Hallett and Viper to return to the setting of The Appeal with new book The Christmas Appeal 

Viper has revealed Janice Hallett will return to the fictional town of her debut novel The Appeal in her upcoming novel The Christmas Appeal.

The festive book is the first in a new four-book deal with Viper, acquired last year by Miranda Jewess for six figures from Gaia Banks at Sheil Land Associates. Viper will publish The Christmas Appeal in hardback, e-book and audio in October 2023.

The blurb for The Christmas Appeal reads: “Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur dramatics enthusiasts.

“Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and someone is trying to ruin the panto even before the curtain goes up. Join Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?”

Hallett commented: “Having been asked by so many readers what the Fairway Players might be doing now, I am fabulously excited to be working on The Christmas Appeal. Venturing back to Lockwood feels like visiting old friends, peeking between curtains and under rugs, discovering the twists and turns that have shaped their world in the years since the events of The Appeal. I’m so grateful to Miranda Jewess and her team at Viper for giving me the chance to make that return journey and at Christmas too, a time of magic and miracles, when literally anything can happen.”

Jewess added: “Readers are going to be absolutely delighted with Janice’s return to Lockwood. With plenty of old friends from The Appeal – and some intriguing new faces – it’s a wonderful festive murder mystery with all the brilliant trickery that Janice is famous for. As a reader it was such a pleasure to find out who has filled the power vacuum at the helm of the Fairway Players, how the town has changed in the intervening years, not to mention who spends half the panto trapped in a wheelie bin. It’s an absolute delight."

Hallett’s debut, The Appeal won the Crime Writers’ Association New Blood Dagger, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, a Sunday Times  Book of the Year, and has been optioned by ABC Studios. TV rights to her second novel, The Twyford Code,  have been acquired by Entertainment One (eOne). Hallett’s third novel, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, was published in January 2023.