The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld, Zachary Webber
Published by Harper Audio on September 4, 2024
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery, Romance
Length: 8 hrs 21 mins
Pages: 304
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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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.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is as fun as the cover looks. Rom-com mysteries can be hit or miss, but this one was funny and cute and twisty without being annoying.
Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt are both bestselling authors, rivals who don’t get along well. Now they have both been invited to spend Christmas with a mysterious “fan” in England, who turns out to be the queen of mystery writers, Eleanor Ashley. They are joined by Eleanor’s various family members and other staff, but on the night after their arrival, Eleanor disappears from a locked room. They’re snowed in and it seems that someone wants to commit murder. Maggie and Ethan have to put aside their differences to figure out what’s going on.
The mystery is put together surprisingly well. Just about everyone on the estate is a potential suspect – Eleanor was rich and most of them have something to gain from her death. Eleanor herself has left several clues in addition to those left by the culprit.
Maggie and Ethan are great together. Their banter made me smile and I liked how they brought out the best in each other. The audiobook’s two narrators really brought their characters out too. Audio was definitely the right choice.
It’s just a great light, festive read.
About Ally Carter
Ally Carter writes books about sneaky people and movies about Christmas. She is the New York Times Best-selling author of the Gallagher Girls, Heist Society, and Embassy Row series for teens as well as WINTERBORNE HOME FOR VENGEANCE AND VALOR for younger readers. Her books have been published all over the world, in over twenty languages.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
This does sound good. I was very disappointed in The Blonde Identity last year which was meant to be charming and full of banter but was mostly slapstick and improbable situations. Good writing can overcome the improbable but I mostly wanted to throw the book across the room!
Hmm. I had thought about picking up The Blonde Identity since I enjoyed this one, but maybe not.