02 September 2026
THE HUGELY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE SMASH-HIT BESTSELLER, THE APPEAL
‘The pinnacle of modern crime writing’ – IAN MOORE
‘An absolute joy from cover to cover’ – CHRIS BROOKMYRE
A New Play. Another Murder. A Town Full of Secrets…
It’s a new theatrical season in Lower Lockwood, and the amateur thespians of the Fairway Players are starting rehearsals for their production of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. Despite troublesome new arrivals, countless petty squabbles and a gruesome accident with the lighting rig, surely this will be their greatest show to date?
But someone is hiding a devastating secret… and they won’t make it to opening night. Could it be Sarah-Jane’s sister, back in Lockwood after twenty years abroad? New member Lucas, whose shady business dealings may be his downfall? Or is it Issy, out of prison but still up to her old tricks?
Lawyers Charlotte and Femi must sift through the evidence to identify the victim and find out why the convicted murderer refuses to speak in their own defence… Will they uncover the truth in time? Will you?
‘A superlative mystery’ – ALEX PAVESI
‘Be prepared to put life on hold’ – J.M. HALL
‘An absolute triumph’ – ROSS MONTGOMERY
The Silent Appeal is the hugely anticipated sequel to your smash-hit debut The Appeal. What was it like to return to Lower Lockwood?
It was like visiting lovely old friends after a long time away, but lovely old friends who don’t realise you’re there, spying on them and making a note of everything they say. I wrote The Appeal in 2018 so for The Silent Appeal, which is set in 2025, everyone is seven years older and wiser (well, some are wiser, some will simply never learn). The Fairway Players is ‘under new management’ in democratically-elected chairs Sarah-Jane and Kevin MacDonald, while their rivals, Celia and Joel Halliday, are waiting patiently for the mighty to fall. The arrival of Sarah-Jane’s sister, Nicky-Rose, a free spirit who has been overseas chasing her dreams for twenty years, is back in town, ready to complicate the lives of almost every character in the story.
Having said that, for me writing the book was like travelling back in time to try and recreate the verve and energy of the original manuscript. The Appeal was written on spec, so with no deadline to meet I could play around and have fun with the characters, something I’m sure readers pick up on. Now I am writing under a deadline plus the weight of expectation from millions of readers around the world, I find myself actively casting my mind back to how I felt back in 2018, just to get that very specific tone and pace right.
This year, the Fairway Players are performing Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. How did you choose their next play and, without spoilers, how did it inform the events of The Silent Appeal?
In 1985 my amateur drama group staged The Hollow and I have very fond memories of it. At just 16 years old, I was a bit too young for a part, so helped out backstage in the role of prompt. Arduous and thankless as that job is, I did at least learn the play inside out and back to front. It has delicious themes of unrequited love, regret, female rage and the decline of the aristocracy. It’s also famed for its amazing murder scene that happens right in front of the audience’s eyes and is a real challenge to stage. For all those reasons the play stayed with me, so when I considered the themes I wanted to explore in The Silent Appeal, it was a natural choice.
However, I gave myself an even bigger challenge. In a silent promise to the spirit of Agatha Christie, I vowed to refrain from revealing either murderer or victim in The Hollow. If you know the play and The Appeal you’ll appreciate it was a bigger challenge that you might think!
The Silent Appeal sees the return of some old favourites – from Kevin MacDonald to the incomparable Issy Beck – as well as a new cast of characters. You’ve previously said that your favourite Fairway Player is Sarah-Jane, has this changed?
My answer to this question changes by the day. I love Sarah-Jane and how she’s developed. In The Appeal she was a side character, but her boundless positive energy ended up informing the narrative, and since events of that first book, she’s really matured as a leader of the group. Along with Kevin she is the heart and soul of the Fairway Players and has the spreadsheet to prove it.
However, another character is also very close to my heart. Issy Beck is back for The Silent Appeal! She’s had a lot of ups and downs over the years, and her self-awareness has improved a bit, but she still brings the boo-factor to any story and simply can’t resist the temptation to interfere.
The Fairway Players are at the heart of the book, but we follow their story alongside lawyers Femi and Charlotte, who must piece together the evidence to determine both the victim and the killer. What research do you do to write their scenes?
While writing the first draft, I don’t concern myself with accuracy and don’t do much research at all at that stage. I have fun and go where the characters take me. It’s for subsequent drafts that the hard work starts and that includes ensuring Femi and Charlotte are discussing the case at an appropriate level. A retired barrister, Guy Morpuss, also a novelist himself, was kind enough to provide some feedback during the process. He understands the balance of real-world accuracy with the demands of a story that must appeal to a wide readership (who mostly don’t have law degrees).
In the first book Femi and Charlotte are students, but now they are snowed under in their jobs and must make time to read their old mentor’s documents. Navigating their changing dynamics is something I never anticipated doing when I wrote The Appeal because I thought back then their story would end on the final page.
What can you tell us about your next book?
The first draft is with my editor now. If she likes it, you can expect a different tone, in an unusual tale that’s told in a whole new way… even for me!
