Janice Hallett, “the new queen of crime”, is back with another clever, edge-of-your-seat mystery, this time set in an isolated rural pub. Sue and Mal Eastwood run The Case is Altered, a pub whose weekly trivia night revives its fortunes until a body is discovered in the nearby river. Soon after, a mysterious new trivia team arrives, winning every round without fail. But Sue and Mal are hiding secrets of their own, tied to a past police operation, and when their nephew Dominic sets out to make a documentary five years later, the truth about what really happened comes to light. Could a single killer question really be at the center of it all?
Hallett has such a unique way of writing mysteries. I’ve read a few of her books and for the most part, I really enjoy them, especially her epistolary style told through documents, texts, emails, and interviews. The Appeal was one of my favorites of 2021, and her holiday novella The Christmas Appeal was such a fun, quick addition to that world. I didn’t love The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels as much, but I appreciated its originality.
With The Killer Question, I did like the concept and found the mystery itself compelling, but I had a harder time engaging with the story at first. Hallett tends to juggle large casts of characters, and this one leaned heavily into pub trivia night setups, ie. quiz team names, seating charts, and lots of side characters. This made it tricky to keep everyone straight. While the structure (emails, interviews, texts) was as immersive as ever, the constant jumping and sheer number of players made it feel more chaotic than usual for me.
That said, I liked that this book didn’t veer as dark as some of her previous work, and once I got into the rhythm, I definitely wanted to know what happened. At around 448 pages, though, it did feel long and dragged in places. I think part of this might be me (I’ve got toddlers and not a lot of reading focus right now) so maybe if I were more well-rested, I’d have tracked everything better. For now, I think I might need to stick to more traditional storytelling until life calms down a bit.
Overall, The Killer Question delivers exactly what Hallett is known for: clever plotting, a distinct format, and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end. While it wasn’t my favorite of hers, fans of The Appeal and other epistolary-style mysteries will likely find a lot to enjoy here.
AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP | ★★★★
The Killer Question is out now. Huge thank you to Atria Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
