I got this book from the library to review, which was a first for me. Not that I have never used a library before, (in my youth I bottomed one library’s children’s section, probably because I usually borrowed ten books a time) but as an adult I tend to have bought my books instead. That is partly due to my interest in out-of-print older mystery fiction and the fact that my local libraries didn’t really cater to my classic crime preference. Due to my health conditions, I don’t get out very much, so again buying books which can be posted to you, felt more doable. But it did eventually dawn on me that libraries can be jolly useful when it comes to new releases, so here we are!
Synopsis
‘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. 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…’
Overall Thoughts
The blurb to this story intrigued me, as I liked the change in social context for the epistolary novel format. So in addition to things like text messages and emails, there was going to be course work assignments, course online chatrooms and module reports. I was interested to see how these types of texts disseminated the plot and the characterisation.
The book opens with a message from the examiner to the reader:
‘Dear reader,
I need to oversee the final grades for a Master degree at a prestigious university. Despite access to all the documents I require and some I wouldn’t normally expect to see, I find myself unable to grade the submissions. In fact I can’t quite work our what happened on that course at all […] I’d appreciate your help. Please read the enclosed and let me know […]’
The language fits with the educational milieu of the book, but for me the direct address to the reader felt more artificial and jarring. Why should the examiner ask us for help? This contrasts with The Appeal (2021), which had a different framing device, with two characters of a legal profession, being asked by a colleague to assess the evidence for a case. The approach taken in The Appeal was more effective, in my opinion, and whilst The Examiner does include some characters who discuss (in a very minor way) ongoing events, this element of the structure is significantly weaker, an issue I will comment on further later.
However, the opening messages between the student characters in The Examiner establish their personalities and dynamics well and really show Hallett’s writing at its best. It quickly transpires that some students may be getting preferential treatment and that some might be stealing art supplies. Although given this is a Hallett novel, one should always be suspicious of the person doing the whistle blowing, just in case they have an agenda of their own. I liked how what the messages do not say or omit, is as important as what they do say. Although there is one collective omission in these messages, which felt unfair. I appreciate a piece of information needed to be delayed in being revealed, but the in-text justification for this came across as thin and unconvincing.
The first assignment for the course necessitates the students writing an essay which sells themselves as an artist to a prospective company. These essays are quite short, but they do serve as a way of illuminating the backgrounds of some of the students. Although you do have to suspend disbelief a little to accept some of the responses to the assignment. Would anyone really answer the task brief in that way in real life?
As mentioned above, The Examiner includes some characters who discuss the events of the course: Ben Sketcher, Matilda Ricci and Karen Carpenter, who are part of the examiner’s Whatsapp group. I was hoping their discussions would be of the same calibre as the discussions Femi and Charlotte have in The Appeal. However, I was hugely disappointed to find they were not. There is no introduction really of new ideas or a concentrated discussion. Karen is incredibly irritating and takes things even less seriously than Matilda. Neither woman really engages in a meaningful way with what Ben is telling them. Consequently, I did not feel these moments added to the reading experience.
I liked the central mystery of the novel, namely which student has “disappeared”. The reader, by experiencing the various documents and evidence must try and see if they can notice any discrepancies which point to someone not really being there. Hallett does not make this too easy a job, as she finds plausible reasons for students not always being in class for example. Nevertheless, I did plum for the right person in the end (having briefly toyed with another character first).
There is some interesting use of foreshadowing, which comes through in the final essays the students write. We see these in chunks, as they cover different parts of the second half of the course. I appreciated how these were broken up, rather than given wholemeal and I think to begin with they did a good job in moving the story along. However, the more I read this book, the more I had the nagging feeling that people in real life really wouldn’t write such incriminating stuff in their university course work or on the online message boards. I know this is fiction, and readers need to suspend their disbelief, but on the other hand the writing itself needs to not keep poking it awake.
Spoiler Section – Warning Do Not Read Unless You Have Read the Book Already
During the sourcing/resource gathering trip in Somerset, various students encounter and bring back an old radio device. Jem begins tinkering with it and consequently, it emits a distorted voice at the same time each day. It says things like: “I’m trapped. I don’t know where I am, but I’m alone here. If you can hear me, send help.” This development impacts the students in different ways. Yet, by the 200-page mark, I did not feel the narrative had convinced the reader as to why the students were acting so haunted. The whole “ooh someone who is dead might be speaking to us” thread of the book, left me unimpressed. Once you get to the end of the novel there is an argument for why so little is said about this side of the plot, but that did not compensate for me, the dissatisfied feeling I had during the middle of the book, as too much of the true nature of some of the characters is withheld. Moreover, as an audio-based clue, it is not entirely fair, as we don’t know exactly what the voice sounds like. Solutions which need a lot of information holding back from the reader, appeal to me less.
Spoiler Section Over
Something else which is little commented on until the final third of the novel, is the nature of the conspiracy/criminal enterprise going on through the course. It is clear to the reader, early on, that something fishy is going on, but for most of the book we are not offered much information with which to shape our theories regarding this. This adversely effects certain aspects of the plot such as when the author tries to inject a sense of urgency into Ben’s chat with Matilda and Karen. Ben thinks they need to stop the final event of the course programme, the unveiling of an installation. But with insufficient information regarding what is going on, this urgency sounds weird.
Unlike The Appeal which is a strong example of a detective novel which encourages armchair sleuthing, The Examiner degenerates into a conspiracy leaning thriller, which made for a poorer reading experience for me. Consequently, the final third of the mystery is the weakest part, in my opinion. Conspiracy thrillers, and in this case a socio-politically motivated one, are open to the pitfall of “telling” more than “showing” and I think this book falls into that trap. There is so much backstory to be told in the final third, which had previously not been mentioned and this really slows the pace down. It always presents at least one character in a very unbelievable light – almost like they had a personality transplant. Moreover, due to the document-nature of the structure, the final third also sees a lot of the messages and essays being painfully repeating and going back over the plot, from a different viewpoint. I feel like a lot of this was unnecessary. The ending unsurprisingly feels very drawn out and the last interaction with the reader feels as awkward as the first. I didn’t find the conclusion very satisfying and overall I would say this plot was convoluted rather than intricate like The Appeal.
Rating: 3.5/5
See also: JJ at The Invisible Event and Brad at Ah Sweet Mystery have also reviewed this title.