Ally Carter, known for her books about spies and sneaks, has made her cozy mystery debut with “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year.” Marketed as “‘Knives Out’ with kissing,” the book is chock-full of romance, mystery and wintry vibes. It is the ultimate love letter to the cozy mystery genre: fun, funny and smart.
“The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” follows author Maggie Chase as she is invited to the house of her mystery-writing idol, Eleanor Ashley. Accompanying Maggie is fellow author Ethan Wyatt, who Maggie is determined to hate. The two are expecting a run-of-the-mill Christmas dinner with Eleanor, some of her friends and family members, when she disappears. True to the genre, the room Eleanor disappears from is her locked study, making this a real-life locked-room mystery that Maggie is too eager to solve.
Convinced this whole charade was dreamt up by Eleanor in an attempt to determine which mystery author should be her successor, Maggie uses her knowledge of Eleanor’s books to try to solve the mystery at hand. Ethan follows along, eternally amused by Maggie’s determination and suspicious that some sort of legitimate danger might be afoot.
The premise of the story alone is intriguing — who doesn’t love a locked-room mystery? There’s something deliciously meta about having mystery writers try to put the pieces together and figure out where Eleanor ended up. We get references to MacGuffins, acknowledgments of key elements of the mystery genre and more. Maggie knowing the genre inside and out makes it even more fun to follow along with her. This isn’t your average protagonist-turned-detective; she thinks like a writer and plots out the story, making it satisfying to watch her piece all the scattered plotlines together to solve the mystery.
Furthermore, it’s easy to root for Maggie as a protagonist. Despite having had some bad experiences that set her up to be an almost-cynic and her unflinching desire to solve the mystery at hand, she has moments of lightness where we get to see a side of her that she typically hides away. Ethan is a similarly compelling character, with witty quips and a charming, flirtatious personality that balances out Maggie’s more serious behavior. They are riveting characters, made more so when they’re together.
The other story component that keeps readers interested is, of course, the romance at hand. After overhearing him commenting on her failed marriage to another writer, Maggie is persistent in her plan to hate Ethan, but he’s too smart, charming and competent for her to resist. One of the book’s best parts is when we finally get to see Maggie through Ethan’s eyes and realize just how much Maggie misconstrued their past interactions and current relationship. Dual perspectives in romance novels are becoming more and more prevalent — and that’s for the better. There’s nothing like getting to see inside both love interests’ minds and watch how they view each other. And that’s exactly the case with Maggie and Ethan.
“The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year” has all the staples of the best Carter novels, with a strong female lead, a romance to root for and tons of mystery and thrills to stumble upon while you read. Combined with the holiday and winter setting, this is a true cozy mystery in every sense of the word. It leaves you happy and content and just wishing for another few pages with the characters you’ve grown to love.
Daily Arts Writer Sabriya Imami can be reached at simami@umich.edu.
The post ‘The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year’ is a love letter to cozy mysteries appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
Leave a Reply