The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

The Killer Question

A Novel

Janice Hallett

Atria Books · Print & ebook · September 23, 2025

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by The New York Times, LitHub, BookBub, Goodreads, and many more!

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Who it’s for
A neatly tangled mystery with conversation bait and a polished, watch-the-pieces-shift feel.
Genres
Cozy Mysteries, Suspense, Amateur Sleuths
Published
Atria Books, September 23, 2025

About this book

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by The New York Times, LitHub, BookBub, Goodreads, and many more! Janice Hallett, “the new queen of crime” (Electric Literature), returns with a fresh, edge-of-your-seat mystery that takes place at a pub’s weekly trivia night, revealed through quiz categories, phone messages, and email correspondence.

Continue reading

Sue and Mal Eastwood run an isolated rural pub called The Case is Altered where a weekly trivia game has revived its flagging fortunes—that is, until a body is found in the nearby river. Soon after, a mysterious new team arrives and shakes up the diverse field of regulars by scoring top marks in every round...every week. Meanwhile, Sue and Mal have a secret of their own. Before arriving here, they were caught up in a secret police operation which meant they had to leave town—and whatever happened back then seems to have finally caught up with them. Five years later, the pub lies derelict, and their nephew Dominic is determined to make a documentary about their story. What happened at this unassuming pub? And can a single question really kill?

A Neat Puzzle

A neatly tangled mystery with conversation bait and a polished, watch-the-pieces-shift feel.

Come here for

  • book-club catnip
  • serious-mannered sleuthing

Expect

  • cozy-crime pacing
  • plenty to argue over

Where it sits

Cozy Mysteries90%
Suspense26%
Amateur Sleuths14%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Amateur Sleuths
  • Suspense
  • Crime Fiction
Authors
Janice Hallett
Publisher
Atria Books
Published
September 23, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Amateur Sleuths