The Examiner by Janice Hallett

The Examiner

A Novel

Janice Hallett

Atria Books · Print & ebook · June 10, 2025

Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this unputdownable mystery follows a group of students in an art master’s program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling “new queen of crime” (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett.

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Who it’s for
A campus mystery unfolds through messages, essays, and uneasy spaces between them.
Genres
Mystery, Suspense
Published
Atria Books, June 10, 2025

About this book

Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this unputdownable mystery follows a group of students in an art master’s program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling “new queen of crime” (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett. Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master’s program before the university cuts her funding.

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The students are nothing but trouble from day one. There’s Jem, a talented sculptor recently graduated from her university program and eager to make her mark as an artist at any cost. Jonathan, who has little experience aside from running his family’s gallery. Patrick manages an art supply store, but can barely operate his phone, much less design software. Ludya is a single mother and graphic designer more interested in a paycheck than homework. Cameron is a marketing executive in search of a hobby or a career change. And Alyson, already a successful artist, seems to be overqualified. When the examiner, the man hired to grade students’ final works sifts through the students’ final essays, texts, and message boards, he becomes convinced that someone is in danger…or already dead. With her trademark “witty, original” (The New York Times) voice, Janice Hallett weaves a fresh and mind-bending page-turner that will keep you guessing until the final page.

Clues in the Margins

A campus mystery unfolds through messages, essays, and uneasy spaces between them.

Come here for

  • A document-driven puzzle with art-school friction and shifting suspicions

Expect

  • Emails, texts, essays, and message boards carry the mystery

Where it sits

Mystery58%
Suspense32%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Suspense
  • Crime Fiction
Authors
Janice Hallett
Publisher
Atria Books
Published
June 10, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Suspense