Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A Christmas Panto. A Dead Santa. And Everyone’s a Suspect…”

This was my second Janice Hallett book this year and I was so happy to dive back into her brilliant mind! I really wanted to read this last year but didn’t manage to fit it in during Christmas, so here we are, a whole year later 😆 I haven’t read The Appeal yet (I know 😬 it’s been on my bookshelf since it released, it even has the old cover, ha) but this still reads brilliantly on its own. I’m so happy to finally be sharing my review of The Christmas Appeal!

About the book

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.

The beginning

The humour in this book grabbed me instantly, something I was surprised by! If you’re not already familiar with Janice’s books, her signature writing style is in the form of mixed media; emails, messages, etc. How she not only managed to make me giggle on numerous occasions, but also made everything so relevant in this format made me want to applaud every page I read. Lawyers, Femi and Charlotte, are tasked with looking over letters, emails and transcripts to identify a killer and a victim, and I was so excited to dive right into this mystery. We’re introduced to The Fairway Players, a theatre group who are putting on a panto production of Jack and the Beanstalk, with proceeds going towards fixing their church roof. Already, there were certain stand out characters – Celia, for one. And oh my GOD, I loved her for the wrong reasons. I just love Janice’s characters in general, and it’s always clear she has so much fun creating them all.

“Let’s just say you won’t believe your eyes when you see it. We don’t do things by halves, and this time we’ve gone all the way. See you tonight!”

Celia’s pretentious round robin email had me in hysterics, reminding me of a family friend who used to send those exact family updates to us at the end of the year. Celia was so frustrating to many characters, each email or message sent behind her back getting progressively more bitchy, filled with gossip. I could already see the personalities of some characters shining through as they make final preparations for the panto, including sourcing a massive beanstalk to take centre stage. There was a really big cast of characters already; despite it being an enjoyable opening to the book, it took me a while to get acquainted with so many characters. I remember thinking the same about The Examiner, but this time round, I think it was maybe because it was a sequel that I felt a bit lost initially. I got there eventually, but it just took a little longer! Everything seemed as calm as it could be in the week leading up to the panto… what on earth could go wrong?!

The middle

I loved that Femi and Charlotte regroup every now and then to discuss the media they’ve pored over so far and mull over what it all means. It was really helpful for me to not only get the perfect summary of a section, but also for me to pause for a while and think about certain characters and their actions further, without being too caught up in the book as it progressed. There were rifts between certain characters, people who think they’re better than others and I just loved all the juicy gossip. All I was thinking was which one of these people could be a killer?! From a potential asbestos-filled beanstalk, talks of a convicted murderer walking free and an accidental drug deal, it felt like an episode of a soap! Janice really has perfected the feelings of stress and the organisation of planning a Christmas production. She doesn’t leave a detail unexplored, no stone unturned. It all felt so realistic! And then things start to go wrong. People aren’t on stage at the right time. And what was that noise coming from the beanstalk?

“Is that a dead body?

In the beanstalk?

Oh yes it is!”

Ever since Celia announced a ‘surprise’ for the cast, much to Director, Sarah-Jane’s annoyance, I really felt her grudge was maybe much more personal than I first thought. It was clear they didn’t get on, but to what extent? Would Celia really go to such lengths as to conceal a body in that beanstalk? A Santa?! Even though it literally says there’s a dead Santa on the front cover of the book, the way it was revealed was still brilliant and done in true Janice Hallett style. I loved reading the County Police Interview Reports, where we see different versions of events from a range of characters. Of course, I suspected everyone. No one was innocent in my eyes apart from Sarah-Jane, who was quite obviously oblivious to everything going on as she helps her husband out of a bin (long story…) It’s frantic. Despite the skeleton in a Santa hat, the show must go on! The dog has Santa’s leg bone. The audience think it’s all a big laugh while things are absolutely chaotic behind the scenes. It was so funny!

The end

There were many different theories flying around from Femi and Charlotte as they continue to put the pieces together and talk about motives. Was it really a murder, or just a mystery to solve? How old was this skeletal Santa? If it was murder, then how long ago was this person killed? Was it more recent, the person’s flesh dissolved quickly? (Well, we have to think about every possibility here, don’t we?) We learn a little more about Peter, Celia’s son, the convicted criminal (drugs and ABH.) Could they have tried to cover up someone he’d murdered, a worse crime? My mind was everywhere, multiple explanations about how Santa got into the beanstalk and when. Who was involved and who was keeping quiet. It was fascinating to think about! Was someone trying to pin the blame on someone else? To make it look like blood on someone else’s hands? (Or lack of blood, seeing as Santa was literally a skeleton…)

“Theatrical people say, ‘The show must go on.’ We’ll, that is true of life, is it not?”

An explanation that seems to make sense is that the dead Santa was simply a tragedy, a sad story that was clearly never meant to happen, but it soon becomes clear it’s much more than that. More last minute documents are released to Femi and Charlotte that put a really nice little twist on things, perfectly rounding things off. Bravo, once again, Janice! This author is so clever at creating those showstopping finales, and even in a book much shorter than her others, she still manages it. So impressive! Whether you’ve read Janice’s books before or not, you’ll love this. I do wish I’d read The Appeal first, but I reckon I will love it even more now I know some of the characters! I’m so glad I finally started reading Janice’s books this year, hopefully I can catch up with all her books before the next is released. I can’t wait to read whatever comes next from her!

Overall thoughts

The Christmas Appeal is such a brilliantly entertaining mystery with the perfect sprinkling of festive goodness. It’s beautifully executed and filled with intrigue from start to finish. I loved the characters in this book; so well rounded and genuinely funny! It will forever blow my mind how Janice’s style of writing (emails, messages, transcripts, etc.) can be just as absorbing, even more absorbing than a mystery written in a ‘normal’ format. It held my attention throughout and it felt incredible to actually laugh out loud at a book, something that hasn’t happened for a LONG time! Another insanely clever read with a satisfying conclusion. It’s a short read, so if you’ve not already read it, you can definitely squeeze it in before the big day! 🎄

Huge thanks to the author, Janice Hallett, Rachel Quin and Viper Books for my gifted copy of the book and extra goodies! You can grab your own copy of The Christmas Appeal right now from Amazon or wherever you buy your books (choose from the fancy new paperback, hardback or eBook.) Make sure you’re following Janice over on Instagram, Bluesky or X/Twitter for more updates!

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