Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC of The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year!

4.5 rounded up to 5.

This is such a classic closed circle mystery story, reminiscent of an Agatha Christie or Clue. The twists and turns were twisting and turning in the best way possible. And the best part, the secondary romance plot stayed secondary and never overshadowed the mystery. It stay focused on the crime the majority of the time.

All three of the main characters, Maggie, Ethan and Eleanor were dynamic and fun in their own ways and each brought their own unique personality to make the story even better. Maggie is working her way past a terrible relationship and trying to find her self-confidence after the worst of betrayals. Ethan is overcoming a life altering accident. Eleanor is in a period of life that makes her question family loyalty. Together, these three create and solve the most wonderful crime of the year.

Ethan and Maggie's enemy to lovers story is fun and sweet. Ethan is the stuff dream book boyfriends are made of. Their relationship arc and witty banter was so charming. There are so many Ethan lines throughout the book worth quoting.

This is definitely a perfect Christmas/holiday cozy mystery that will be well worth your time!

From the very first page, I knew I would love this! I love that Maggie is the grumpy introvert, and Ethan is the guy who can make everyone love him with a wink and a saucy remark. I loved watching both of them work together to figure out what happened to Eleanor. With secret passageways and a murder plot afoot, and a budding romance, I was entertained from beginning to end and read it in one sitting.
The banter and mystery were top-notch, as were the pacing and romance. My favorite part was the police interviews with Ethan and Maggie interspersed throughout!
This is a book I'll definitely be getting a physical copy of this to add to my collection.

A fun, easy, enemies to lovers romance/mystery where the romance overrides the mystery. The mystery moves the story along, but theromance is the bulk of the plot.
Maggie is a successful, recently divorced mystery best-selling author whose ex takes everything. Ethan is also a best-selling mystery writer who Maggie loathes due to his mysterious, carefree persona. The two get invited to spend Christmas at Eleanor Ashley's (who both Maggie and Ethan adore) estate. Only for the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year to take place.
The romance, being the bulk of the story, really fell flat for me with Ethan drastically shifting from mysterious to swoony in the matter of pages. The mystery part of the story, however, was fantastic and kept me guessing!

I have love Ally Carter since I was a young girl. That being said I was so excited to get a Christmas book from her; however I may get coal for this review.

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room two days before Christmas.

I love locked room mysteries but this one just took way too long to get to the action. I think the author was trying too hard to bring an enemies to lovers scenario into the storyline that it took away from the actual meat of the plot. While I did enjoy the two MC’s there were alot of side characters to keep track of which also slowed the pacing at times. In all honesty this book was just plain boring, I slugged through it and the ending was fine; but I shouldn’t have to read over 50% before I got *slightly* entertained.

I love ya Ally, but stick to what you write best next time. Also; there’s tons of five stars for this book so read it if you want, don’t go by my opinion!

What fun! Perfect for holiday lovers who want a good mystery with a dash of romance. I had a great time reading!

I don’t normally read mysteries, though I do read romances, and since this was supposed to be a rom-com sort of romance, I figured what the heck. The story revolves around Maggies, who is a mystery writer and Ethan, who she loathe, whom she calls the leather jacket guy, because that is how his author picture looks.


So, it is a surprise when they are both invited to the home of their favorite author, Eleanor Ashley. Think Agatha Christie vibes. She is who Maggie always wanted to be, so she is thrilled to get the invitation, even if she has to share it with Ethan.


And then Eleanor disappears, and someone is trying to kill Maggie.


Is it a test? Or what? And why does Ethan bug the heck out of her.


So, despite it being a mystery, it was fun watching Maggie, and then Ethan, try to figure out what actually happened, and who of the other guests, should be the suspect.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is out now, just in time for the holidays.

I loved this book!!! I grew up reading Ally Carter and was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! I loved the unusual pairing of Christmas and crime. The mystery was so fun and I didn’t see the ending coming!

This locked-room holiday romance is such a quick and fun read. Maggie and Ethan are not friends, though Ethan is not quite sure why Maggie hates him so much. They're competing authors in the same genre and have been invited by a mysterious benefactor to spend the holidays on an English estate. When their hostess goes missing, it's up to the two of them to find out what truly happened. This is a great enemies to lovers romance that's a quick and festive read.

Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

“…if you were mine, I’d never make you park the car because my shoes were suede. If you were mine, I’d carry you through the storm. If you were mine, I’d fight the sky.”

Absolutely loved this Christmas themed mystery! Obsessed with both the mystery and the characters - Ethan has my entire heart. Who would have thought I would have a thing for ex secret service guys in leather jackets?? Filled with lots of clues, secrets, danger, and surprisingly romantic scenes, it was such a joy to get lost in this book. I did feel like the original misunderstanding between Ethan and Maggie lasted a bit too long but they really made a cute couple when all was said and done.

Would it be too much to ask for a sequel?? Cause I need more books featuring Maggie and Ethan solving mysteries!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Oh my god. I was so honored to get the arc of this book and I hate that it took me so long to get to D: because I LOVED this book. I loved the writing and the banter between the two MCs so much and even though the mystery of it isn’t too complicated it kept me hooked and interested. I was so in the moment I wasn’t even trying to figure out who did it or how things happened I was just along for the ride. I highly recommend this book for your cozy holiday reads because it’s so good!

