Long-time readers will know that I am an avid reader of everything Janice Hallett writes. Hallett is a master of the modern epistolary, constantly coming up with creative new ways to hide information in plain sight. And so I’m thrilled to wish a Very Happy Book Birthday to her latest and greatest, The Examiner! What a perfect way to kick off fall. (Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the gift copy, so I could read ahead.)

The Examiner is named for its narrator, an external examiner for Royal Hastings University’s latest Masters course in “Multimedia Arts”. (For those not familiar with the system, apparently external examiners are a standard part of UK higher education. They review the exams and the grading for higher-ed courses to ensure that degrees granted represent a minimum educational standard.) Given that the course is a new one, the examiner gets a pile of material to understand the process, including essays and correspondence between Gela (the prof) and all six students. The book opens with a cover letter, suggesting that one of the students might be in danger (or worse). And, as in all Hallett’s novels, it’s up to the reader to soft through the materials and figure it out.

As usual, it’s difficult to say much more without minor or major spoilers. But The Examiner contains a few new features worth discussing…

New setting, new rules

Most modern epistolaries pick from one of a few premises. There’s the criminal investigation / legal retrospective (covered by Hallett in The Appeal). Then the journal / diary (in some ways, The Twyford Code). More recently, we’ve seen a wave of true-crime podcast epistolaries, which in many ways combine the best of the prior two formats. (This is Hallett’s The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels). And then we have the workplace correspondence novel – poring through messages sent on a workplace chat, in the process of getting work done (or not). The Examiner comes closest to a workplace epistolary, which allows her to fiddle with the expectations we might have from prior novels.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the workplace epistolary is the synchronicity of the messages. Modern workplaces involves a lot of digital communication, and workplace epistolaries frequently involve the most real-time reactions to real-world events. This can add a layer of believable ambiguity to the correspondence, as coworkers responding to the same bananas incident rarely feel the need to outright describe it.

Hallett uses this feature to great effect in The Examiner. The correspondence is primarily between subgroups of the six students and their professor as they produce a variety of art projects and essays. Unlike characters in her prior novels, these students share the same space frequently, and interact with each other in the real world. This creates a rapid yet believable evolution in the characters’ dynamics, as the characters respond to real-world incidents. It also allows Hallett to hide information “in plain sight”, obviously and non-obviously, as characters dance around uncomfortable topics in message. The overall effect is fast-paced yet impenetrable, as characters, perfectly justifiably, elide the most major plot drivers.

Norm, Form, Storm…

The other structural distinction between The Examiner and Hallett’s other works is the nature of the relationships. Hallett’s prior works follow some version of an established group. Whether it’s a theater troupe (The Appeal), a set of grade-school classmates (The Twyford Code), or a murderous cult (The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels), there’s some pre-existing relationship between most of the novel’s characters.

However, The Examiner follows a set of students whose only surface commonality is their enrollment in the Multimedia Arts course at Royal Hastings. (In fact, the professor routinely cites the group’s diversity as a key factor in their selection.) You’ve got Jem, the young recent grad; Patrick, a seller of art supplies; Ludya, a freelance graphic designer; Jonathan, who runs his family’s art gallery; Cameron, a marketing exec turned budding artist; and Alyson, a professional artist. The cast varies across age, experience, goals, even media; there’s no reason they would ever know each other. And so for the first time we get to watch a group take shape in a Hallett novel.

As with the workplace-style format, this adds another layer of obfuscation to the story. Many of the characters start the novel relatively hidden / bland – as one often does when entering a new group and testing the waters. As the year progresses, we get to watch subgroups and alliances form in real-time; guessing them adds another layer of interest to the puzzle. And because of the workplace message format (IMs are shorter than emails), it’s a bit trickier to get a deep sense of each character’s “true” personality – leaving room for Hallett to set up surprises.

Reader’s rating and review (⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫)

The Examiner is an epistolary for Janice Hallett fans. If you’re in the mood for a puzzly book with some of Hallett’s typical twists and turn, you’ll enjoy this. The puzzle itself is perhaps a bit less fair than others she’s written; twists elicit surprise but not always recognition. I also found the cast less sympathetic than my ideal. Still – a fun, puzzling read, and one I’d recommend to anyone in the mood for an epistolary adventure. Four stars, docked a quarter point to 3.75 for character unpleasantness.

The Examiner was published on September 10, 2024.

*This will count for my academic thriller for the 52 Book Club challenge.