Author: Ally Carter
Year published: 2024
Category: Adult fiction (mystery and romance)
Pages: 304 pages
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): UK and Greece
Summary: 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.
Review: Another fun Book of the Month choice! And it is in the genre of funny/sarcasti mysteries, which I am really enjoying. But that cover. Ew. The concept is good bu the people give me the creeps for some reason.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is so reminiscent of Agatha Christie (and it's been decades since I've read one of hers). An isolated mansion, a decent size cast of characters, all of whom have motive or opportunity, an amateur sleuth, and a gathering of all near the end for the reveal of the killer. I love it!
There's poisonous plants, daggers, old rifles, secret passageways, fire, a maze, a snow storm, no electricity or phone service, mystery, Christmas, and romance. This novel has it all.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Bookish--main characters are mystery writers
- Cloak and Dagger
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