The Appeal

An ingenious puzzle mystery written entirely in electronic correspondence (mostly emails and text messages). As one might imagine, this requires some straining of credulity, particularly regarding persons who exist only via said correspondence. It also seems absurd that a pair of legal counsel would never meet in person to discuss the evidence but would laboriously go over it via WhatsApp. However, I found it compulsively readable and couldn't sleep until I'd gotten to the end. The plot was certainly primary, but the characters were acceptably interesting and it was fun to see how the author revealed their characters through their missives. I enjoyed the “Little Theatre” setting too. In some ways, drama is in some ways the opposite of the epistolary form – as it relies on people interacting in real space and time. But on the other hand, through letter-writing one can conceal one's real identity, as does an actor. So there was a neat tension of literary form along with the criminal intrigue.

This book man. It was not great. I read it because the concept seemed interesting (discovery documents in a law case!), but it just didn't work.

Also, if I realized the bulk of the mystery was going to be financial crimes, I probably wouldn't have even bothered, because it's so dull.

Why does everyone email each other all the time?! Some of it, sure. Email doctors, email your business correspondence, email people overseas. Yes, that makes sense. Emailing that you're waiting for someone? Or about a kid's toy? No! Just text! Especially since there are also texts included! One character at one point even emails(!) something to the effect of “why are you emailing? You were just standing next to me!” And, yeah.

I also feel like I never really got to know the characters. Issy is annoying and almost childlike despite being a nurse, but she's the only one I really felt like I understood even a little.

Revealing things through different phases of discovery is interesting, but just made me feel left out of what was going, or deliberately misled, a lot. I understand that's what mysteries usually do, but it just didn't work.

And, though I guess understandable, not having correspondence from certain characters made me not really care about them at all. The murder is so convoluted. The resolution is so anticlimactic.

Two stars because it reads fast and I wanted to know what was going on, but overall it just didn't work for me.

Clever, well-plotted and delivered in an unusual way that facilitates quick reading and build the suspense. I enjoyed this start to finish, with the minor quibble that occasionally realism lead to repetition, which is to say the words of one character were were predictable and uninteresting, which made for a believable character but the odd dull passage. The format was unusual, though not revolutionary and enabled the reader to come to their own conclusions. A lot of fun.