Janice Hallett talks literary suspense on our Mystery, Thrillers & Horror episode.

On this special episode of Fully Booked, Janice Hallett joins us to discuss The Killer Question (Atria, September 23), in celebration of the Mystery, Thrillers & Horror Issue of Kirkus Reviews. “A quintessential British pub, an escalating quiz-night rivalry, and a deeply personal mystery unfold in this clever epistolary tale,” Kirkus writes in an enthusiastic review of Hallett’s latest, calling it, “a masterclass in plotting. Warning to readers seeking emotional footing: The rug will be yanked again and again.”

Hallett is the author of such celebrated murder mysteries as The Examiner, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Appeal, andThe Twyford Code. She is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London.

Here’s a bit more from our review of The Killer Question: “Making a pitch to a Netflix documentary producer, Dominic Eastwood promises a doozy of a yarn when he outlines the first part of the story of his aunt and uncle, Sue and Mal Eastwood. The couple runs The Case is Altered, a cozy Hertfordshire pub known for its community spirit and beloved Monday Quiz. Trivia lovers, including the Plucky Losers, the most regular regulars, treat the quiz with endearing gravity, mirroring Mal’s pride in crafting each week’s questions to be obscure, fair, and challenging. But the arrival of a new team, the enigmatic Shadow Knights, upends the pub’s gentle rhythms.…Dominic’s pitch to producer Polly takes a darker turn as a text exchange between Mal and a local police officer reveals that a body’s been found in the local waters. The victim, it turns out, was known for cheating at local pub quizzes—a detail that rattles Mal and Sue, especially as deeper ties to their past come to light.”

In conversation, Hallett and I cover the stakes her characters must face, epistolary fiction, the enduring appeal of whodunnits, novel writing, screenwriting, one-star reviews, and other dark matters.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, John McMurtrie, and Laurie Muchnick share their most thrilling recommendations.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Predatory Natures by Amy Goldsmith (Delacorte)

Troubling Tonsils! by Aaron Reynolds, illus. by Peter Brown (Simon & Schuster)

Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean (Avid Reader Press)

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (Berkley)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

A Girl and Her Dog and Me by Mike Stetz

Seven Exits by Rosenna Bakari

No Woman Left Behind by Kate Grant

The King of Nothing by Liv O’Day

Where Is Love? by Annie Caboose, illus. by Raymund James Dakay

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.