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A Novel
by Janice Hallett
Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this innovative page-turner follows a group of students in an art master's program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling "new queen of crime" (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett.
Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University's new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master's program before the university cuts her funding. The students are nothing but trouble from day one.
There's Jem, a talented sculptor recently graduated from her university program and eager to make her mark as an artist at any cost. Jonathan, who has little experience in art practice aside from running his family's gallery. Patrick runs an art supply store, but can barely operate his phone, much less design software. Ludya is a single mother and graphic designer more interested in a paycheck than homework. Cameron is a marketing executive in search of a hobby or a career change. And Alyson, already a successful artist, seems to be overqualified. Finally, there is the examiner, the man hired to grade students' final works—an art installation for a local cloud-based solutions company that may have an ulterior agenda—and who, in sifting through final essays, texts, and message boards, warns that someone is in danger…or already dead. And nothing about this course has been left up to chance.
With her trademark "unique and exhilarating" (Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot) voice, Janice Hallett weaves a fresh and mind-bending mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page.
"Hallett's unconventional novel proves both creative and astute. Dare we say it? A tour de force." —Kirkus Reviews
"A remarkable book from a talented author and a good choice for readers who like the quirky and unusual." —Booklist
"Gripping... Hallett builds intrigue with a cast of unreliable (though consistently intriguing) characters, which means the twists keep coming. Recommended for fans of academic mysteries and those who enjoy puzzle-within-a-puzzle mysteries such as Cara Hunter's Murder in the Family and Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders." —Library Journal
"Were I twice as clever as I am now, I'd still be only half as clever as Janice Hallett. Everything she writes, almost impossibly, is original; think Agatha Christie, only more daring. In a century of photocopied crime novels, of been-there characters and done-that plot twists, her books feel urgently necessary; they sharpen the blunted brain like whetstones. If you want your fiction bold, witty, sophisticated, and fun, then stop reading this sentence and start reading Janice Hallett." —AJ Finn, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
"This utterly clever page turning novel will keep you reading until the very last page—this might be my favorite Janice Hallett book so far!" —C.L. Miller, author of The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
"Insanely readable. Hallett is an absolute original, a complete one-off." —Mick Herron, author of Slow Horses
This information about The Examiner was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Examiner, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal, and The Twyford Code.
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