Audiobook Review: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
Author: Ally Carter
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld & Zachary Webber
Publication: HarperAudio (September 24, 2024)
Length: 8 hours and 21 minutes

Description: Knives Out gets a holiday rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.

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.

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 laugh out loud holiday "romystery" that you've been waiting for!

My Thoughts: Two authors are invited to spend Christmas at the home of their biggest fan. Maggie Chase is the new Queen of Cozies. Ethan Wyatt writes big-time thrillers. They have been bumping into each other for years at author events. He's fallen in love with her; she can't stand his guts. 

Maggie is just getting over a rough divorce from a guy who has been gaslighting her since they married. He's managed to take most of her money and her best friend too. To say Maggie isn't ready to fall in love again is a vast understatement. Let alone fall in love with a man who doesn't remember her name and always calls her Marcie.

But for Ethan Marcie is an in-joke based on an encounter with Maggie in a stuck elevator five years earlier - an encounter she doesn't remember. That's when he fell for her.

The two find themselves at the isolated Scottish estate of Eleanor Ashley who is Maggie's hero and role model. They are surrounded by Eleanor's family and people connected to her. When Eleanor disappears, Maggie and Ethan team up to find her. Ethan has a secondary purpose since it looks like someone is trying to murder Maggie too. 

This was an engaging mystery. It was also an engaging romance. I loved the banter between to two main characters. 

I bought this one from Chirp December 4, 2024. You can buy your copy here.