The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett - #BookReview

 

WhatsApp messages between me and my agent Nita Cawley, 26 May: 

Amanda Bailey - The murder cases I've covered so far are all the same. Dead blonde, media frenzy, police fumblings, lucky psychopath.

Nita Cawley - It's our bread and butter.

Amanda Bailey - Already chewed over and spat out by every newspaper and crime reporter in the land. Same old, same mould.

Nita Cawley - I hear you. What do you have in mind?

Amanda Baily - Something else. Different. New. Oh, I don't know ... a novel?

***

Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.

Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over.

***

Written as a series of WhatsApp messages, emails and interview transcriptions, Janice Hallett's unique expression of writing presents us with another extraordinary book. She is a breath of fresh air in the crime writing genre due to her singular approach. I very much enjoyed her book, The Appeal, last year, and if you would like to read my spoiler free review you can do so by clicking here.

The main character, Amanda Bailey, is a true crime writer. Even though she is presented to the reader entirely through a succession of short messages, she is a fully formed and well rounded character.

She is persuaded by her agent to collaborate on the story of the Alperton Angels with a fellow writer, Oliver Menzies. Watching the development of the two characters and their working relationship is gripping.

Another character who leaps off the page is Ellie, Amanda's editorial assistant. Her personal comments dotted throughout the transcriptions were one of my favourite parts of the book. She brings humour into what is essentially a dark and disturbing plot and adds a lighter aspect to the story.

There are plenty of twists and turns throughout and I really did not anticipate the ending. I shall say no more as I would hate to give anything away but I highly encourage you to read this book for yourself.

ISBN: 978 1800810402

Publisher: Viper

Formats: e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 432 (hardback)

About the Author:

A former magazine editor and award-winning journalist, Janice has written speeches and articles for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office and Department for International Development. In screenwriting, Janice's first feature film RETREAT was released by Sony Pictures (co-written and directed by Carl Tibbetts) which starred Cillian Murphy, Thandie Newton and Jamie Bell. Janice’s stage plays have been performed at Theatre503, The White Bear, Hen & Chickens and TheatreN16. She was also one of six female playwrights selected by All The Rage Theatre for its Seize The Stage festival at Rich Mix. Her play NETHERBARD has twice been performed by Budding Rose Productions. Janice has had television scripts in development with Slim Film & TV and with Retort (part of FreemantleMedia). Her sitcom TWO LADIES was  performed at the Museum of Comedy in June 2019.

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Janice was selected for the Triforce Creative Network year-long mentoring scheme and featured on the BBC New Talent Hotlist. She won Best New Screenplay in the 2014 British Independent Film Festival.

Janice's debut novel, The Appeal, was published by Viper (Serpent's Tail) in January 2021 and hailed as 'dazzlingly clever' by the Sunday Times. It went on to be the biggest selling debut novel of that year, was  a bestseller for many weeks in The Times and the Sunday Times, was shortlisted for Watersones Book of the Year 2021, shortlisted in the crime and thriller category of the British Book Awards, was the Sunday Times crime novel of the year, and won the Crime Writers Association New Blood Dagger for debut fiction in 2022.

Janice's second novel The Twyford Code, was an immediate Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback on publication in 2022.

(author photo and bio. info courtesy of the author's agent)

(ARC courtest of NetGalley)