I’m a big fan of Janice Hallett but after listening to some on audio book, I decided that the written books would be easier. This is because of the unusual way that Janice Hallet presents her book. When I read The Killer Question I thought it would be terrible to listen too, but now I’ve checked the number of narrators on Audible and I think it would probably be easier. There appears to be a different narrator for every person, which would actually be more helpful, because there are so many of them and in the book they are all introduced by initials only. I got confused at times. Read the rest of my review later, first here is the book.
The Killer Question
The Blurb
The answer is murder. The question is whodunnit?
A quiet country pub stands empty, its windows boarded up. And its kindly landlords, Mal and Sue Eastwood, are missing.
What could have happened? A lot of strange events occurred in the days before the Eastwoods disappeared. A murdered man pulled from the nearby river. An eccentric couple on a houseboat who claimed to be led by a spirit guide. And a mysterious new team who suddenly appeared and began winning every round at the weekly pub quiz – much to the anger of the locals. They must have been cheating, but no one could figure out how…
Can you crack the case of the missing landlords? Someone’s not been playing fair, so get the drinks in and see if you can get a perfect score.
My Review of The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
This book is written in a series of e-mails, texts and recordings which is usual for Janice Hallett. They mystery is being written as a proposed documentary for Netflix and it feels like it is written in play form for most parts. As I said, the thing I found confusing was that the characters parts where written in initials only and it was difficult to keep track at times. Also, there were a lot of characters to keep track of.
The mystery itself was really clever with some interesting twists. I could see it working as a Netflix series. The main story revolves around a nephew telling the story of his missing aunt and uncle, Sue and Mal Eastwood.
For the beginning of the story it trundles along with the country pub and it’s landlords and Monday night quiz. The Quizzers turn up every week but are always beaten by one group. Then a new group turns up and they take over the lead with near perfect scores.
I loved the characterisation of the different pub groups and their little Whatsapp chats after the quiz. I even got to like the landlords Mel and Sue, and their interactions with other pubs in the area. Nothing seemed amiss.
Then we find out about Mel and Sue’s past lives in the police force. But even then they loved a quiz. They were assigned on a particular case where there was a kidnapping and they had to look after the family of the missing daughter. We wonder what this all has to do with the rest of the story, but it’s all nicely split up.
Then we start getting little twists and turns, nothing too dramatic until the final quiz. Then it’s kaboom and we are told what is actually going on. I actually loved the story, and like I said, it could easily be made into a very watchable Netflix series.
I don’t want to give too much away but the story of Mel and Sue comes to light and we find out who the new quizzers are.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the murdered body that is found in the river right next to the pub! How did it get there, who is it, and who killed him?
If you don’t mind a different style of writing, this is a really good mystery. I’m definitely going to look for the audio book now!
Other reviews of mine for Janice Hallett books
The mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
I agree, at some points. this book was very confusing but once you got to know the players and the style of writing, this mystery was fun and entertaining and interesting in the way it was presented. Great review!
I’ve just finished reading this and I absolutely loved it! For me, it was definitely better than The Twyford Code or The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.