“A New Play. Another Murder. A Town Full of Secrets…
It’s a new theatrical season in Lower Lockwood, and the amateur thespians of the Fairway Players are starting rehearsals for their production of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. Despite troublesome new arrivals, countless petty squabbles and a gruesome accident with the lighting rig, surely this will be their greatest show to date?
But someone is hiding a devastating secret… and they won’t make it to opening night. Could it be Sarah-Jane’s sister, back in Lockwood after twenty years abroad? New member Lucas, whose shady business dealings may be his downfall? Or is it Issy, out of prison but still up to her old tricks?
Lawyers Charlotte and Femi must sift through the evidence to identify the victim and find out why the convicted murderer refuses to speak in their own defence… Will they uncover the truth in time? Will you?”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett. The Silent Appeal is published by Viper Books today (that’s Thursday 3rd September 2026) and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free ARC of The Silent Appeal but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to the team at Viper Books for sending me both a proof and a finished copy.
As most anticipated books go, The Silent Appeal was pretty much top of the list. I was blown away by Janice Hallett’s debut, The Appeal, back in 2021 (officially 2020 if you want to be pedantic, as I read it quite a few weeks before it was officially published but had to contain myself and my thoughts until publication day!). Then we were treated to a Fairway Players soupçon in the form of The Christmas Appeal back in 2023. A short, sweet and oh-so-deadly reminder of how utterly engaging these characters are and what a fantastic storyteller Hallett is. ‘Christmas’ only made me want more. There’s something about the cast of characters, the use of mixed media to tell the story, and the way the author deftly spins a mystery that makes these books highly addictive. So imagine my joy when a third return to Lower Lockwood and the Fairway Players was announced. I could hardly contain myself. I was prepared to move heaven and earth to get a copy. Luckily, the folk at Viper Books stepped in, and extreme measures were hastily halted!
Allow me to catch you up. Janice Hallett has a skill that I (seven books in) still can’t quite fathom. She can tell a compelling, intricate story, construct a clever mystery full of red herrings and doubt, build characters from the ground up, make them believable and relatable, only by using mixed media. We’re talking emails, WhatsApp messages, journals, statements. It’s such a skill and one, when I think of the effort required, that makes me sweat. Sure, other writers use mixed media in amongst the more traditional structure. That very normal, more traditional approach comes across as a little…unambitious after reading a Janice Hallett novel. No shade meant here. I notice the difference more after reading a book by this author. Really, I can’t get over how utterly fiddly, how every detail needs to be completely fine-tuned when I’m reading one of Janice’s mysteries. It’s an art, and clearly not an easy one otherwise there would be a tonne of copycats out there!
Enough of my fangirling (for now…). The Silent Appeal is the second book in The Appeal Series. I really hope it’s not the last. If you’ve read the first book, many of the characters who feature in this book will be familiar to you. Kevin and Sarah-Jane MacDonald make a return. It’s their turn to direct and produce the play this year, but the constraints of a young family are very much getting in the way. Celia Halliday and husband, Joel OBE, make a welcome return to really stir things up and get both under Kevin’s feet and on his nerves. Celia is a professional when it comes to pointing out Kevin’s mistakes, of which there are many. Their bickering and sniping are a joy to behold. And of course, there’s Issy. There are plenty of new characters too. Fran brings a trio of new faces to the latest production, which is ‘The Hollow’ by Agatha Christie. But is Lucas, and his set-up, as legit as he makes out? Not forgetting Sarah-Jane’s younger sister, Nicky-Rose. A dancer who has been abroad for twenty years, who suddenly turns up out of the blue with nothing but the clothes on her back. As with the first book in the series, you don’t find out who has been murdered until much further on in the story. The tension and intrigue this creates is palpable, and I loved trying to work out who, what, why and when as I progressed through the novel. Alongside life in Lower Lockwood, there is the sub-plot of why Nicky-Rose has left Barbados in a hurry. Could the death the book is leading up to and whatever happened in Bridgetown be related? Well, that’s not for me to say. Best to get yourself a copy of the book and see what happens for yourself. You won’t regret it.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Without a moment’s hesitation. I absolutely adored being back in Lower Lockwood with the Fairway Players. They’re a multi-faceted, beautifully fleshed out cast of highly recognisable characters. These are slightly amplified versions of people you may know and love, and the way Hallett presents them leads to numerous moments of absolute hilarity, alongside some really emotional, heartfelt exchanges. It all comes together to create something truly great, a really rewarding, immersive reading experience. Fans of the epistolary novel need to get themselves copies of all of this author’s books. Fans of a great, well-written mystery with superb characters should do exactly the same. And, if you haven’t had the joy of experiencing The Appeal yet, then do that first. If you can’t wait, then I think you’ll be fine, but you will miss out on the intricacies of these long-standing relationships, and NOBODY wants that! I promise you, it will be worth it. All in all, I was in heaven reading this book. Warm, witty and delightfully murderous. Packed to the gills with lots of intrigue, beautifully written suspense and tonnes of gloriously funny bickering. I can’t say it enough, it was a JOY to read The Silent Appeal. I devoured this book faster than anything else I’ve read recently. And that’s saying something! Something very special, indeed. Highly recommended.
I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Silent Appeal. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
Janice Hallett is the author of five best-selling novels. Her debut, The Appeal, was a Sunday Times’ Bestseller and Waterstones’ Thriller of the Month. Her second The Twyford Code won Crime & Thriller Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2023. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels was a Richard & Judy Bookclub pick and an instant bestseller on its launch in January 2023, as was her novella The Christmas Appeal, in October 2023 and The Examiner in August 2024. Her first murder mystery for children aged 8-12 A Box Full of Murders is published in June 2025 by Puffin and The Killer Question, her sixth adult crime novel, is published in September 2025,
Janice is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. As a playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and co-wrote the feature film Retreat.
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We twin posted today! Excellent review, Emma💜 I love this series and it’s something special on audio.
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