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for an advanced copy of “ The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year”. this book was such a fun read, and I generally enjoyed it. Maggie A crime author, who has recently gone through a lot of personal issues and wants to spend the holidays alone when she gets the opportunity to go on a surprise vacation to her number one fans home since she’s nothing better to do on the holiday she takes it what she doesn’t realize is that her biggest competitor in the crime field Ethan with his devilishly good luck is also going to be there and what she’s also going to find out is that it’s the home of her favorite author. When Eleanor her favorite author goes missing that night we can’t help a wonder who had the motive how did happen and can it be solved? It was like a holiday version of CLUE. So much fun!

Adorable Christmas read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sassy and fun which is my ideal read. I was really able to lose myself in this book!

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is my first book by Ally Carter and it was such a fun read! I loved the witty banter, the enemies-to-lovers trope, opposite attraction, and the Christmas mystery aspect- that keeps you guessing.I also liked that it was an easy fast paced book with short chapters.
I enjoyed the characters, but Ethan was my favorite. He is such a great character that you could easily fall for in real life. The “wanna make out” and the "Marcie" moments had me laughing throughout the book.
The only thing that I did not like, is that the cover does not fit the story, but that is just my opinion. Other than that, this is a great book to help you get in the mood for Christmas.
If you like a Christmas romance with a mystery then I highly recommend this book for you!
Thank you NetGalley, Ally Carter, and Avon for my advanced copy.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon books for the ARC

I had a hard time getting into this novel. I really liked Maggie as a character but I feel like she lacked chemistry with Ethan. I also found the writing a little off. It bounced around between characters and I had a tough time getting investing in anyone.

Overall, 3/5 stars

This was the second novel I've read by Alley and it did not disappoint. I love her writing style and subject matter. She combines two of my favorite genres (romance & mystery/suspense) and executes it flawlessly. I loved that they mystery of the story was never put on the back burner for the romance elements. Both were always front and center throughout the story. Enemies to lovers is also one of my favorite tropes so of course that also won this book some points. If you're looking for a really good holiday mystery rom-com this is it. 4.5/5 stars!!

5/5 stars

eARC provided by NetGalley

I really loved this book!! It was such a fun read with a real deep message! The backstory of the characters was so well done! Honestly the whole story I thought was really well done!! Maggie is have a rough time after she catches her best friends and husband of years together when she goes to tell them exciting news. She has a bad history with Christmas and is not looking forward to it this year at all. When her publisher sends her on a mysteries trip with Ethan freaking Wyatt, another mystery writer who never **supposedly** learned Maggie's name. When they get there things quickly develop into a mystery for the books (lol). They can only trust each other and truths start to come out! There was a shout out at the end in reference to when Agatha Christie went missing and I can definitely feel the inspiration and it was truly so well done!!!

The development of their relationship was so well done in my opinion! It was somehow slow and fast at the same time and it was perfect! I love a man obsessed and this delivered on that perfectly. Watching them help each other grow into fully confident people after not being able to truly come back from their respective traumas. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a different type of Christmas story this year. It delivered on the mystery aspect, the romance, and the Christmas vibes!! This was my first Ally Carter book and I am a fan!!!!!

I absolutely loved this book!! What a perfect Christmas mystery, all the things a girl could want. Maggie a successful author with her “purse book and napkin cheese”, a roguishly handsome boys club author who seems to live to make her life miserable, a mystery trip to a desolate English countryside mansion over Christmas and a disappearance most intriguing!! Sprinkle in some humor and good old fashioned likable characters and you’ve got the perfect book for reading in front of the Christmas tree.
Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins for this arc in return for my honest review.

I friggin loved this! I always forget how much I love a good mystery and then I read one and I'm like a gremlin.

For real though, this book was absolutely delightful. I was all in immediately- I loved Maggie and wanted to wrap her in a big hug and feed her cookies. And Ethan- swoon! Their banter as 'enemies' and after was entertaining ah. And my favorite thing about the book is that the romance and the mystery were balanced perfectly.

I have been reading Ally Carter since I was in middle school so when I saw that she came out with a cozy Christmas mystery that was something I had to jump on right away! Right from the cover I liked this book. The marketing team has done a great job, and I kept seeing this book all over my social media feed so as soon as I saw it on Netgalley I crossed my fingers and hoped I had been good enough this year to get an early Christmas present and low and behold Santa came through. Sometimes you read a book at the right time, and this book has a lot of things on my check list. fun banter, mystery writers, a manor in the middle of nowhere, a missing will, locked door mystery, hunky guy with a mystery past. Check and check. My main and pretty much only complaint with this book is that the FMC does not have ANY confidence. I get that the author is trying to show how a bad relationship can wear you down and that was a big part of her story, but I feel like it was too much. I enjoyed the sparks between Ethan and Maggie and figuring out the mystery with them every step of the way. I enjoyed how the book ended. I would love to go to Eleanor Ashley's Mistletoe Manor anytime! If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie, and ‘Knives Out’ then I would highly recommend this Christmas "romystery".

Thank you, Net Galley, the author, and the publisher, for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore Ally Carter and her writing so I knew this book was going to be fun, but I couldn't have imagined what an absolute delight I was in for. The mystery keeps you guessing and the romance keeps you swooning and there's just so much to love here. I also really felt for her main character, Maggie, and how she was doubting herself after a terrible relationship gone wrong. Her struggles felt so true to life, even when she was in a ridiculous, larger than life house party, looking for a possibly murdered mystery author while dodging the killer herself. Highly recommend this read for anyone looking for a whodunit or a love story you want to lose yourself in.