What a cute locked door mystery! It reminded me of ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie- I was kept guessing until the very end!

My only complaint would be that this book seems like more of a young adult mystery/romance- there was so much emphasis on kissing and making out, that I got the impression this book was for a younger audience.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy!

Quick dialogue, enemies to friends to lovers, remote manor of famous mystery writer, blizzard, and locked room mystery at Christmas! All the fun and sure to be a winner with romance and mystery readers.

Love a murder mystery at Christmas! Cute story, easy read, but felt a bit too drawn out in sections. Probably work better as a novella.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

A lovely Christmas in July ARC! One of my fave reads of 2024!

This is a perfect mashup of mystery and romance. Set in snowed in "Mistletoe Manor" - It gave vibes of Clue, Murder She Wrote, and Knives Out. There was a who-dun-it storyline with two (rivals-to-lovers) main characters who had wit and banter that made me smile and giggle. This was my first read for this author (Ally Carter) and I enjoyed how she teased bits of information and would slowly fill in the gaps as you read - which kept me eagerly turning the pages.

This is gonna be a hit. Throw on your cheesy Christmas sweater grab some cocoa (coffee or tea) and sit by a fire and devour this book when it comes out 09.24.2024! I'll need a copy for my bookshelf! Thanks to Netgalley, Avon Harper Voyage, and Ally Carter for an ARC of this book!

5/5 Stars
1/5 spice (but it's still good - just more closed door)

Ally Carter was an auto-read author for me in high school, and it's been exciting to now read her adult books and be reminded of why I always gravitated toward her books.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is a cozy read that gave me all the Christmas-in-July vibes I'd been wanting. I can't wait to pick this back up in December.

I loved the dynamic between Ethan and Maggie (what can I say, I love a reverse grumpy relationship because it makes me feel seen) and Maggie's character growth as well.

You've done it again, Ally! Can't wait to see what you put out next.

Delightful. Tropey, adventure, fun.
I would 100% watch this as a movie. I hope this becomes a series.

This book was so charming and everything I was looking for. Endearing main characters, interesting locked-room mystery, swoon-worthy romance. I had fun every single step of the way. Their tension was impeccable, the mystery had me on the edge of me seat, and I absolutely devoured this book. Not every character is incredibly well built out but this was a fun read and PERFECT for the holiday season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is quite literally the perfect cozy romance-mystery/Knives Out book to read during Christmas. Maggie & Ethan are both mystery authors who hate Christmas because they each have had terrible life mishaps on the days leading up to Christmas. They also have a history of deep hatred (well, one sided) because Ethan can't even remember Maggie's name and he's just skating through life on his charm.

Ally Carter manages to nail the Agatha Christie vibe perfectly - we have Eleanor (our Agatha) go missing, and Maggie (her biggest fan!) working to find her as people around them start dying and everyone has a motive...sound familiar? But what makes this book THE book to read this winter is the romance, which the cover captures perfectly. Ethan has secretly harbored a crush on Maggie for a long time, and everyone can tell - so when we get their slow burn romance, Maggie manages to remain a fun clueless character without being frustrating, and Ethan gets to have his big reveals and POVs midway into the book to explain his actions. This is the perfect combination of snowed-in house with a questionable will & a one-bed romance.

Definitely a must-read this winter!!

This was So. Much. Fun.

I may be dating myself here, but if you remember the ‘Saved By The Bell’ murder mystery party episode, this is a full length novel of those vibes but also set at Christmas and also real criminal activity, not just a game.

I really loved Maggie and felt for her with all she’d gone through. I admired her strength and resiliency that it seemed like everyone could see but her. She’d been conditioned to doubt herself and it was lovely to see her confidence grow. She was so intelligent and had fantastic instincts. As she gradually learned to believe in them and recognize her own value, I was steadfastly rooting her on.

Some of that confidence was aided by Ethan. Ethan who truly gives off epic Chris Evans energy. So charming. So competent. So down bad for Maggie even when she doesn’t realize it. His unwavering support and belief in her was exactly what she needed. He allowed her the space and backup to lead the charge and slowly learn how to trust herself. I was swooning just as much as every other woman over this man.

The mystery element was fun even as it felt high stakes. It led to great situations that brought Maggie and Ethan together. It forced proximity, it landed them in only one bed, it gave a “who did this to you?” moment—it served on the romance tropes and microtropes is what I’m saying here. It was closed door, but the tension and chemistry was still there.

