The Christmas Eve Murders

The Christmas Eve Murders

The Christmas Eve Murders is a fun, festive, and fast holiday cozy for readers who like traditional mysteries and British humor.

• Written by: Noelle Albright

• Published by: Quercus

• Release date: November 22, 2024

• Mystery type: Stand-alone holiday cozy mystery

Journalist Maddie Marlow finds herself stranded at the Merry Monarch Pub on Christmas Eve. The other pub guests invite her to participate in their annual scavenger hunt. It's all fun and games until the power goes out, a murder occurs, and the survivors are left wondering which one of their pub mates is a killer.

The Christmas Eve Murders is being marketed as a good fit for fans of Agatha Christie, and I think that is appropriate. The story features a Christy-worthy closed-circle puzzle mystery: A crime occurs in the midst of a small number of people in an isolated location, they cannot leave, help cannot get to them, and there are only so many people who could have committed the crime. The Christmas Eve Murders accentuates this traditional mystery with subtle British humor and a festive holiday twist.

The amateur sleuth, Maddie, is an investigative journalist trying to make her way through the snowy countryside to get to her parents' house for Christmas. Car trouble leaves her stranded in the Yorkshire Dales at a pub called the Merry Monarch. Fortunately, the landlords have a room for her. The pub includes a few other guests and a few locals, including the local policeman and his deputy, who have stopped by to participate in the annual (and very competitive) Christmas Eve scavenger hunt.

As the hunt gets started, the power goes out and a murder occurs. All of the participants seem shocked by the event, but Maddie knows that at least one of them is faking it because somebody committed the murder! With no way to leave and no assistance on the horizon thanks to a wicked blizzard, the local policeman starts investigating with the help of Maddie, who is compelled to find some justice for the victim to make up for a mistake she made in the past. But with everyone denying responsibility, secret passageways in the pub, and rumors of a ghost haunting them all, figuring out whodunnit is no easy task.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Christmas Eve Murders. It is a fun and fast seasonal read with a puzzler of a mystery. I recommend it to anyone who likes holiday reads, female amateur sleuths, and a good British cozy.

Disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Christmas Eve Murders from Net Galley and Quercus.