The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

Ally Carter

IMAGINE the scene... the bridge is shut, the phones are down, and the most famous mystery writer in the world has just disappeared three days before Christmas. 

Finding the key to a locked room mystery proves to be a feast of festive fun in a cosy crime romp with a heart-fluttering rom-com twist! Ally Carter (pictured below) – whose claim to fame is writing books about people who fall in love (whilst trying to stay alive!) – conjures up a dazzling Christmas cracker with this wonderfully entertaining rivals-to-lovers mystery-romance.

Meet Maggie Chase – her friends tell her she needs to ‘get a life’ – and Ethan Wyatt, the man with ‘smooth perfection and effortless charm.’ She’s the new Queen of the Cosy Mystery, he’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy and they hate each other’s guts. 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. 

Then, under the cover of night, the weather turns to thick snow... and in the morning Eleanor is gone. She vanished from a locked room which makes Maggie wonder whether Eleanor is in danger or if the whole thing is some kind of test with Ethan as her competition. 

But is Ethan now the only person in the snowbound mansion she can trust? 

As the snow gets deeper, the stakes get higher and the plot thickens, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth... and to each other. This Christmas, the rivals will have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor. That’s assuming they don’t kill each other first... The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year has all the perfect Christmas cosy crime reading ingredients... an intriguing mystery set in the ever-fascinating world of book publishing, two young writers who share a sparkling line in banter and a coruscating chemistry, and all the seductive trappings of a Golden Age whodunit. Sleuthing magic!
(Pan, paperback, £9.99)