The Examiner by Janice Hallett

Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve

Janice Hallett’s latest thriller has to almost be read without pause, as it grabs the reader’s interest and unrolls a plot that weaves and twists until the end.

For the bulk of the book, no actual crime emerges to solve; however the dynamic between characters has an edgy ominous tone.  Ben Sketcher, an Examiner attached to Royal Hastings University, one late night, delves into the emails exchanged by a group of students on a new Arts course and finds that something is ‘odd’.  His comment triggers the long investigation of these course materials and the dramas emerge. Has one of the students really disappeared?

Entertaining and funny at times, the format makes it easy reading and skips along at an increasing pace. The text is a long series of emails, interspersed with essays and assessments which become increasingly complex yet at the same time cleverly depicting the personality of the characters.

Gela is the leader running a new MA course in multimedia and is desperate to have it succeed so that it becomes a permanent offering at the University. This questions the role of Art in both academia and the business world.

Like the Examiner, a reader must follow the course materials referred to and try to piece together the mystery.

The student group is small, just six. They form an eclectic mix of ages and backgrounds.

Some of them are artists but Ludya for example is expert in sound technology. They face a project that has to be done for RD8 Systems, a tech/communications company.

During the year-long course, strange things happen. Someone is missing, excuses and explanations made but maybe, he’s dead? Something is stolen. They visit a remote museum buried in the Somerset countryside, at the aptly named Thorny Coffin.

Nearly all have secrets, even Gela, the course leader.

Cracks in the initially cohesive group soon appear. Jealousy, personal attacks, and criticism churn and propel the uncertainties into the final shocking conclusion. Setting fire to the installation is outrageous and dramatic student behaviour, but what occurs in the end completely eclipses this.

This is the first Janice Hallett novel I have read. She is renowned for her imaginative and creative work, and this is a further example of this, I must admit.  The format and the convincing manner she writes of academic attitudes and their undercurrents is highly entertaining.

It is a clever story that constructs the characters not by description and action but by dialogue. This has been very successfully done, exposing the strengths, traits, and quirks of each. Following their unfolding personalities is a challenge in a lightly mysterious way as well.

Although lengthy, it was not an arduous read. Its originality, unpredictability and avoiding the traditional prose of most thrillers, make it a book I would happily share with like-minded friends.

The Examiner

[2025]

by Janice Hallett

Viper

ISBN 978 180081 046 4

$32.99; 462pp

🤞 Want to get the latest book reviews in your inbox?

🤞 Want to get the latest book reviews in your inbox?

Scroll to Top