Breakaway Books

Authored by Ally Carter; Published September 2024; Mystery

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

The strongest feature of The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year has to be the balance between mystery, romance, and just the right amount of seasonal cheer. Despite reading it in the middle of summer, it did not feel at all out of place, but… it might still be worth a re-read at Christmas?

In The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, author Maggie Chase is doing her best to get back on her feet after a contentious divorce. She’s finally ready to re-emerge on to the social scene when her agent presses a mysterious invitation to a castle in Scotland on her, and Maggie really doesn’t have any choice but to go. Next thing she knows, Maggie is celebrating Christmas with her favorite mystery author Eleanor Ashley—and her rival Ethan Wyatt. But when Eleanor disappears, Maggie feels certain that she can follow the clues and find her once more, proving her worth to take over Eleanor’s IP empire.

If you enjoyed the movie Clue, I am confident you will adore this novel. All the suspects and the detectives trapped in a mansion during a snowstorm? It’s a perfect mystery setting for the perfect locked room mystery. The fact that Eleanor Ashley has masterminded it all and set the clues for solving her own disappearance makes it all the more delightful, and I loved the cleverness behind it all. The clues are not so obvious that it seems like the characters are morons, but they don’t come out of nowhere—you definitely can follow them with a close eye. It is a *chef’s kiss* mystery, with so many creative plots to deceive or kill Eleanor exposed over the course of the novel. It is a classic mystery that delighted me over and over.

To me, though, the romance aspect of this novel blows hot and cold. Ethan falls in love with Maggie after about… five minutes… in an elevator, and then holds on to it for years. Love at first sight isn’t my thing, but the banter between them makes up for it at times. I did think it was a stretch that after the initial elevator meeting, somehow Maggie becomes convinced that they hate each other while Ethan remains completely oblivious to this impression of Maggie’s. I appreciated that, over the course of their romantic relationship, Ethan’s main message for Maggie is to trust herself and to have more confidence, especially after the gaslighting of her over-the-top villainous ex-husband. Both Ethan and Maggie are carrying around a lot of baggage from their families, and at times, I wish there were just a liiittle less backstory. Still, the romance was certainly not problematic enough that I wanted to put the book down.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is a strong mystery novel—and the perfect way to get back into cozy season!