we must put away childish things.

 

2:26 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Well said. Joel, OBE will be described as Joel, OBE whenever Joel, OBE is mentioned. Signed, Kevin, no-BE.

The humor is laugh out loud funny throughout this lively, fast-packed book. If you’re a fan of The Appeal, as I am, you might also squeal with delight at Isabel Beck’s cameo, as I did. Ms Hallett expertly skewers snobbishness, pettiness and narrow-mindedness in all its forms in this light-hearted novel, even as she asks the bigger question of who is allowed to get away with crime and why. I’m already looking forward to reading her next book, even if it has nothing to do with the Fairway Players, as her mastery of this modern epistolary format is matched by very few working in the field today.