The Appeal is a mystery told through electronic communication - email, messaging apps, texts. (Who communicates that much through email?!) I expected the format to bother me, but once I had the rhythm, I didn’t even think about it. I enjoyed it even. 

I really enjoyed the story itself. It reminded me a little bit of a soap opera whodunnit with a long list of suspects, several theories, but one conclusion. Of course, the quality of this story is better than a soap opera, and I say that having spent years watching them. 

As annoying as some of the characters are (looking at you Isabel), there are times when I liked them or sympathized with them. 

There are a couple of twists or plot points that are very easy to see, but others that aren’t obvious until much later, or even until the end. 

One small thing that bothered me, the emergency number in England is not 911. This felt like an unnecessary American change. One slightly bigger part I didn’t care for is the final scene in Africa. Even though I understand why it was included, I don’t think it was really needed. 

Hallett’s second book is coming out soon with a similar format. I think I enjoyed this enough to read her next book.