rather appealing
The time for drama is once again here, amateur drama, that is. The Fairway Players of Lower Lockwood are back to start rehearsals on their new play. Director Kevin McDonald has chosen the Agatha Christie classic The Hollow, where complicated relationships at a weekend gathering in the country turns deadly. Many of the usual players have auditioned for roles, along with a few new faces, and many of the usual crew and front of house are back to help out with props, costumes, scenery, ticket sales, and tea and biscuits.
Usually Kevin’s wife Sarah-Jane is his right hand through this process (and vice versa, when it’s Sarah-Jane’s turn to direct), but she is distracted almost immediately by her family. Her mother, who usually acts as their babysitter through rehearsals and play week, is tired of being left out of the fun. Instead of agreeing to help, she auditions for another local drama group and gets a role in a different play. And after years away, Sarah-Jane’s sister Nicky-Rose is back in town with no money and no explanation of where she’d been for the last six months.
The drama is elevated when Kevin learns that they will be up for amateur drama awards for this play, with a judge coming to one of the performances to evaluate them. So with Sarah-Jane having to stay home to watch their kids, Kevin leans on the expertise of Nicky-Rose, a former professional dancer who has been part owner of a company that supplies cruise ships with talent. Nicky-Rose comes to rehearsals and immediately breathes life into the cast with her suggestions.
While passions soar onstage and off, rumors fly, and secrets are revealed. An accident with a stage light leaves one cast member injured, but the rumors flying around about marital infidelities could end up causing even more damage. It’s not until the night of the play that someone ends up murdered for real, but getting to the truth of what really happened will take an attention to detail and strong memory.
The Silent Appeal is a return trip to the amateur drama company that author Janice Hallet first introduced us to in her first novel The Appeal. Like that first novel, the story is told through emails, text messages, What’s App group chats, and the pages of a handwritten diary by one cast member. The reason for that is because two young attorneys are reviewing all of this after the murderer has already been charged and convicted. Their mentor is asking them to read through all the material to figure out what happened that night to The Fairway Players and those in their orbit while deciding if the court got the outcome right.
I remember reading The Appeal for the first time, and it was captivating. The format kept me engaged, asking myself with each new tidbit of information if I had the story right. When I started reading The Silent Appeal, I was right back to that first amazed reading, and I loved every page of it. It does take some concentration to remember all the details and insight to know what’s important, but the young attorneys break into the story several times to help readers get on the same page with their summaries and messages. I had so much fun reading this book, and I loved the mystery of piecing together not just who did it but what the crimes actually were.
Egalleys for The Silent Appeal were provided by Atria Books through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.
