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#ChrismasCrimeChallenge
review
julesG
Murder Most Actual | Alexis Hall
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Pickpick

#ChrismasCrimeChallenge @RaeLovesToRead @Ruthiella

Chimney - locked room mystery

True crime podcaster Liza and her corporate financier wife Hanna want to spend Easter in a luxury hotel in the Scottish Highlands. Hanna planned it to rescue their marriage. It soon turns into a Murder Mystery Weekend with real victims.

Very Christie-esque, with chapter headings reminiscent of Cluedo.

RaeLovesToRead This looks cute! 3d
julesG @RaeLovesToRead It's cozy, it blends the homage to Christie (weird characters with secret connections to each other) with modern true crime podcasting and marital problems of a same sex interracial couple. It was a good read. Different from what Alexis Hall usually writes. 3d
RaeLovesToRead Is it only available on Kobo though? 3d
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julesG @RaeLovesToRead Unfortunately yes. It was less than €10 in audio and the ebook would have been less than €7 3d
Ruthiella This challenge is clearly right up your street! You are acing it! 🎄🔪💀🎅🏻 3d
julesG @Ruthiella Thank you! It's an 'excuse' to ignore #MountTBR and #MountARC 3d
RaeLovesToRead Sadly I have no Kobo :( 3d
julesG @RaeLovesToRead Neither do I. Hence I got the audiobook and then downloaded the app to listen to it. The ebook would have worked on the app as well, but I don't like reading books on my phone. 3d
RaeLovesToRead Ah, I thought I'd need a Kobo device for the audiobook! 3d
julesG @RaeLovesToRead nope, just the app. 3d
RaeLovesToRead Me looking for excuses to buy more devices 😏 3d
RaeLovesToRead *buys 3 more ereaders* it's for the CHANNEL. It's JOURNALISM! 3d
rwmg It's free on the KoboPlus subscription service. 2d
julesG @rwmg Thanks! 2d
54 likes1 stack add15 comments
review
julesG
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Panpan

Six down on their luck mystery adjacent people are invited to the small village of Midwinter to compete in a fictional murder mystery game organised by the Midwinter Trust. Then two actual murders happen.

I read an excerpt late last year which made this sound like a locked room murder mystery homage to the Golden Age Mysteries where the reader is encouraged to guess the clues together with the amateur sleuths.
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#NetGalley #ARC #MountARC

julesG The novel was a slog through a lot of repetitive backstory with characters that aren't developed much past their cliché descriptions "failed author," "literary agent involved in scandal," "token American barkeep". The clues weren't very difficult to work out and there is a handy solutions guide at the back.

The final nail in the coffin was the deus ex machina twist to make the ending seem plausible. ??
4d
julesG #ChrismasCrimeChallenge Snowflake it's set at Christmas time and that part of Yorkshire is under a nice blanket of snow 4d
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Ruthiella Sorry this wasn‘t a winner. But it‘s at least of the TBR now. 4d
julesG @Ruthiella Yepp! One less book on the list. 😁 4d
RaeLovesToRead Darn it. This is on my pile :/ 3d
julesG @RaeLovesToRead Sorry. Maybe you like it more than I did. You know I'm not a fan of epic/drawn out backstory/world-building, maybe that's why I didn't enjoy the novel more. 3d
RaeLovesToRead Haha. I'm not getting epic from the cover... but I'll be giving it a go! 3d
57 likes1 stack add8 comments
review
RaeLovesToRead
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Pickpick

An atmospheric, gothic historical mystery that was Rebecca-esque, and a poignant slow burn.

Usually I hate books that flick back and forth in time, but both threads were compelling, and the story had depth and intrigue.

With minor tweaks in the last quarter this could have been a 5 star read, but there were a couple of things that could have made the ending more impactful.

Still a very well executed novel and worth reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

julesG Nice picture 😉 and good review. I still haven't read the book. 🙈🙈I'll put it on the #ChrismasCrimeChallenge pile 4d
LeeRHarry Nice photo and review 😊 4d
RaeLovesToRead @julesG It would work for 'set in Winter' 😁😁❄️ 4d
RaeLovesToRead @LeeRHarry Wish I was actually there 🥲😅 4d
julesG Just reviewed my first Snowflake novel but forgot to tag you 🤦🏻‍♀️ 4d
54 likes5 comments