The Holly Village Murders by Benedict Brown Series: Marius Quin Mystery #6
Published by Storm Publishing on November 10, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery
Pages: 298
Format: eARC
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The snow falls, carollers sing, and a killer plots his next move…
London, 1928. Marius Quin and Lady Bella Montague are ready for a quiet Christmas when they learn that Bella’s beloved Aunt Adele has met a shocking end in her picture-perfect cottage. Immediately heading for Holly Village, the enclave of retired aristocrats and eccentric pensioners where Adele lived, they discover that her death was far from natural.
The dead woman’s priceless Manet painting has vanished, and a cryptic note she left hints at scandalous goings-on among her neighbours. When another resident is murdered during the village Christmas party, it’s clear that a devious killer is preying on the sleepy community. Marius and Bella must navigate a web of village intrigue, false identities, and long-buried scandals to stop this from being a Christmas to remember for all the wrong reasons…
Poor Bella. Her fiancé was recently killed and now her Aunt Adele is dead under mysterious circumstances. Marius Quin, our mystery novelist/ amateur detective, and Bella head to Holly Village, where Adele lived, to figure out what happened. The folks are an interesting lot, mostly older aristocrats, but it’s hard for Marius and Bella to imagine any of them as the killer.
Marius and Bella make a good team, although I’m a little tired of Marius’ “I love her but can’t tell her” bit. The banter between the two is fun and their strengths play off each other well.
The mystery takes place over about two days. We get plenty of clues and the whodunnit might be a little obvious, but there are plenty of Christmas touches that make this a nice read for the season. It’s well-researched and lets you feel immersed in the late 1920s in London. It’s the 6th in the series but was written to be able to be read as a stand alone.
About Benedict Brown
Benedict Brown is a Welsh-Irish-Englishman, originally from South London, but now living in the north of Spain. He’s been writing ever since he was at school and ended up doing an MA in Creative Writing at university in Wales. Benedict published his first mystery in 2019, and now has three bestselling series
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