Truly, this was such an entertaining read. I had the best time. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Ally Carter and don't think that she could write anything that I wouldn't devour. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was no exception! It's a cozy mysterious romance. The plot is interesting and fast paced. The characters (even the not-so-good-guys) are loveable. We'll need more of Maggie and Ethan.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is fantastic! I made the mistake of starting it in the evening and could NOT put it down until I was finished. Brilliant plot with multiple twisty mysteries, the wittiest of banter, and two captivating leads. This book is a love letter to Agatha Christie and traditional locked room/closed circle mysteries. Enthralling, intricate, heartwarming, and thoroughly un-put-downable!

📚Book Review 📚
🎄The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter 🎄
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Let me just start by saying this book is 5-stars on top of my Christmas Tree! There, I said it!

Why do I love this book so much? I'll try to do it justice! In 'The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year' by Ally Carter, we meet mystery writer and hardcore mystery genre fan Maggie Chase. That's enough to already get me on board with Maggie, but there's more. Maggie finds herself in a position where she and Ethan Chase, another mystery author (whom she can't stand!) is solving a mystery from the queen of crime, Eleanor Ashley.

So, we've got an Agatha Christie-type epic author, who has two amateur sleuths who happens to be MYSTERY writers, who happen to also HATE each other, solving a crime in a mansion at Christmas.

SIGN. ME. UP.

Carter's writing blends humor and depth, making this a fun read that doesn't skimp on the character developments. The book manages to be mystery, christmas cozy, romance and funny all at once -- and excels at each of them!

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter combines romance and mystery into one fantastic package that I plan on opening and enjoying every Christmas. Seriously. The three lamest Christmas movies that I watch every year are officially being replaced with this book. I will re-read The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year every Christmas.

Maggie Chase, the main character of this book, is a delightful mix of vulnerability and feistiness. Her relatable qualities make it easy to empathize with her and impossible not to root for her. She is a cozy mystery writer and book lover, and she's on a mission to solve a puzzling mystery. The perfect amateur sleuth.

I don't want to spoil anything about this book, so I will not go into too many details, but I will say that the setting was brilliant, the mystery was well-plotted and fun, and there was the perfect amount of kissing (not too much).

Above all, the writing was magnificent. This book will make you feel things. I laughed a lot. Ally Carter has a fantastic sense of humor, and she really uses it in this book. I also blubbered at one point because I felt quite touched.

This book has a heavy dash of will they/won't they and is also heavy on mystery. What I'm trying to say is that there is a nice balance. There is romance, but the book is not "smut," i.e., there is not too much action on the page.

This book would be fun for romance readers who like mystery and suspense. It would also be fun for cozy mystery readers who don't typically read romance. I highly recommend it to both groups.

I don't know if there is going to be a follow-up to this or if it is a stand-alone novel. But if this were to become a series, I would definitely read more.

Thanks to Net Galley and Avon Books for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a delight! I grabbed this thinking it was connected to The Blonde Identity (I don't think it is, though there were definitely some similarities when it came to the heroes), but I was not at all disappointed when it was something totally different. This is a modern take on the classic locked-room mystery (a la Agatha Christie) with a bit of an enemies-to-lovers romance subplot thrown in. Maggie Chase is a successful mystery novelist who has had a pretty rough year - she caught her husband cheating on her with their mutual best friend just before Christmas, almost exactly a year before the start of this story, and she's been struggling to make ends meet (for reasons that are explained later in the book). She gets talked into going to the annual holiday party that her publisher throws, where she crosses paths, unfortunately, with her professional nemesis. Ethan Wyatt is one of the most popular novelists with Maggie's publisher, and he writes what she calls "leather jacket guy books" (which I found very evocative - I'm imagining Jack Reacher/Jack Ryan type of stuff). Before she leaves the party, Maggie gets a very mysterious invitation that her publisher tells her will be life-changing. She can't resist the mystery, so she finds herself on a private plane - unfortunately with her nemesis - and eventually lands in England where she and Ethan are taken to Mistletoe Manor, which happens to be the home of prolific Queen of Mystery novels Eleanor Ashley, who Maggie idolizes. Eleanor has invited Maggie, Ethan, and one other author, along with various and sundry family members to spend the Christmas holiday with her, but it gets more complicated when Eleanor disappears... from a locked room. When their fellow author ends up getting poisoned, it's up to Maggie and Ethan to try to figure out what happened to Eleanor, which gets harder and harder as it becomes clear that there's a killer (or at least would-be killer) at the manor with them. They go from enemies to allies to friends to something more fairly quickly, but it reads pretty realistically in context - these seem like the kind of conditions that would accelerate a relationship. I loved the chemistry between the main characters, the twists and turns of the mystery, and the clear love that Carter has for the genre. Content warnings: references to childhood poverty, death of parents, other traumatic childhood experiences, cheating, MAJOR marital gaslighting, and attempted murder.

