When the days get shorter and colder I love curling up with a good book. Mysteries seem to be calling to me most lately, so when I had a chance to sign up to read and review Murder Most Actual I just couldn’t resist. The cover was stunning and the book sounded like something I’d love. So today I want to tell you about the book and what I thought!

A big thanks to the author and Valentine PR for providing me with an e-arc on Netgalley to read and review.

From the author of Boyfriend Material and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake comes a cozy mystery that revisits the Golden Age of detective fiction, starring a heroine who’s more podcaster than private eye and topped with a lethal dose of parody — perfect for fans of Clue, Knives Out, and Only Murders in the Building!

When up-and-coming true crime podcaster Liza and her corporate financier wife Hanna head to a luxurious hotel in the Scottish Highlands, they’re hoping for a chance to rekindle their marriage – not to find themselves trapped in the middle of an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery with no way home. But who better to take on the case than someone whose entire profession relies on an obsession with all things mysterious and macabre? Though some of her fellow guests may consider her an interfering new media hack, Liza knows a thing or two about crime and – despite Hanna’s preference for waiting out the chaos behind a locked door – might be the only one capable of discovering the killer. As the bodies rack up and the stakes rise, can they save their marriage — and their lives?

Review

I’m a big fan of illustrated covers, so when I read the synopsis and saw the cover of Murder Most Actual I knew I needed to get my hands on this book as quickly as possible! Add the chapter titles that made me feel like I was in the middle of a game of Clue and I was sold. The only reason I even put this book down was when I had to work. I needed to know how it would all play out.

Our main character Liza and her wife Hanna head to a hotel to try and rekindle their marriage. Except neither of them expected their getaway to include a really bad snowstorm an even worse…murder! This definitely puts things in perspective. It was nice for a change to have a couple already married in a book like this instead of a relationship actually starting. In the midst of everything I loved that there was time taken for them to really talk and try to sort out their problems, because it’s clear they both love each other.

Murder Most Actual is a mystery how I liked it. It’s dark enough, but it’s not really gruesome. Which is exactly why I’m more of a cozy mystery fan. Yes, there were deaths and it wasn’t taken lightly, but it’s definitely different than the darker mysteries/thrillers out there. I loved trying to figure out who did it along with Liza and being stuck together in a hotel like that with a killer definitely added some suspense.

All in all, this book was exactly what I was looking for when it comes to an interesting read. I got to puzzle along with the characters, there was some humor, interesting side characters, and I wasn’t able to figure out who was behind the murders before everything was revealed. Also, the description of the hotel and land around it definitely has me wanting to visit there. Without the murders thank you very much, haha.

Murder Most Actual was a lot of fun to read. Once I picked it up I really couldn’t stop reading. Alexis Hall is a new to me author, but I think Boyfriend Material and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake are getting bumped on my list of books to read. Do you like (cozy)mysteries? If so, what are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments! It’s a genre I really want to read more of.