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Book: “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” by Ally Carter
Publishing Info: Avon, September 2024
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC24.
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: Knives Out gets a holiday rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.
The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt: She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery. He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy. She hates his guts. He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone. She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor. Assuming they don’t kill each other first.
Review: Thank you to Avon for providing me with an ARC of this novel!
This month is flying by, just like EVERY December flies by and I find myself scrambling to complete my holiday shopping and tasks. At the very least Hanukkah isn’t starting until the 25th, so my preparedness has a little bit of wiggle room thanks to both holidays falling at the same time this year. Which brings a little respite. And since we are now so close to the winter holidays, it’s time for me to do my week of holiday themed books! I saw “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” by Ally Carter at ALAAC24 this summer, and knew that it was going to be one of my holiday book spotlights. I mean, what’s not to love? A Christmas romcom/mystery with two bickering author would be lovers at the heart of it? Of course I’m interested! And I was able to basically read it in one go while on a flight at the start of the month!
As a mystery, it was fine. I do like a locked room mystery, and this one is a fairly standard set up. We have two mystery writers, Maggie and Ethan, who are kind of rivals (mostly in her mind), and who have been invited to an English countryside estate of famous thriller author Eleanor Ashley for Christmas. Both leap at the chance, though Maggie isn’t thrilled to see Ethan, and is less thrilled when the company Eleanor keeps is filled with stuffy and prickly upper crusters. And then Eleanor disappears from a literal locked room, and everyone is a suspect in her disappearance. And of course Maggie and Ethan have to team up to try and solve what happened, and find out if there is a potential murderer in their midst. It’s a pretty classic whodunnit tale, and it hits the beats you’d imagine. As a cozy mystery this fits pretty well, but didn’t really reinvent the wheel.
But while the mystery itself was pretty run of the mill, this definitely reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie, and that works in its favor. I have a tradition of watching cheesy Christmas rom coms with some friends every holiday season, and I felt like this book has a lot of the elements of the movies of this ilk that work the best for me. There is some solid witty and flirty banter between Maggie and Ethan, with a solid tension to start that isn’t aggressive enough to make me feel weird about them coupling up. There are, of course, misunderstandings and miscommunications, and a festive backdrop with a cast of characters who don’t really contain much depth or complexity, but do act as sufficient supports for the would be couple as they try to solve the mystery and figure out if anyone around them is, in fact, a danger to everyone in the isolated and snowed in country estate. I also enjoyed Maggie’s vibes of being incredibly alone during the holidays, as it channeled Sandra Bullock in one of my FAVORITE Christmas movies “While You Were Sleeping” (which I saw later Ally Carter confirmed she was going for on Threads. It was a successful channeling!). And Ethan was charming and a nice foil to her as well, and it made me root for them.
So on the whole “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” worked better as a romance for me than it did as a complex mystery, but it really brings in the holiday vibes. I fully suggest settling in with a nice cup of cocoa, a warm blanket, and a cozy fire on a chilly winter’s evening as you read this one.
Rating 7: A cute holiday mystery and rom com that is a charming read for the upcoming holidays.
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” is on the Goodreads lists “Holiday Season Romance Reads”, and “Best Reads of the Holiday Season”.
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