{"id":23237,"date":"2024-02-17T11:53:20","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T16:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=23237"},"modified":"2024-03-01T20:29:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T01:29:23","slug":"the-christmas-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23237","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Christmas Appeal<\/em><\/a> (2023) Janice Hallett<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>This story is written as a series of electronic messages and recordings and evidence. A retired DI has sent these bits of evidence to his former detectives to get their opinion and see what conclusions they come up with.<\/p>\n

In Lower Lockwood the Fairway Players have a yearly Christmas panto, and the exchanges are text messages and emails and chats that were not presented as evidence, but which paint a picture of the group and the place and the time.<\/p>\n

Things open with a Christmas email sent out by one of the members of the group. Someone who I immediately disliked.<\/p>\n

Of course that was a long time ago and we felt the original script would benefit from a few tweaks, so we removed the swearing, changed the setting to Lockwood so that we could use our own accents, and gave it a happy ending.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then disliked even more.<\/p>\n

Our beautiful rescue dog, which we so generously gave a home to, was awarded \u201cMutt with the Most\u201d at the spring fair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not that others in town are much better.<\/p>\n

2:03 p.m. Kevin wrote:
\nDon\u2019t be rude to your mum. Comprendo, compadre, but she\u2019s got a lot on her plate, she works hard and, let\u2019s face it, she\u2019s the only mum you\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

2:04 p.m. Harley wrote:
\nfuck off dad
\n…
\n2:05 p.m. Kevin wrote:
\nAll fine. He\u2019s sorry. Just worried about school tests and a bit snappy.
\n2:05 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
\nAppreciated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I enjoyed the format of electronic communications giving you a glimpse into the case and seeing people at their best and worst, but the cattiness was a bit rough after awhile.<\/p>\n

I also was a bit annoyed that the author \/ retired officer kept back bits of evidence. I understand it was written as a way to test the two detectives, but still found it annoying.<\/p>\n

So I read it, I liked the format, but am not sure I’d seek out other books by the author.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Atria Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Christmas Appeal (2023) Janice Hallett This story is written as a series of electronic messages and recordings and evidence. A retired DI has sent these bits of evidence to his former detectives to get their opinion and see what conclusions they come up with. In Lower Lockwood the Fairway Players have a yearly Christmas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,190,292,204,8,196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-good","category-mystery","category-novella"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-62N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5909,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5909","url_meta":{"origin":23237,"position":0},"title":"The Mystery Woman","author":"Michelle","date":"June 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mystery Woman (2013) Amanda Quick Beatrice Lockwood fled the Academy of the Occult after the death of her mentor, Roland Fleming. She now is employed as an agent by Flint & Marsh. Joshua Gage had been an agent for the Crown, before his injury in the line of duty,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Mystery-Woman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/The-Mystery-Woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11142,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11142","url_meta":{"origin":23237,"position":1},"title":"The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue","author":"Michelle","date":"October 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017) Mackenzi Lee Set in Europe in the 1700s Henry \u201cMonty\u201d Montague is a rake. He was kicked out of Eton, is constantly in drunk, and is the despair of his parents. He is also in love with his best friend, Percy. 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And Ferngold (head of the local guild) is not pleased about Pip and is blaming both Darien and Silas for Pip's existence.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bound by Memories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Bound-by-Memories.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21469,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21469","url_meta":{"origin":23237,"position":4},"title":"The First Snow of Winter","author":"Michelle","date":"January 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The First Snow of Winter (2021) Joanna Chambers (Winterbourne) Set in England in 1814. Sam has returned to England missing both an arm and a direction for his life. And he doesn't want the frivolity of the annual Christmas visit with his mother's best friend. But his mother begs, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The First Snow of Winter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/The-First-Snow-of-Winter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8615,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8615","url_meta":{"origin":23237,"position":5},"title":"A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"January 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories (2014) edited by Kevin J. Anderson & Kieth J. 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