Guess I’m in the minority here, but this one was not my favorite…
We have a group of people who got together for a Christmas masquerade party/play/drama while they were in college. BUT, one of them went missing, never to be seen again.

The story is told by Charley, both in the present, and twelve years ago.
You see, she received an invite for ANOTHER Christmas masquerade party. And although she has not really kept in touch with these ‘friends’, one of them said they would help her get some acting jobs IF she participated in the masquerade…

So, half heartedly, she goes to the castle in Scotland…where the worst snow storm in history is brewing…

And…the murders begin.

Lots of characters (with really NONE of them likable). Lots of beautiful scenery. Lots of places for things to go wrong. Lots of secrets… And…no phone or phone service.

Also, the players seem to be from all walks of life!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an ARC of the audiobook which has already been released.

#TwelveDaysOfMurder by #AndreinaCordani.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me.

Check out all my upcoming reviews on Instagram @BookReviews_with_emsr

Happy Reading!! 📖📚

The Masquerade Murder Society has always been an elite club solving fictional murders with pretty realistic themes. But this Christmas their worst fictional nightmares are coming true. One of them could be the reason behind the artistic death befalling this circle and they only have a few days at hand to either stop this mess or die.

The plot theme was something that we would enjoy doing with our friends on Christmas, as long as this stays on the fictional side. The characters portrayed their roles quite well as we see multiple sites of elite society, be it their royal glories, surplus money, wannabee fakesters and misfits. It's not one of those stories where you would be able to guess the culprit easily as a lot of the facts are revealed in the later half of the story. I do think it's a fun book to read if you are into the theme, however, if you are not a fan of a bit of acting and stage play, this might not be the one for you.

Thanks, @netgalley @dreamscape_media @andreinacordani for the digital ARC
Genre: #murdermystery #thriller #christmas
Rating: 3.5/5 star


#TheTwelveDaysofMurder #NetGalley

🎄 The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani

4 Stars

Embrace this if you love:

- Cozy Christmas mysteries
- Atmospheric settings
- Reunions with hidden secrets

"The Twelve Days of Murder" is a delightful Christmas-themed murder mystery that captivated me from start to finish. Set in a snowed-in, secluded mansion in Scotland—sans cell service—the stage was perfectly set for a gripping and cozy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed.

As the mystery unfolds, the narrative skillfully intertwines the present-day murder with the long-hidden secrets of the group's past. The stakes are high as the friends must confront their history and the truth about what truly transpired twelve years ago. Andreina Cordani's storytelling paints a vivid picture of an atmospheric and suspenseful gathering, where everyone is a suspect and hidden motives abound. The suspense is palpable, keeping me engaged and guessing until the final pages.

For fans of mysteries set against the backdrop of the holiday season, "The Twelve Days of Murder" offers a compelling and thrilling read, blending old secrets with a present-day murder that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

THE TWELVE DAYS OF MURDER by Adriena Cordani and narrated by Ella Lynch was a fun holiday homage to the classic And Then There Were None by Christie.

I've read a couple heavy and moving memoirs lately and craved escaping into a locked house murder mystery, and this fit the bill. The audio narration voiced all the characters nicely with just enough distinction to easily tell a character change.

A group of friends formed a Murder Masquerade Society in college with a Christmas Masquerade that didn't turn out well a dozen years ago, when one of their members went missing. They have all gathered again for the first time since that tragic night to participate in another Murder Masquerade. The theme is the Twelve Days of Christmas and all seems to be going well until Lady Partridge ends up dead in a pear tree. This murder isn't in the script and no one knows who they can trust because, of course, they all have secrets.

I had fun with this story and feel like it is really the kind of holiday story I enjoy! I know. I'm sappy that way.

Thank you to @netgalley & @dreamscape_media for this ALC and letting me share my thoughts! This story was published November 7th, so it is the perfect holiday kickoff!

I saw this audiobook and thought it looked nice and festive and I wanted to get in the holiday spirit haha! I really enjoyed the multiple characters. There was just the right amount that I could actually keep track of everyone. Charlie was my favourite for obvious reasons once you read this story. I honestly thought the murder mystery, murder mystery was such a clever plot haha. And it actually made me what to join in… well not for the real murder part but you know what I mean.
I listened to The Twelve Days of Murder on audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrators voice. I like that she gave each character their own voice and even different accents.
I would recommend this read and I would listen to this narrator again.
I received this audiobook free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audio of The Twelve Days of Murder.

