Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is easily the best book of the year for me. It blends a classic locked room mystery with a very Christmasy enemies to lovers romance in a way that brings out the best in both genres. It's not a book to judge by its cover because there’s plenty in it for mystery fans to sink their teeth into. The first line in Goodreads' blurb calls it ‘Knives Out gets a holiday rom‑com twist’, which describes it perfectly; but be careful not to read the whole show more blurb since the rest gives away too much of the plot. My thanks to Goodreads Giveaways for an advance copy to review. It took months to arrive but it was well worth the wait. show less

Maggie Chase doesn't like Christmas, but her publisher convinces her to go to England for it at the behest of a mysterious benefactor. Unfortunately, her nemesis, Ethan Wyatt, is also coming along. When they're brought to an estate owned by the brilliant, admired mystery writer Eleanor Ashley, Maggie is positively star struck. But then Eleanor disappears, and she and Ethan may just have to team up to find out what's really going on.

I put this on my list last year and decided it would be an show more excellent seasonal read this month. I enjoy a good enemies-to-romance with a slow burn as they get to know each other. Carter does a nice job of including both Maggie and Ethan's perspective of events in the past and present so we can see the places they've miscommunicated over the years. Maggie's dealing with repercussions from a past relationship, too, so while the prose is light and humorous, it never crosses over into full-on frothy. A very fun blend of mystery and romance that hit all the right spots for a close-to-holiday reading. show less

Maggie Chase is a cozy mystery writer. Ethan Wyatt is a massively popular thriller writer. She hates his guts. He can never get her name right. And they're spending Christmas together as they've been invited by an avid fan to her large estate in England. When they arrive, they discover that their hostess is Eleanor Ashley, the undisputed queen of mystery novels. However, on their first night there, Eleanor disappears. From a locked room. With the weather awful, Maggie and Ethan decide to show more investigate what happened and determine just who in the party may have wanted to harm Eleanor. But as Christmas approaches the number of suspects keeps stacking up and Maggie and Ethan are discovering there's more than meets the eye.

I ADORED this holiday mystery romance. Carter crafts a really solid mystery that obviously owes a debt to Agatha Christie while also building a romance between Maggie and Ethan that had such lovely surprises. Plus there's a heavy dose of humour that made me laugh out loud. However, it's not all light and fluffy. Maggie is recovering after getting out of a toxic relationship and Carter deals with the repercussions so deftly. If you're looking for a fun read for the Christmas season, I recommend this one highly. show less

I really enjoyed this romance-mystery mash-up about two writers who are invited by an iconic writer to spend Christmas at her manor house and who find themselves in the middle of a real-life mystery. The enemies-to-lovers romance trope was well done, and I loved the banter between the two leads, as well as all the nods to classic mysteries. This could easily have been a 4.5 star holiday read for me, but I was bothered (to a silly degree, probably) by one detail at the end How did the show more Inspector carry Maggie all the way to the greenhouse on his bum ankle?!?, and I thought not offering a full resolution to the over-arching mystery was kind of a cop-out. Still, a very fun read and perfect for this time of year. show less