The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

 

Janice Hallett has a distinctive style and employs it to craft another outstanding mystery. The Killer Question is my favorite book of hers so far and one of my favorite books of the year!

The framing device is Dominic Eastwood pitching a documentary to Netflix about his aunt and uncle, Sue and Mal Eastwood. The couple runs a pub, The Case is Altered, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The pub is located in a remote area at the end of an unfortunately named road, but it hosts a weekly Monday Quiz, which is popular with many locals. Mal takes great pride in crafting each weekly quiz and is a stickler for the rules, especially that the quizmaster's decision is final, even if he is subsequently proven to be wrong.

The pub is starting to do well, in part due to its popular quiz, when a new quiz team shows up, the Shadow Knights. Their exceptional performances start winning them the weekly quiz, which is a modest prize, much to the consternation of the local team that had been regularly winning. An even bigger wrinkle happens when a body is discovered in the river near the pub, and it happens to be the body of a man known for cheating in quizzes at all the local pubs. Dominic's emails capture the attention of the Netflix producer as more and more details dramatically unfold. 

I find Janice Hallet's style incredibly engaging. Told through emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, trivia topics, and scores, Hallett builds an incredible amount of suspense and thrills. She is also able to convey a good sense of character using this method. 

The seriousness with which the quiz participants take these quizzes is both hilarious and relatable. Text conversations among team members, between the teams and Sue and Mal, between Sue and Mal and other pub owners, who run their own quizzes, are funny and revealing. The style makes the book very fast-paced, and just when you think you have a grasp on things, Hallett introduces a jaw-dropping twist, and another, and another. Every move is ingenious and the plot is intricately constructed. Janice Hallett exceeded my already high expectations with this book.

This is one of the best books I've read this year, and Janice Hallett is on my must-buy list.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.