First Lines Friday – 19/12/2025
I set myself a challenge to feature a festive book in today’s First Lines Friday. As it stands, I don’t read a lot of festive fiction. However, this one is on my radar after reading another book by the same author!
This week’s feature is a mixed media murder mystery. Do you have an inkling of what book and/or author I feature in this First Lines Friday? If so, let me know in the comments! If not, take a look at the opening below and see if any names ring any bells…
To: Femi Hassan & Charlotte Holroyd
From: Roderick Tanner, KC
Date: 1 November 2023
Subject: A conundrum for you
Dear both, I trust you are well. While you establish yourselves in the field of criminal law, it doesn’t hurt to keep the wheels of deduction turning. I have another fascinating case to run past you. Why you? Well, it seems The Fairway Players are once again at the centre of a mystery.
I’ve read the enclosed and think I’ve worked it out. I wonder if you can.
Here is a bundle of correspondence from the last few weeks of 2022, during rehearsals for the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. 
RT Roderick Tanner, KC (retired)
The Christmas Appeal – Janice Hallett
Genre: Murder Mystery
Pages: 191
Audience: Adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 24 Oct 2023
Goodreads – The Christmas Appeal
This immersive holiday caper follows the hilarious Fairway Players theater group as they put on a Christmas play—and solve a murder that threatens their production.
The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.
Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.
My Thoughts…
Quite often I steer clear of festive reads because they’re often cheesy. Or romance. Both? Probably. It’s just generally not my thing. However, a murder mystery at the panto? That’s infinitely more interesting to read about!
If you are familiar with Janice Hallett, you’ll know she’s written a book called The Appeal. I read that book around three years ago now. This sequel follows on from that, with familiar characters and a festive play to make it merry. Oh, and Santa gets murdered…
What’s more amazing is that in featuring this book/series, I’ve found out there’s another book coming out in September next year. You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that it’s a new addition to the TBR…
But first, I’ll have to read this festive short story. Oh, how tragic! It’s unlikely I’ll manage it before the end of the year, so maybe next Christmas?
Have you read The Christmas Appeal, or any other books published by Janice Hallett? Is it a festive read you’ll pick up after seeing it on this First Lines Friday?
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