I loved this book so much. It was well written, entertaining and cozy. The characters were well developed and extremely likable. I have already preordered copies to sell at my store.

Y'all, how do I even write a review for this? Short version - I absolutely and completely adored this! I simultaneously wanted to devour this as quickly as possible, and I wanted to savor every word. It was a brilliant blend of so many things - It had wit, but also feels. It had romance, but also thrills. It had chills, but also tenderness. It was just a perfectly blended novel.

So, what's it about? Well, I'm glad you asked. Maggie writes cozy mysteries, and Ethan writes thrillers. They're both invited to the home of legendary author Eleanor's home for Christmas. And then, she vanishes, and they find themselves as main characters in a story they might write, and they've got to figure out what the heck is going on. As they do, the character development is so, so good, and I loved how their relationship was built and evolved.

I could go on and on about this one, but I'll stop myself and tell you simply that you need this book in your life for all of the reasons I have attempted to articulate. Thank you to NetGalley for the early look at this September 2024 release!

I have strong memories of reading Gallagher Girls in my small town bookshop and I’ve been meaning to read Ally’s new adult book. I hadn’t read The Blonde Identity yet when I requested this (but am going to read soon!) and this brought me the same brand of giddy happiness as an adult.

This has the making of a perfect cozy reread for each holiday season. There’s no way this is the only time I read this book.

The PINING. Ethan is so attractive and only more so with each chapter. You could cut the tension with a KNIFE. The way these two bicker and banter is everything. The: “wanna make out?” throughout the changes in their dynamic.

But Maggie is the best part of this book, and I think by the end of her story she’d believe that too. She’s so relatable and sad in ways that pack a punch. Watching her take back some of her confidence had me feeling so proud of a fictional character.

I feel so lucky to have gotten to read this prior to release. I can’t wait to snag a physical copy to annotate at the end of September, and for whatever books Ally’s going to put out next.

I have SO MANY quotes and annotations on my kindle. This was my perfect holiday in July read. Thank you SO much, Avon and Harper Voyager, for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest and free review.

This book was absolutely adorable! I loved how much Maggie doubted herself and Ethan didn't let her. I love a one-sided rivals to lovers story and the combination of Maggie being convinced he hates her while he's actually her number 1 fan was so cute. I loved the banter. It was funny and it kept the story moving pretty quickly. The way the mystery was told felt like classic Clue - full of monologuing about potential motives and questioning all the house guests. Despite the murder attempt, the story felt very cozy and low-stakes. I enjoyed the romance so much that I didn't mind that the mystery wasn't very high stakes. I would have liked there to be more twists and turns with that aspect of the story though. It felt like a bit of an afterthought and I wish that we had gotten more development for that plotline. Overall though I loved our main couple and was very invested in their story. This is such a cute Christmas rom-com and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a romance with a little mystery thrown in on the side.

3.5 stars. Mistletoe Manor is the perfect setting for a Christmas mystery! I love that the main characters are mystery authors themselves and prove to be the best detectives. Maggie and Ethan have the best enemies to lovers vibe. Their banter is excellent. Overall cute mystery romcom.

The author who introduced me to the world of secret spies and boarding schools when I was a teen, now creates a Christmas book reminiscent of one of my favorite new IPs: Knives Out.

Synopsis:
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt: the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery and Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy. When they both accept a cryptic invite to attend a Christmas house party at the estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be famous and universally loved author, Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself. But suddenly, 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. 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 storm worsens and the stakes rise, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other.

My Thoughts:
I love this. Our main characters are so easy to root for. He fell first and is so obviously smitten with her, but she cannot see it for the life of her. It is all the best parts of Knives Out, with a wonderful romance built in. The Christmas in the English Countryside setting perfectly fits the story. There is miscommunication (but not in the annoying third act break up way), he falls first, forced proximity, cozy cottage, workplace rivals, and more. A great amalgamation of many of my favorite tropes. The wrap-up is satisfying. The pacing keeps it moving. There's lots to love and not much not to like. I'm going to recommend this for my book club's December read.