Janice Hallett returns with another excellent epistolary mystery

A true crime journalist who revives a long-buried case about a cult — and finds herself too close to the story.

Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared.

Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it

I was a bit late to reading Janice Hallett’s mysteries. For some reason, The Appeal passed me by entirely, but I managed to read The Twyford Code shortly after it was published, which I very much enjoyed. I’ve always had a fondness for epistolary novels, and Hallett has a real gift for gradually building a mystery through distinctive and engaging voices. I very much enjoyed The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.

I’m going to keep this review short, as Hallett offers up a number of great twists and turns throughout this novel — discussing the plot at any length, I fear, would spoil certain reveals and rob the novel of its impact. It’s a fascinating approach to the fictional-true-crime genre, and follows two investigators with very different agendas, but a shared history. Readers’ impressions of Amanda and Oliver will evolve as the novel progresses — the author slowly parcels out details of the long-ago murders as well as details of the protagonists’ past and lives in general. Both certainly start as ruthlessly driven authors, willing to lie and manipulate others into getting what they want. But all is not entirely as it seems. As it turns out, there are actually two mysteries at the heart of the novel. (You’ll just have to read it to find out what the second one is…)

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels asks some interesting questions about memory, crime-as-entertainment, belief, and society in general. Hallett is generous to her characters when it’s called for, and treats the antagonists fairly — even the worst actions are explained, though not excused. The eventual explanation for what happened was satisfying and plausible. I particularly liked the commentary on the crime-as-entertainment industry, and the less-than-good actors involved in sensationalizing others’ pain and worst experiences. There are many amusing observations about publishing in general, too. I also liked the nod to 1990s Satanic Panic, and the spiritual-supernatural element to the original crime and group involved. I have many memories reading and seeing news coverage of that period of time (as a rock/metal fan, it was impossible to avoid in the many music magazines I subscribed to and avidly read).

If you haven’t tried Hallett’s novels, yet, then I certainly would recommend them to any fan of mysteries and crime fiction. You can also start with any of them, I think. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angel is another excellent novel from Hallett, and I can’t wait to read more — I really must get caught up with The Appeal and The Christmas Appeal, and eagerly await the author’s next new book as well.

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Janice Hallett’s The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is due to be published by Atria Books in North America, on January 23rd; it is out now in the UK, published by Viper.

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Review copy received via Edelweiss