The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels: the Bestselling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick

by Janice Hallett

*** THE SMASH HIT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ***
*** THE GENRE-BUSTING RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK ***
*** A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF YEAR ***
*** AN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ***
*** A TELEGRAPH BEST SUMMER BOOK OF THE YEAR ***
*** A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ***

'The queen of tricksy crime' - SUNDAY TIMES
'Her best so far' - MARIAN KEYES
'Another resounding success' - DAILY EXPRESS

Open the safe deposit box.
Inside you will find research material for a true crime book.
You must read the documents, then make a decision.
Will you destroy them? Or will you take them to the police?

Everyone knows the sad story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the anti-Christ. Believing they had a divine mission to kill the infant, they were only stopped when the girl came to her senses and called the police. The Angels committed suicide rather than stand trial, while mother and baby disappeared into the care system.

Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed; if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and is also on the baby's trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realise that what everyone thinks they know about the Angels is wrong. The truth is something much darker and stranger than they'd ever imagined. And the story of the Alperton Angels is far from over.

From the bestselling author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code comes a stunning new mystery for fans of Richard Osman and S.J. Bennett, that shot straight into the Sunday Times bestseller list in January 2023. The devil is in the detail...

• ISBN10: 1800810407
• ISBN13: 9781800810402
• Publish Date: 19 January 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Viper
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is a very well written and cleverly constructed standalone mystery by Janice Hallett. Released 23rd Jan 2023 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 432 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out in 3rd quarter 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author is well known for her multimedia style of writing. Readers are given the key to a fictive safe deposit box full of letters and other materials and tasked with solving a decades old true crime case of a religious cult suicide alongside the investigative journalist protagonist. A rival journalist is on the same trail, trying to locate a baby who is now 18 years old and interviewed, if successfully found. 

The format of the mystery is very challenging, and readers might struggle for immersion. This one is also -very- character heavy with a large cast, and there are some difficulties with keeping them all straight. That being said, once the book achieves liftoff, it's an engaging and surprisingly cleverly constructed puzzle.

Three and a half stars. This would be a good candidate for a mystery book club read/discussion, public library acquisition, and home use. It's a very oddly formatted book, but readable and engaging after a while (the first third is something of a slog). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.