The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels

This doozy of a thriller centers on true-crime author Amanda Bailey, who is working on a book about the Alperton Angels, a suicide cult that 18 years ago mostly killed itself off. Survivors were few: Gabriel, the now-jailed leader; a teen boy and girl, long disappeared; and their newborn baby, also gone missing. Finding the baby, now that he or she is reaching maturity, is central to the story—and the success of Amanda’s book. Like Hallett’s previous novels (The Appeal and The Twyford Code), this book is immensely clever, written in a dossier style that serves up Amanda’s research, communication, and discoveries, from emails to texts, from film treatments to transcripts, and from casual phone calls with her assistant to historical news stories. Another author, and sort of frenemy, Oliver Menzies, is also writing a book about the Angels, and eventually he and Amanda are forced to share their information, descending together into the deep, dark world of the Angels. Some will find the book’s reliance on multiple texts too artificial, but most readers will be dazzled by Hallett’s creativity, will enjoy their engagement in solving the book’s many puzzles, and will love the dynamite conclusion.