The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Goodreads does challenges throughout the year, and this was one of the books in one of the challenges. The idea of it appealed to me. I do want to stress that I would have never found this on my own. But goodness, I was glad it was included on Goodreads. I would have missed out on a great book otherwise.

The book in short
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.
I got this information here.

My Thoughts
This comes quite close to the enemies-to-lovers trope, although, as always, it’s more miscommunication than anything. This book brought me right into the festive mood; I was ready for Christmas when I finished it. Although I find reading about writers a bit tiring in general, it was done in a great way here.

I do see Maggie’s appeal, and I do think she is sweet, but she is also terribly judgmental, and she seems to be oblivious to this fact. I loved the storyline of the nickname of sorts from Ethan, but I was terribly confused as to why Maggie did not remember this interaction at all, even if Ethan looked different. It was lovely, but looking back, it was a bit silly for her not to remember.

I found the arc with the ex-husband to be a bit lacklustre. I would have loved to have seen some revenge, even if it was only in one of the stories she wrote or something. He got away with it, really, even when she got her name back. He still won, it’s terribly realistic, but I did not love that.

I did like the mystery angle; it was a bit like the game Clue, or what I know of it. I never actually played. It became quite serious in the end and a bit much, but there was some sort of charm in that. Which is why I found the ex-husband’s realism to be a bit sad.

In the end, it was fun, it was a bit funny and a bit mysterious. The love story was a nice bonus, and it did make sense that they liked each other quite quickly, as they got along the moment they started talking. I loved the sprinkled in back story, and I feel this is the book one should read this coming Christmas season.

Details
Page count: 293 pages