I was not a good detective in this one, but I did enjoy trying to figure things out along the way! I loved the way this one wrapped up, very true to character!

The format was unique and well-composed. I felt like I was getting a secret peek into these people's lives that I shouldn't have been having. It felt a bit illicit. I was very satisfied with the ending and felt like everything was explained. It just took a little too long to get there. Still, if you are looking for a uniquely presented mystery, then this one should have strong appeal. A local theatre group, The Fairway Players, are getting ready for Arthur Miller’s play, All My Sons, when tragedy strikes the family of Martin Hayward, the director, and his wife, Helen, the play’s star. Their granddaughter has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. An experimental treatment costing a large amount of money may be the only thing to save her life. Their friends and colleagues support them by babysitting, dog-sitting, and fundraising. However, accusations, fights, and a dead body bring a mystery to life. I particularly loved trekking round Madagascar. I went there for the wild life – there are lemurs you can’t see anywhere else on earth and crazy-looking giraffe weevils – but it was the people that most enthralled me. I found it such an education. I applaud the author for trying something different and out of the box. This is a modern take on the epistolary novel concept and definitely has a lot of different feel than your typical mystery book. It may take some time to get used to.This mystery is a superb top drawer attention holder as good as the best of Agatha Christie; but that wasn't enough for Janice Hallett, Janice takes a long dark look at close-knit hierarchal communities, local fundraising, digital communications and joy-beyond-joy the creation, management and possible repercussions of digitally-based conspiracy. It could also be argued that it's a much needed tale on the plight and strength of whistleblowers! Confused. Just read the book already! Too many characters, random introduction of characters, a thread involving time spent in Africa that was entirely too vague and was never fully explained- though one does get the gist of it- mostly- it was just too disjointed, too busy, and not at all suspenseful, in my opinion. While everyone participates in this fundraiser, the theatre company begins rehearsals for its next play. As the play nears, tensions rise, lies unravel, and someone winds up dead. I certainly wouldn’t want to read this kind of book all the time (and I imagine the author put so much time into it that she wouldn’t want to write another anytime soon), but this was a great change of pace for those looking for something a little different. Especially recommended for those who like things like logic puzzles, actually enjoyed classes like Con Law, or who find themselves always solving the mystery before the big reveal in most thrillers. Here, even if you do solve it, it feels like you’re making a professor or boss proud, rather than simply ruining the book for yourself.

The characters are a diverse lot. The family of the little girl are all involved in the play as directors and stars, some secondary talents and a couple of newbies. A lot of the documents are from Izzy, a clingy, ditzy single woman that puts herself into the center of everything. She also attaches herself like a leech to the new female recruit. She’s the kind of character I love, but would hate to have to deal with in real life. Thank goodness someone, anyone, is willing to go off the beaten path, throw the formula out the window, and try a different approach, right?They're presented chronologically, so what you get is actually a fairly thorough picture of what has occurred among this chaotic group of characters; and what a group of characters they are! This book had a very large cast of characters that required notes as I attempted to uncover the truth and answer the senior partner’s questions. It’s the second book that I have read with an epistolary format in 2021 and it worked for me. Some of the correspondence is just gossip and others provide key information if one reads them carefully while others seem enigmatic or irrelevant. But are they? To my surprise, given the format of the narrative, suspense was built as details were revealed. I started off on Cosmetics International, an industry magazine, and then worked for magazines aimed at retailers of beauty products. Most people got fed up with writing about bubble bath after two years – it took me 15 before I moved on.

Some of the correspondence does provide for comic relief. Not just tactless comments, but how info gets twisted and gossip gets passed around.Dad worked in a video shop. It might sound archaic, but videos were like the mobile phones of the 80s and 90s. He considered himself a bit of a yuppy. Mum worked in an office for the gas board.

Set in a small town in England, the leading and most influential figures are Martin and Helen Haywood. The couple owns the Grange Golf and Country Club and are instrumental in forming the Fairway Players, an amateur drama society. Helen is considered the most talented actor in the group, and every play chosen must have a leading role for her. A couple of new arrivals, Samantha and husband Kel, are drawn into the dramatic society. They are former medical workers for MSF in war-torn Central Africa. Both are soon employed as nurses in nearby hospitals.fulfilling my 2022 goal to read one book each month that was not published in my country that i wanted badly enough to have a copy shipped to me from abroad and then...never read. Who was murdered, why, and by whom? What is happening regarding Poppy's medical treatment, and will the child survive? Are there problems and even fraud connected to the fundraising, and is the experimental drug even effective?