I’ll admin that I love a cozy mystery, but add lesbian characters and it’s more than perfect. Everything Alexis Hall writes has characters that you want to hang out with. The setting of this novel is perfect and the two main characters find themselves in a situation they didn’t quite expect when trying to work on their marriage. The Scottish Highlands are a perfect fit for the best kinds of murder mysteries - small quaint villages with sinister things happening behind closed doors. The overall murder mystery plot was a little complicated if not a little unbelievable, but that’s what I like in this genre. Alexis Hall has a way with writing British-isms that are unmatched. The dialogue is well done and you know exactly what each characters is thinking and what their body language is like. Is it the best book I have ever read? No, but it’s well worth the chance to step into a murder mystery that upends some tropes and plays with the genre in new ways. Sapphic characters are a welcomed addition.

This book was okay. A bit boring. I didn’t really connect with the characters and didn’t really enjoy the writing style to be honest. It wasn’t bad, just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Well, that was interesting. And funny and crazy and a bit heartbreaking with their crumbling marriage. This is a mystery, and a very quirky one. I found it to be very touching and real and I loved seeing two people who in a long-term relationship dealing some serious issues that have come up in their relationship. They love each but it does not automatically fix things between them.

It has that Clue style yet at times it seemed almost like it wanted to be more historical-fiction like (it’s not, it’s in modern times) but because it wasn’t historic it seemed a little clunky with odd dialogue that didn’t always fit the times.

I’ve only recently started reading Hall’s books and had to pick this up for the cosy mystery vibes and sapphic romance!

While this is certainly cosy, well written and with a good mystery it was a bit too OTT and quirky for me! I liked the characters well enough but wasn’t feeling the humour or the narrative style which is entirely down to my own personal taste!

Murder Most Actual is an entertaining murder mystery story with a second chance romance from one of my all-time favourite authors. Liza is one-half of a true crime podcast, and when she finds herself on a spur-of-the-moment weekend getaway in a Scottish castle with her wife, their strained marriage is put to the test when one fo the resort's guests turns up dead. Liza can't help but investigate, dragging Hanna along for the ride as they have to sort out friend from foe amidst femme fatales, aristocrats, retired colonels, members of the clergy and more.

This has Hall's trademark humour mixed in with the realities of relationships. Liza and Hanna's marriage is on the rocks and throughout the story they acknowledge it - and the fact that even though they're both still in love with each other they're not sure how to make it work. It felt part cozy-mystery, part Cluedo, part contemporary romp. Liza's POV as a podcaster was interesting, especially when it came time to question her own morals and ethics. And while I don't think this book will be for everyone, it was an entertaining read if you enjoy a mystery.

CW/TW: Murder, death

Tropes/Keywords: Murder-mystery, marriage in trouble, snowed in, forced proximity, sapphic

This cozy mystery was a fun time, and I was definitely interested in getting to the end to see it all come together and find out who was behind the murders. However I still found myself getting bored through the middle and was really just wanting to get to the end.

Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall is a delightful murder mystery that makes fun of itself. Alexis Hall is one of my favorite writers and Murder Most Actual is so much fun. True crime podcaster Liza and her very corporate wife Hanna take a trip to reconnect with each other. What they find is stormy weather that traps them inside the large hotel with a murderer. As the bodies begin to pile up, Liza starts to uncover the truth and stay one step ahead of the murderer. I love the humor, the mystery that pokes fun at itself and how the mystery builds. Liza and Hanna are great characters and I love stories with married couples facing real relationship bumps. The cast of characters and Scottish Highlands setting can't be beat!

Thank you to #netgalley for the read. All opinions are my own.

I know. I know. This review is sooo overdue.

Murder Most Actual follows Liza, a true crime podcaster, who’s wife Hanna decides to surprise her with a vacation at a luxury resort in the Scottish Highlands. Hanna’s hoping the trip will allow them to work on their marriage problems, but Liza is not a fan of the surprises and intent on not enjoying the trip. As a result of heavy storm, Liza, Hanna, and the other guests at the hotel are snowed in. Something that wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that people keep getting murdered. Liza, who knows a bit about murder as a result of her true crime podcast decides to start investigating.

The book was clearly inspired by clue and a very similar cast of characters. While I did enjoy the book, it was at times just a bit too over-the-top and whacky for my personal taste. I found that the scenes I enjoyed best were the ones focused on Liza and Hanna dealing with their relationship problems.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC!

This book was fun! But it definitely had its pros and cons. For starters, I loved that we got it from a true crime lovers pov, and I loved that this murder mystery had cosy vibes. However, the format and writing of this book was sort of hard to read. It definitely took me longer than it usually takes me to finish this book, not necessarily because the plot was bad, but because the writing wasn’t engaging and exciting, that being said, it was a good book and I would recommend it to friends as the actual murder mystery was great! Overall, I’d give this 3.5 stars, leaning towards 4!