This was a really great holiday mystery. I loved the premise of the Masqueraders and their extensive murder mystery parties. This was fun, moody, and a great look at how a group of friends can hurt each other. The narrator was also a great voice and very talented!

This was a fun Christmas murder mystery! I love the friend group murder trope. I did find all the characters on the audio a bit hard to keep track of, but the narrators did a wonderful job bringing the text to life!

That was a fun and wild ride! This was my 1st book by Andreina Cordani but is not going to be my last, I am adding all of her backlog to my TBR! This group of people except the "poor" one were pretty much a bag of dicks! But I didn't see that last twist coming, which is my favorite!

#TheTwelveDaysofMurder
#NetGalley

What is better than a Christmas story? A Christmas story about murder, of course! A group of university friends are having a reunion of their Murder Masquerade Society, which used to stage the most grisly and fantastical staged murder until their last gathering twelve years previous when one of their friends died for real. Unsolved, each of them went their own way. Now they are getting back together on a grand and isolated Scottish estate plunged into a winter wonderland with the theme of the Twelve days of Christmas. Each of the friends has avoided the events of Twelve years ago and the part they played and each harbour their own secrets. When one of them is found hanged on the first day of Christmas, it seems a deadly game has begun. The past is coming murderously into the present and to win this deadly game they must confront it. I was immediately grabbed by the audiobook and could not stop listening. It is so well narrated to capture the drama, chills and fear. #thetwelvedaysofmurder #andreinacordani #netgalley #audiobook

This was such an interesting book. I was so confused about who did it. The ending really threw me for a loop. I really enjoyed it. The murder mystery part of the book is so awesome, but then the actual murders were wrapped into it. I just was so amazed how it all came out. I highly recommend that if you like murder mystery and holiday mystery, this is a great book for you.

A fun holiday take on an isolated, closed circle murder mystery! This follows a group of friends who started doing murder mystery dinner parties in college, but one of the group disappeared at a party. Now the rest of them are all back together at an isolated rental just before Christmas reprising this murder mystery tradition, except then they start being murdered to a 12 Days of Christmas theme (actual pear tree included!). Secrets from the past and present must come to the surface before all is made clear. I really enjoyed this thought it was clever at times. One of the primary characters is the poor outsider amidst a group of wealthy and privileged friends which I think works. The audio narration is excellent as well and I would recommend this one!

This was a decent locked room whodunnit. I think if I personally had be reading it instead of listening to it, I might not have finished it. However, I was surprised and even though it dragged in a few places for me it finished well.

A group of friends who met at university were members of The Masquerade Murder Society where they played immersive murder mystery games. The last Christmas Masquerade ended on badly when Karl, the “victim,” disappeared from a locked room and was never seen again. The police were called in but never found any solid leads. The group disbanded but twelve years later, Karl’s sister, Ani, has invited them all on a Christmas getaway to a remote Scottish hunting lodge, for one more Christmas murder mystery. When the guests arrive, Ani hasn’t shown up yet, but everything has been planned and the murder mystery starts as scheduled. The theme this time around is The Twelve Days of Christmas with characters like Lady Partridge, Lord Leapworth, and Mr. Gold. The group, along with the caterer, is snowed in and, of course, tensions rise and secrets are revealed. Then one of them is found dead and it becomes clear that one of the group is a murderer.

I do love books that come out this time of year, with the Christmas celebrations, snowed-in mansions, and murders with a festive flair, like Lady Partridge being hanged in a pear tree. The Twelve Days of Murder sucked me right in. None of the characters are likable, but they are each stuck in the lives they’ve created, and I did feel a bit of sympathy for a few of them. Beyond that though, it deals with topics like cronyism, class division, and corruption.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fabulous job. She gave each character their own distinguishable voice and while some parts were rather gross, she did manage to keep it all rather light if that makes sense.The setting was perfect, atmospheric, claustrophobic.

It wasn’t my favorite book of all time, but I enjoyed it. The whodunnit wasn’t entirely surprising, but there were a couple of good twists.

This is a whodunnit mystery that occurs in two timelines.

