Blurb:

Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now…

The mature students of Royal Hastings University’s new art course have been trouble from day one. From acclaimed artist Alyson who seems oddly overqualified, to hapless Patrick who can barely operate design software, and city boy Cameron who blusters his way through assignments. Not to mention Jem, who’s a gifted young sculptor… but cross her at your peril.

The year-long course is blighted by students setting fire to one another’s artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip.p But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong?

The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students’ coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now…

Review:

I’ve read most of Janice Hallett’s books now and I often wonder how she will manage to bring everything together using an alternative format, which, on face value, seems quite limiting. I should not have worried. The Examiner is a collection of essays, messages from the University’s chat system, WhatsApp messages and e-mails and these create a very compelling and intriguing account of an eventful academic year.

Through the messages and reports, we hear from six students, the course tutor and some of the administrative staff. It’s a diverse mix of individuals and I loved the way Janice Hallett develops the relationships between them. None of them are particularly likeable and it is clear from the outset that most of them have ulterior motives. However, if you read my reviews regularly, you will know that unlikeable characters hardly ever put me off and this is definitely the case here. I definitely wanted to find out what would happen to them and how everything would work out.

The plotting in The Examiner is absolutely unreal. Janice Hallett places small clues throughout the novel and this raises a lot of questions and creates a lot of intrigue that kept me engaged the whole way through. As we reach the end of the novel, there are so many twists that I never picked up on, and I am wondering if I would look at the novel differently if I were to read it again knowing what I know now. It definitely picks up pace in the final quarter and I loved the journey on which the author took me.

Janice Hallett is now an author I always look out for and I can’t wait to see what she does next!

The Examiner is available from Amazon.