The Appeal by Janice Hallett

Atria Books, 432 pages, $27.99

What did I like about this book? Some of the gimmicks. What did I not like about this book? The rest of the gimmicks.

Ostensibly, when you have many voices vying for attention, it’s great if they sound different. Mostly the characters in “The Appeal” were indistinguishable. That shows up especially because of the format of the story. It is an epistolary work; that is, you read a lot of emails, some phone texts, and a few letters, and an occasional legal memo. I guess the voice of Martin Hayward of the manor born sounds a little more sophisticated than that of Issy Beck, a shy nurse. I’m talking tone here, not content. In terms of content the various characters reveal very different aspects of themselves and the mystery.

What exactly is the mystery? It takes a really long time, but someone does die. And there are criminal irregularities. And there are criminous characters. And there is at least one killer. And there are characters who may not be real. And there are diseases du jour. There’s a lot in the mix.

The basic plot revolves around the cast and crew of a tiny local drama society, The Fairview Players, in a small town in England. Some of those players are also connected to the local medical community, the other group around which the story revolves.

The Hayward family is the local aristocracy and they run the Players and appear in the center of the drama that starts the story rolling. Martin Hayward is the patriarch. He is also the director of the Players’ productions. He has announced he cannot continue with the current production because his granddaughter, two-year-old Poppy, has a rare type of brain cancer and his whole family — most of whom are vital members of the cast and crew — must circle their wagons to help her. Everything is thrown into chaos, especially for Issy. The Players group is everything to her, balancing her aggravating, unsatisfying nursing job. She would do anything to help the Players continue.

Martin announces he needs a lot of money to pay for a special American treatment that is in its preliminary stages. Sarah-Jane MacDonald is the local soccer mom. Not literally. She is just the one who can organize your sock drawers or your fundraising dinner. Also, let’s put on a play! The small group of Players dreams of many ways to eke money out of the local crowd. Maybe it will get wider press. Yay!

Samantha Greenwood and her husband, Kel, have just moved to the town. They are both nurses and they meet Issy. Issy immediately adopts Sam as her new best friend and gets Sam and Kel involved in the Players.

Hmm. Let’s throw some intrigue into this. The doctor handling Poppy’s cancer protocol and arranging for the experimental treatment is Dr. Tish Bhatoa. How odd that it turns out Sam knows Dr. Bhatoa from work they both did in Africa, where Kel and Sam lived for many years until moving to the little English town. There is some friction between the two, which, of course, is not explained for a long time.

Let’s add one more layer to make it even more complicated. All the emails, texts, etc., are materials belonging to Roderick Tanner, QC. He has forwarded them to some assistants, Femi and Charlotte. They are to review the materials without knowing the outcome of the story or the disposition of the characters, and give their opinion on what strikes the wrong notes. Seriously? It’s a flimsy pretext, but okay, I’ll climb on board. Every once in a while, we get a text exchange between Femi and Charlotte reviewing the documents, i.e., let us hit you over the head with what has been covered so far.

Roderick Tanner, QC, doesn’t really count. He appears as a relic to advance the story. From the start, he knows who was murdered and who was arrested for the murder. What he wants to know is did the right person get caught? He wants Femi and Charlotte to construct the case out of something close to thin air. Not all the parties to the events are represented by the emails, texts, etc. Some are noticeably absent. We never see anything from Sam, for instance. Stay calm and carry on.

“The Appeal” refers both to the fundraising and to the overlying court case.

The story is enticing enough that I read all 432 pages, but I’m telling you, the book should have been made a little leaner and meaner. I dodged and wove my way around the gimmicks. Kudos to the author for coming up with something original. I finished it. I want an award.