Blair's Reviews > The Examiner

So, I have had some time to let this settle and I have very mixed feelings here. I love Janice Hallett’s storytelling, and this was another addictive read comprising a series of messages, journal entries, emails and reports. But...

The idea is that three examiners are assessing the coursework and other documents from a ‘Multimedia Art’ master’s degree. One of them believes ‘something disturbing’ happened on the course and was covered up by the students, so they ask the others to read all the documents (i.e. the text of this book) and make up their own minds. This on its own is convoluted enough – just the degree, a combination of art-making and marketing skills, is convoluted enough – before we even get into the plethora of links between the characters, dramatic backstories, and bizarre solutions to problems. And the plot hinges on not one but two incredibly stupid MacGuffins that make very little sense. I mean, I know all Hallett’s books have silly elements, I’m not expecting Crime and Punishment here, but this really does take it a bit far.

I wish I hadn’t read this so early now – I’d love to get some different perspectives on the story. And thinking about this makes me wonder if what I’m really looking for is someone to convince me it’s better than I suspect it actually is. I had fun, but I’d like to feel the story is at least a little more plausible than this (The Appeal, for example, works so well partly because its English village eccentrics and ‘big fish in a small pond’ types are instantly recognisable and true to life; not so the broad caricatures that make up the students in this book). I love Hallett’s approach in general, and I’ll definitely still be reading whatever she writes next. For me, this was probably better than The Twyford Code but didn’t reach the heights of The Appeal or Alperton Angels.

I received an advance review copy of The Examiner from the publisher through Edelweiss.