⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Janice Hallett returns with another cleverly constructed mystery told through her signature format (emails, voicemails, and assorted documents), inviting the reader to become the detective. This time, the story kicks off with an email to Netflix from a curious nephew suggesting they adapt the unbelievable events that took place at a sleepy rural pub, where weekly trivia nights are the biggest attraction.
At the heart of it all are Sue and Mal Eastwood, a seemingly unremarkable married couple who run the pub, but with a hidden past. Both are former police officers, something they go to great lengths to keep under wraps. When a man is found dead near the pub following a very public altercation with Mal, the layers of deception begin to unravel. Interspersed flashbacks reveal a shadowy police operation from their past that may hold the key to everything.
The title, The Killer Question, is a nod to a final tie-breaking trivia question that Mal saves for the most competitive quiz nights, though it soon takes on a much more sinister meaning.
Hallett’s epistolary style once again proves perfect for this kind of slow-burn mystery, keeping readers piecing together the truth right up to the final page.
📚 Special thanks to @netgalley and Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication date 9/23
Holly Reads Too Much 