They were the Masquerade Murder Society in college. The eight of them would get together and have murder mystery dinners. That is until their final masquerade when one of them went missing. Twelve years later they are called back for one final masquerade, but thats when everything goes crazy & people start dying.
I really loved the concept when I requested the audio but it didn’t resonate with me as I had hoped. There were some Agatha Christie vibes so if you are a fan perhaps you would enjoy this more, I just struggle with certain aspects of story & found the characters very narcissistic.

Thank you Netgalley, Dreamscape Audio, and the author for this ALC.

12 years ago the Masquerade Murder Society's Last Whodunit was shocking and unforgettable when their fearless leader Karl disappeared from a locked room, now the remaining group are all back together for a Christmas game of Murder.

The games gets all to real when group members are being murdered off. If they hope to survive the game they will have to come clean with their secrets and their past.

This was a great Holiday Whodunit with a slice of "Clue" humor while keeping you on the edge of your seat. The Murder club was a great way to add humor to the story line while keeping this read a definite phycological thriller. My mind kept changing on who I though the killer was right up to the end.

A killer read to add to your Christmas list!

I’m a fan of murder mysteries and always try to figure out who is the killer. I liked the unique spin in this one using the carol of the 12 Days of Christmas. There were several people who could’ve been the guilty party and there was an interesting twist that brought it to a conclusion. Overall, very well thought out story and a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Andreina Cordani for allowing me the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.

This is a fun holiday mystery! It was a great audio!

Dual timelines - one is a mostly privileged group of college friends who belong to a murder masquerade society. During this one, one of the group goes missing - presumed possibly killed - during one of their masquerades.

The other timeline is a dozen years later when one member brings them all together in the Scottish Highlands for a Christmas themed murder masquerade.

This entire group was a hot mess. We had a lot of points of view. The narrator did a great job in portraying them all, and there was a nice twist at the end!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun enough holiday thriller, but didn’t blow me away. The audiobook was good but really would have benefitted from multiple narrators as we have several POVs. I did have a bit of a hard time keeping track of modern time vs flash backs but was usually able to sort it out.

Overall it was a solid three star read but nothing better than that.

And Then There Were None on Christmas Eve! ❄️🎄

The Masquerade Murder Society of eight friends during college, where the one who played Santa vanished without a trace. Twelve years later the Murder Society has a reunion in Inverness at Snellbronach mansion out in the countryside. There's a forecast of the heaviest snowfall in a decade over the Christmas holiday.

Everyone is ready for the game as can be, dressed up and in their assigned roles for the "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme. They'll have a (fake) murder mystery to solve but the game has gone wrong and "Lady Partridge" is found dead hanging on a pear tree.

I enjoyed this one! I'm a fan of Agatha Christie's - And Then There Were None so any novel inspired by the Queen of Mystery is very appealing to me. The story has an amazing setting and a fun premise. The characters are pretentious and have traits that are unlikable but work well for the story.

I would probably enjoy it more if I read it instead of listening because the number of characters can be confusing. I still think Ella Lynch did a wonderful job with the narration, she does sound young and I have to remind myself that the characters are in their thirties and not young adults. Recommend for a locked room mystery fans and Christmas theme murder mysteries! 3.5⭐

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ALC.

If you like your Christmas reads dark and edgy, rather than sweet and predictable, then The Twelve Days of Murder may be for you! Eight friends in college formed The Masquerade Murder Society, enacting pretend murders in fabulous settings. It ends when one of the members disappears and is never found during one of the enactments. Until, twelve years later the remaining seven members are invited to another murder masquerade in a remote Scottish hunting lodge in the Highlands.

I was immediately drawn to this book because we do this at Christmas with my grown children and their spouses. It's a lot of fun to dress up and pretend, even without the Scottish castle, so I was eager to read the book.

The action is told in present day, and then switches back to the fateful party where Karl disappeared. They have been assigned parts on a clever riff off of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Most of the group came from money and have high-flying careers except for Charlie, an aspiring actress. She always felt like an outsider in the group and was treated badly by some of the members. At first I thought none of the characters were going to be likable, but Charlie grew on me, and even some of the others.

This was a fun read, but would be especially fun to read in the month of December, preferably by a Christmas tree and a fire. Just be sure you're not alone in the house or you may get spooked!

Thank you to NEtGalley, Andreina Cordani, and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to a preview of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.