Reviews

Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall

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daffodilcherry's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When Hannah springs a surprise holiday away in a remote Scottish castle on her wife, Eliza, it looks like the straw that might break their marriage. However, when the guests start to die off one by one, Eliza, who hosts a true crime podcast, becomes embroiled in the mystery, dragging her wife along with her.

This was a fun homage/satire of cosy murder mysteries, featuring a sapphic couple as the cornerstone. I love the eccentric cast of characters, though the characterisation frequently bordered on outrageous and vexatious, mostly due to satire elements. I especially loved Hannah and Eliza, realistically working through their issues while hunting clues. I would say their relationship is the main focus of the novel, and not the actual mystery. The writing was very enjoyable and relatable, for a jaded, inclusive zillenial.

I didn't actually enjoy the mystery all that much. It was pretty chaotic, with a few too many moving parts due to the size of the cast. With a total murder count of

it was like every time the action lulled Hall caused a murder to spice up the action. Yet the plot felt quite congested and slow; then again I like quick and snappy cosy mysteries.

I would have considered DNFing this book but I absolutely loved the narrator, Remmie Milner. She was so excellent at highlighting the humour and consistently giving voices and accents for each character, her skills really hightened the book for me. It's a pity the only other book she's narrated that I can access on Libby is a children's book, I'd love to hear more books she narrates.

Wheelhouses: maybe solving a murder together will solve our marriage, established sapphic romance, that's my wife!!!, cosy mystery, closed door mystery.

elizatess17's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A cozy snowed in mystery coupled with some relationship renewal

lalexvp's review

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4.0

4 stars because it’s Alexis Hall, but I really just don’t like this genre so it felt more like a 3. I’m completing my local library’s 2022 challenge, which required a who-done-it type of novel. My goal is to accomplish all 55 categories in the queer romance genre to show the haters what for. So, thank you Alexis!

powerful0z's review

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lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An interesting murder mystery book

where the murder is as messy as real life, and there’s no neat bow on the murder case at the end

. I appreciated how the true crime aspect was handled though the book kept it light since its goal was not a philosophical debate of the ethics of true crime. And the mystery was obviously second to the relationship drama, which overall worked, though sadly was sometimes frustrating to go through.