The Christmas Appeal: A Novella | 
so-soI confess, I‘ve not read The Appeal yet, but I‘m on a “festive reading” wave and this one, ahem, appealed. I may have enjoyed this more if I had read The Appeal beforehand, but as it is, it felt a little flat. The power struggles and general bitchiness is amusing (and rings true) bit as a mystery, it didn‘t work for me. General consensus seems to be that The Appeal os worth reading so I will bring that to the top of my 2025 TBR pile
#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers @StayCurious
#earlybirdpoints
#DecemberTBR (as of now subject to change😁)
#ChristmasReads
#SeasonalCozies @JulieClair I think I'll go with the tagged book for December.
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead @BarbaraJean
so-soWish I liked this one more but I found it stretched plausibility and was just… meh. The conceit of using emails to tell the story is interesting but the story itself just fell flat and the ending felt forced.
pickFinally got to listen to this audiobook on Libby. Only a month after Christmas 😹. This was a funny mystery set in the world of amateur theatre- things go hilariously awry during the Christmas Pantomime- a fun epistolary story 👍❤️🐉
#BookReport
I‘ve finished both Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I‘ve read The Christmas Appeal, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms and A Man & His Cat 1
By tomorrow‘s weekly forecast I hope to have finished both the Agatha Christie book and I desember
I‘m still reading my way through The Christmas Chronicles
pickI haven‘t read The Appeal and there was some references to that, but that didn‘t stop me from enjoying this. This is its own mystery.
The Fairway Players are putting up a pantomime as their Christmas play. When suddenly, a dead Santa comes out of one of the props.
There‘s some serious tension between the members and not everyone is who they seem to be.
After reading this, I definitely want to read The Appeal
#RushAThon
pickI really enjoyed returning to this world and this cast as they struggle to put on a Christmas play. Funny, snarky, and a fun mystery always!
#WinterGames #GangstaWrappers @Bookwormjillk @Clwojick @StayCurious
#WGWordsearch 3120 pts
pickSqueaked this novella in right before we left for our trip. I haven‘t read The Appeal but that didn‘t seem to matter. I really enjoyed the way this one unfolded with letters and emails and texts, etc. I was laughing right out loud in so many places, just the light, fun, murdery book I needed to put me in the Christmas spirit.
pickBeen binging holiday content, and of the books included this has easily been my favorite so far! So funny and charming and great on audio. I have not read any Janice Hallett before, which is perhaps ill-advised because this does seem to contain plenty of spoilers for The Appeal…but oh well, still might go back and read that if it‘s anywhere near as delightful as this!
Does life get better than good coffee, a great Christmas book and puppy snuggles on a rainy morning? Probably not. #jollyhollyreaders #wintergames
More like Litsy made me. I wouldn‘t have known this book had come out except I saw it on Litsy.
#LMSDec2023 #BookstagramMadeMe
pickEnjoyed the heck out of this. So much fun! Laughed out loud many times.
#CloakandDaggerChristmas
pickEven though I haven‘t yet read The Appeal yet, I thoroughly enjoyed this murder mystery epistolary novella. Hilarious plot twists & small town characters.
pickThis is a hilarious post-script to The Appeal, but probably wouldn't stand up on its own.
The Fairway Players are back and putting on a panto. Much farce and shenanigans ensue. I laughed out loud so much 🤣🤣
If you enjoyed The Appeal, you absolutely MUST read this. If you didn't, don't bother.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickSuch a fun quick read. The whole book is told in the form of snarky emails, texts, and group chats. A small town theater group is putting on a holiday pantomime and of course, chaos ensues. Fun and silly, it was a great seasonal book when the romcom holidays kept falling flat for me.
so-soA Christmas panto.
A dead Santa.
And everyone's a suspect.
pickThis was a complete #blameitonLitsy! After putting a library hold that said I would def not get it before xmas, it popped up yesterday and I zipped right through it. Novella told via group chats and police reports reveals a local theatre group‘s existing dramas boiling under the small town surface long before the body shows up. I actually laughed out loud more than a few times. Quick, funny, xmasy, told in a delightful format. Thumbs up.
pickI enjoyed this one.
Read for reading prompts
4/5
pickTold through email, IM and police transcripts- this is the story of the Fairway Players Christmas Pantomime. It starts with a retired lawyer reaching out to some former students, and emailing them all the documents surrounding the case… as we read through them - events are set in motion, motivations are revealed and a dead body is uncovered, in a very dramatic fashion.
I found the format both annoying and engaging - finished it in one sitting.
pickMaybe not as much fun as the first Appeal book, but still really enjoyable. Audio was a little hard to follow an epistolary format, so I'd recommend this in print form.
#wintergames (2hours×10×10thons)+26+(285words×10)=3,076 #gangstawrappers @Bookwormjillk #20in4 #rushathon #bookspin #cloakanddagger #littenlisten #atoz #wintercosy #wintercleardown #candyland #adventathon @Andrew65 @DieAReader @Ruthiella @Texreader @BookmarkTavern @PuddleJumper
This mystery had a lot more humor in it than The Appeal or Twyford Code. It takes places and has many of the same characters found in The Appeal. Even in shorter form, the narrative of police docs, emails, and group chats works in slowly revealing the details of the mystery. A solid 4.5 stars. Word Search = 2,390.
#20 in4 @Andrew65
#Rushathon @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
#CandylandReadathon @Catsandbooks
#CloakAndDaggerChristmas @Ruthiella
#WinterGames begins with The Christmas Appeal. I‘m over half way through, and I love it.
@Julsmarshall
My goal is to complete 2 books from the above tittles for #WinterGames.
@Andrew65 #20in4
pickThis is a novella so it didn‘t take very me very long to read it. You could read it in an afternoon. It‘s a fun and humorous little mystery and made me want to read The Appeal which features some of the same characters.
A library book. I haven‘t actually read The Appeal but have read and enjoyed The Twyford Code & The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. Hope I don‘t have to have read The Appeal!
pickThis was a fun, quick read. The writing style of emails, texts, and group chats isn't normally my favorite, but worked well with this story and was done well. I found the humor of the chats between everyone more dominant than the mystery, but since I laughed out loud a few times I considered it a cute, enjoyable read. 🤓
My husband isn‘t ready for holiday music however he doesn‘t say anything about books.
October wrap-up: favorite listen is a three-way tie between tagged title and both Laura Purcell books. Most disappointing listen was Judgment Prey by John Sandford.
🎧🍁📚🍂
pickThis is a novella set in the same village with the same theatre crew as the book “The Appeal“. It also follows the same format, where we read the emails, text messages etc. the lawyers have been given as part of the discovery process. It is a humorous tale about the group as they put on a Christmas Pantomime, where one couple tries to ruin things and everything goes wrong...including the finding of a skeleton onstage. I enjoyed it. 3.75/5
pickThis was my first book by the author and I was unprepared for the style of the book. That said, this little short was a fun read, lots of laugh snorts.
I just learned we‘re getting this Christmas novella from Hallett in October! I thought The Appeal was really fun so I know what I‘ll be reading come December.
