Lawyers Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd have been contacted once again by their former senior partner Roderick Tanner to get their opinions on a case. It seems that intrigue has struck once again concerning the Fairway Players (see The Appeal) and he wants their opinion on the case. So once again, they receive a deluge of emails, texts and WhatsApp messages to trawl through to build a picture of what exactly happened.

It was panto season for the Players and it seems there is friction in the ranks. Disagreements about the choices of play, for example, or the level of investment needed for a one-night panto. But in the middle of the performance, something nobody expected happens… or did someone expect it?

I loved The Appeal. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I admired the follow-ups – The Twyford Code and The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels – rather than enjoyed them, so when I heard there was a short book, about 200 pages, revisiting the world of The Appeal, I was rather excited.

But you know the feeling when you creep downstairs to unwrap a Christmas present, only to find it’s a copy of The ABC Murders with John Malkovich on the front cover? A gift with some good points – it is The ABC Murders after all – but not really what you wanted? Yeah, that’s kind of how I felt about this one.

It starts well – the first half of the book is pretty fun. There’s barely a whiff of murder in it, just bickering amongst the drama group, but it’s funny and sets the scene well. It’s like a pantomime version of The Appeal in some ways, which kind of seems appropriate.

What lets it down is the second half, when the murder (or is it) is discovered. It just didn’t hold my interest, I’m afraid, and there’s not exactly an awful lot going on. It’s still quite funny, as if the author didn’t want to get too serious given the festive theme, but people looking for The Appeal 2 may well be disappointed.

The Christmas Appeal is out on Thursday October 26^th from Viper Books. Many thanks for the review copy via NetGalley.