Dubbed “the new queen of crime” by Electric Literature, Janice Hallett returns with another epistolary puzzle of a novel.

“As you’re based in the US, you may not have heard the story of my aunt and uncle, Sue and Mal Eastwood.” Dominic Eastwood, a Hollywood hopeful, is writing to Netflix to let them know about a case that is ripe for the documentary experience. It unfolds over many years with multiple layers and includes “love, passion, intrigue, tension, betrayal, deception and…murder.” However, when he finally connects with a production company, he urges them not to look up the case, which began five years earlier. What was reported was never the whole story, and he would prefer that any potential producer witness the case as it unfolded, one piece at a time. So begins THE KILLER QUESTION.

"Whether you’re a mystery fan, a puzzle lover, or the star of trivia night at your own local pub, you won’t be able to put down this compulsively readable, creative and crafty mystery."

The county of Hertfordshire boasts numerous pubs: the LGBTQ+-friendly The Rainbow, renowned gastropub Tom’s Bar, the “most haunted” Lusty Lass, and The Case is Altered, a welcoming but remote country pub newly owned by landlords Sue and Mal Eastwood. In an attempt to revitalize their business, Sue and Mal have begun hosting a weekly trivia night. But unlike their competitors --- who pull their weekly questions from a quiz book --- Mal prefers to write the questions himself, both to give their bar an edge and to prevent cheating.

This is good because, as we learn in the pub’s text message thread, a number of cheaters have begun plaguing the local pubs, pillaging their winnings, and turning away regular trivia night customers. The various owners share notes about them --- one of whom always dons an orange coat --- and the ways they’ve devised to avoid and outsmart them.

Around the same time that these cheaters begin making waves in the local pub scene, a new group arrives: the Shadow Knights, which is led by an enigmatic (and handsome, of course) man who calls himself The General. No matter what curveballs Mal (or the other pub owners) throw at the Shadow Knights, they always dominate --- never communicating among themselves, never drinking more than a single alcoholic beverage each, and never surreptitiously placing their phones under the tables. They continue to win every single round with eerie, almost preternatural precision, even correctly identifying Mal’s unanswerable questions and replying with teasing, clever answers, all in 60 seconds or less per round.

To say that the Shadow Knights have an upending effect on the entire trivia scene is putting it mildly. In Sue and Mal’s private texts, the group chat among all the local pub owners, and even snippets of texts, emails and voicemails from other competing trivia groups, a darker side to trivia emerges. Local groups are disbanding and forming new alliances in an effort to beat the Shadow Knights. One in particular, the Plucky Losers, takes their losses a bit too hard. Their leader, Chris, quickly attempts to ply Sue and Mal for insider baseball and cutting members left and right for underperforming.

But their surface-level wheelings and dealings hide a much darker subplot. One of the original cheaters has been found murdered, and Sue and Mal’s texts reveal just a few too many ties to their previously undiscussed past.

As Dominic continues to unpack the mystery of Sue and Mal Eastwood, one email at a time, a sinister backstory emerges, one in which no one is quite who they seem and no question is as answerable as it appears. Unfolding through emails, text messages, restaurant reviews, trivia topics and scores, and even a few cleverly placed trivia tidbits, THE KILLER QUESTION is a whodunit on steroids. Every word, every line and every weekly trivia night is plotted perfectly to trick readers into thinking they’re on steady ground…before ripping the carpet out from under their feet and revealing some new detail, alliance or surprising connection.

Those who loved THE EXAMINER will be familiar with Hallett’s signature style, but even a passing familiarity will not be enough to guess at her ingenious plot twists and turns. Though she pens very little regular prose, she is masterful at her reveals through texts and missed (or miscommunicated) connections, often disclosing far more about her characters than even they could believe with just a single text.

Whether you’re a mystery fan, a puzzle lover, or the star of trivia night at your own local pub, you won’t be able to put down this compulsively readable, creative and crafty mystery. Incredibly satisfying and fun, THE KILLER QUESTION is Janice Hallett at the top of her game.