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.