A review by unapologetic_reviews
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I listened to Ally Carter's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year as an audiobook. It is a blend of romance and mystery. I'm a huge fan of mysteries, especially the classic amateur detective story, but I'm not really a fan of romance. Still, I gave this a chance, as it was Christmas, and I wanted to read a book set during Christmas. Usually, I’m looking for a crime story that takes place during the holidays.

I gave this book three stars because it was okay. It didn't blow me away; it wasn't terrible—it was just okay.

The mystery has a couple of layers. The initial mystery in the story—well, the thing is, no one really cares about that part. The main characters do, but no one else seems to. Then there’s a secondary mystery, which was hard to figure out. The solution for that was... well, without spoiling it, let’s just say it really wasn’t what I thought it would be—in a bad way. Sometimes, a twist can work well if you don’t see it coming, but this felt like it was almost thrown in at the end, like: This was the reason for that. And I’m left thinking, What?

The romance takes centre stage—it’s a lot more prominent. If you were to count the minutes, you’d probably find about seven hours focused on the romance and only one hour on the mystery, out of the total eight-hour runtime.

There are two main characters. Both are mystery writers. One is Maggie, and she’s really the main character. This is a dual point-of-view story, but you don’t get anything from the other perspective until about 50% into the book. I’m not even sure why the second perspective is included; it doesn’t add much to the story.

Maggie is a mystery writer who’s had terrible luck throughout her life. Last Christmas blew up everything good in her life. She gets invited to a Christmas party in England that she reluctantly agrees to go to, and she thinks she’ll be going alone. But Ethan, the other main character, who works for the same publishing company, is also invited and happens to be on the same flight. For some reason, Maggie thinks Ethan is a bad guy, but it doesn’t make much sense. They keep referencing something that happened between them, and you think it’s this big dramatic thing. But when it’s finally revealed, it’s a letdown.

Ethan’s perspective doesn’t add much. Sure, you get to know him better, but it could’ve been introduced in a different way.

It’s obvious that Maggie and Ethan will end up together. No one would start reading this and be surprised by that outcome—it’s glaringly obvious.

There were some other characters, but often I forgot all about their existence as they added so little to the overall story. Even the culprit was barely there.

The writing itself is pleasant. Carter has a knack for detailed descriptions that are often pretty. The strongest part of her writing is the description of still, romantic moments.

However, the writing can also feel overly descriptive. It’s as though every scene is stretched out unnecessarily. I can’t think of a specific example, but let’s say there’s a moment where Maggie is in the middle of something, but she notices a snowflake and starts reminiscing about snowflakes from years ago. The pacing is painfully slow.

At one point, I lay down to rest while listening, fell asleep for an hour, and didn’t even need to rewind—I hadn’t missed much. That says a lot about how slow it was.

Overall, the book feels padded. The mystery could’ve been better, and the romance dragged on far too long. I don’t think I’ll read more from this author—it’s just not my style. The beginning had potential, and Maggie was relatable, but the mysteries were very basic. I appreciated the evocative writing. She’s clearly talented at setting a scene; I just wish there had been more focus on the plot and pacing.