Review: Murder Most Actual

 

How cute is that cover? 

This book is a lot of fun. It has all of the depth and humor and cleverness you’d expect from an Alexis Hall novel. But it’s a mystery! And it’s a love story! And an homage to classic mysteries! All at the same time!

I’ve never read a “cozy mystery” before. I haven’t read many mysteries, cozy or otherwise, to be honest. It’s not a genre I’m terribly familiar with but - and forgive the cliché - I would read a book full of IKEA furniture instructions if they were written by Alexis Hall. So this was a no-brainer choice for me. But now I wish I had more knowledge of mysteries because with my minuscule pop culture knowledge I was able to pick up on the not-so-subtle nods to all six of the original Clue characters and Hercule Poirot with the premise of And Then There Were None. I just wonder what other genre references I’m missing. 

And the cozy mystery might be a new genre for Hall but this book has several of his signatures:  socially conscious characters and discussions about class, race and sexuality; smart, insightful humor; a penchant for playing with language; a whole lot of Britishness; and a smooth, easy-to-read writing style that keeps everything moving.

The setting is fabulous: a beautiful old castle-turned-hotel tucked away in the snowy Scottish Highlands. The descriptions really bring the castle to life. It’s the perfect locale for a murder mystery if there ever was one. The chapter titles had me cracking up. They were all plays on Clue guesses (“[person] in the [location] with the [item]”). 

I think this will really please fans of the cozy mystery genre. Overall I felt it was a little tedious at times (standard mystery exposition and whatnot) but it still made me smile and was well written. 

3.5 stars out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the digital arc.