This one was a bit of a challenge to attempt to read given the format, which was a bit frustrating. That aside, this one was a fun read. Alexis Hall knows how to write, that's for sure! A new-aged Agatha Christie novel is really what the world needs right now and I definitely want to read more. Just maybe in a format that allows me to read it without such a challenge.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kobo for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very fun murder mystery! I really enjoyed following the story from a true crime podcasters point of view. It wasn’t a point of view that I’ve ever read from before, but I really did enjoy it and thought it was super fun. I also like the relationships between Hanna and Liza. Though they were struggling in their marriage they still cared about each other and wanted to support each other.

It wasn’t very obvious who the killer was and what happened in the story, which was nice. There were a lot of potential suspects so it made it hard for me to guess who the murderer was. I also liked that there were little nods to some mystery classics and it really did feel like playing, or rather reading, a game of clue. I don’t think it was the most gripping mystery, but I really did like it and had a good time reading it.

I found this to be a tiresome cozy mystery. Liza and Hanna are headed to a Scottish Castle/hotel for some rest and to work on their marriage. When they arrive they are trapped by a snowstorm and the bodies start dropping. Liza who has a true crime podcast sets out to the solve the murders. The disagreements between Liza and Hanna lacked any will they or won't they tension and I found it to distract from the mystery. I really did not care if they stayed together or not. The mystery was way overdone. The denouncement at the end was overlong and grandiose. There are a lot of classic mystery Easter Eggs but they do not carry the story. I did like the setting and despite the murders the castle/hotel sounded like a nice place to visit. Overall this was a disappointing read.

Modern day take on Agatha Christie classic And Then There Were None. Lots of fun updates on characters and technology set in a hotel reminiscent of a game of Clue. Fun read.

3 stars

A trope-filled murder mystery with lots of fun literary references, LTR drama, & quirky characters. Overall a fun book, if you don’t mind a not very subtle tone.

[What I liked:]

•A true crime podcaster & her wife take a lovely Easter weekend vacation…to a gothic Scottish castle…& literally arrive on a dark & stormy night! The setting was fun, & the writer managed to cram in a bunch of references to classic mystery novels, the game Clue(do), & gothic novel tropes. That was pretty fun!

•Besides the non-stop string of murders & intrigue, the MC’s have a “trouble in paradise” type situation with their strained marriage. That added a bit of grounding to an otherwise madcap story, & leant some character development & a story arc.

[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Seriously, Liza? You are so helpless you can’t read a paper roadmap? I get that gps is ubiquitous, but it’s kind of an important life skill! And also not that hard, I mean if there is a legible legend. I’m sorry, this is a petty complaint, but also so basic! I’m under 30, but I believe everyone should be able to read a map 🤦‍♀️

•There is a femme fatale character whose appearance felt a bit out of left field, & her characterization felt a bit over the top. That was probably intentional given the tone of this book, but it felt a bit on the nose to me.

CW: murder, dead bodies, implied suicide

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This book was adorable. It was like Agatha Christie, but modern and queer. I sincerely hope this becomes a series. I would read a million adventures about Liza and Hanna. The atmosphere was incredible, the characters were so well developed, and overall this was just an incredibly fun read!

I really love Alexis Hall so I requested this one. It was good and her excellent writing really shines through. It was witty and a great mystery.

As other reviews have said, this book is a fun mashup of romance, comedy, and mystery with references to many classic detective stories. Murder Most Actual follows true crime podcaster Liza and her corporate wife Hanna as they embark on a getaway to Scotland to try to salvage their marriage. However, Liza's crime solving skills are soon put to the test as other hotel guests fall victim to a murderer in their midst. The mystery in the novel is at times over the top, but the development of Liza and Hanna's relationship throughout the novel is enjoyable.

DNF 20%.
Alexis Hall me parece un gran escritor, tengo un gran cariño por muchos de sus libros, empezando por Boyfriend Material, que me parece el resultado de muchos años de trabajo; me encanta su serie sobre Arden St Ives, es fresca y atrevida; adoro su Spires serie y tengo un cariño muy especial por Pansies.

Sin embargo, no he podido hacer click con sus más recientes trabajos, y con esta historia de plano no pude. Me parece lenta y aburrida, no logré empatía con ningún personaje, todos son desagradables y, sinceramente, no tengo interés en saber quién mató a... ni siquiera recuerdo su nombre.

Pese a todo, siempre espero el próximo libro de Alexis, porque es maravilloso.

Gracias a NetGalley por la oportunidad de leer este libro a cambio de una reseña honesta.

A Golden Age mystery with very modern characters (one of the main characters is a podcaster). Parts are very funny, some silly, and some drag a bit. The tropes from the Golden Age are there but there are also some twists—but, hey, that is a trope of the Golden Age too. Overall, a fun book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.