#BookReview: Murder At Maybridge Castle by Ada Moncrieff @vintagebooks #MurderAtMaybridgeCastle #AdaMoncrieff #CosyCrime

Book Synopsis:

A harmless game of Murder in the Dark? Or an invitation to die for?

The brand new, festive murder mystery for 2023 from ‘modern rival to Agatha Christie’ Ada Moncrieff

It’s Christmas 1936 and an eclectic list of guests and staff have gathered for the grand reopening of Maybridge castle, a newly renovated yet still crumbling hotel deep in the Cumbrian countryside.

Amongst them are a doctor and his new wife, tarot readers, a journalist, an elderly amateur sleuth and her cat. By the time the first sherries have been drunk a person will be dead. An innocent game of murder-in-the-dark turns into a real game of life and death. Someone has changed the rules…but who?

My Review:

Murder At Maybridge Castle is a fun, absorbing mystery from a new author for me.

Firstly I really loved Daphne and enjoyed following her throughout the book. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with and I loved her ability to stand up up for herself when needed. She has some great sleuthing skills but also seemed very human at times as she got flustered in more difficult moments of the investigation. Her partnership with the fantastic Mrs Thewley was wonderful to read about and I often found myself laughing out loud at their exploits together. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of Mrs Thewley as I’d love to see the two of them together again.

The setting of Maybridge Castle was an interesting one and I enjoyed exploring it alongside the guests. It’s definitely a castle with a tragic history which is alluded to throughout the book but I’d love to have explored a bit more. The features in the grounds seemed very interesting and, murders aside, somewhere I’d love to explore in real life.

I thought this book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading. I did guess who the murderer was fairly early on but wanted to keep reading as I was so enjoying hanging out with the characters and I wanted to check that I was right (i was). This book is being called a Christmas Mystery but I’d say it could be enjoyed at other times as Christmas doesn’t really feature in the story. If you like cosy, fun crime books then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Ada Moncrieff was born in London and has lived in Madrid and Paris. She studied English at Cambridge University, and has worked in theatre, publishing and as a teacher. Murder Most Festive is her first novel.