The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: August 25, 2026

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 480

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4/5

The Silent Appeal is a compelling sequel that picks up again with The Fairway Players a few years after the events of The Appeal. The group has come together to put on Agatha Christie’s story, The Hollow and of course there is murder involved. Told once again in Hallett’s signature style of mixed media we have a compelling story of gossip, betrayals, and obsession.

Every time I pick up a Hallett book I’m in awe of what a masterful storyteller she is with her ability to make characters come alive with her mixed media style. Each character has such a distinctive voice and there is just enough detail given about the setting that I could easily picture everything happening in my head. I also appreciated that there was so much interpersonal drama happening that it wasn’t clear til the end what was the actual event that led to the lawyers getting involved in an appeal. And I was amazed at how many seeds had been planted by Hallett to make the murder possible.

As usual, there is a lot going on with the story. Between the play and each character’s personal dramas it can be a lot to juggle. The Silent Appeal is a story that demands to be read as quickly as possible or else tendrils of the story will be lost and the ending will lose its impact. However, I found myself not really caring who died by the end of it because I was more personally invested in seeing the mystery of who killed who reveal itself. Also, after the high of figuring out who killed who I did think the remainder of the book felt a bit flat. There were moments I really liked but there were also some moments that pushed me out of the story a bit.

Overall this was a fantastic story that kept me fully engaged and turning pages as fast as I could. I will forever read anything Janice Hallett writes and I do hope that we get more from The Fairway Players in the future.