The Book:
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Published September 24, 2024 by Avon
Date read: October 29, 2024
Find more September 2024 releases here.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.
The Characters:
Maggie and Ethan
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
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.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year Spoilers
The Reveal:
The police officer was the one trying to kill Eleanor. He had tried to kill a girl years ago who came to Eleanor for help, and at long last Eleanor was going to reveal his secret in her 100th book. He poisoned the tea and shot at Maggie, thinking she was Eleanor. When Maggie wouldn’t let it go, he tried to kill her too.
Cece was a fraud. She was the girlfriend of the guy who worked for Eleanor’s law firm, and her DNA results were faked (she said she was the niece of Eleanor’s philandering brother). Eleanor suspected and got her own private test done.
Eleanor’s assistant was also siphoning money from her accounts.
The Ending:
Eleanor was alive and well. Maggie and Ethan found her in the epilogue on a Greek island, although the book didn’t say how. The reader also doesn’t learn how she escaped the mansion.
I hope these The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year spoilers were helpful.
The Review:
Did you read The Takedown last year and fall in love with the Die Hard version of Christmas novels? Did you read Blonde Identity and adore Ally Carter’s humor and writing style? Or did you love the cozy isolated resort aspect of The Writing Retreat?
If yes to any of the above, you’re going to want to read The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. Maggie and Ethan are author rivals trapped at a famous elderly author’s mansion with her family for Christmas, following a mysterious invitation. Then the author disappears, a storm isolates the guests, and Maggie and Ethan are left to wonder whether it’s a game or if Eleanor really has been murdered.
This was such a good holiday binge. A friend of mine said it reads like a game of Clue and I couldn’t agree more! I really enjoyed Maggie and Ethan as a couple, once they decided to trust each other. They had really great banter, and I especially loved the insights into Ethan’s personality that were revealed as the story went on.
The ending is great as well!
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