Murder Most Actual

3.75

I really wanted to like this more, but wow did I find the protagonist, Liza, absolutely insufferable. Even knowing that as the narrator of a cozy mystery she was highly unlikely to end up murdered, I still hoped she would be. The killer was easily spotted and I thought it would have been a lot more fun if somehow Hanna was Mr. B. Parts were still pretty fun which brought it up to a 3 for me.

i actually liked this book a lot!! i love stories that are unique spins on classic murder mystery settings. i was also pleasantly surprised by that ending!! the characters were all interesting (except for hanna, she def lacked ~depth~). the romance on the other hand was...just alright??? honestly, it felt a little cookie-cutter and bland but whatever. i loved how this was almost a parody of the exact kind of story it was trying to be. the writing as usual was great, as is expected from alexis hall.??
Overall = i really enjoyed this ,,,

i actually liked this book a lot!! i love stories that are unique spins on classic murder mystery settings. i was also pleasantly surprised by that ending!! the characters were all interesting (except for hanna, she def lacked ~depth~). the romance on the other hand was...just alright??? honestly, it felt a little cookie-cutter and bland but whatever. i loved how this was almost a parody of the exact kind of story it was trying to be. the writing as usual was great, as is expected from alexis hall. 
Overall = i really enjoyed this ,,,

I enjoyed this book and it was definitely different from anything I've read before. I mostly agree with KJ Charles's review (here), except I'm not sure if I agree that the combination worked. The mystery plot is openly silly, and the humor did work for me because it's very absurd. But I also didn't care about any of the characters except for Liza and Hanna. This is an interesting contrast to [b:The Affair of the Mysterious Letter 41998209 The Affair of the Mysterious Letter Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538509765l/41998209.SY75.jpg 60960806], which is also pretty absurd; I cared about the bizarre characters in many of the adventures, because they felt real to me. The characters in this book, though, seem like cartoons. So that aspect of the book is extremely lightweight, but the humor is exactly what I like.A “marriage in trouble” plot isn't my usual taste as a reader, but whenever it was going to places I was uncomfortable with, the mystery picked back up. There's also a third thread to this story, of Liza gaining self-confidence in her career. I really liked the drawing-room wrap-up scene, because of the description of Liza's emotions at that moment. It was the emotional climax of the book for me and it worked very well. Overall this book felt kind of experimental, but it was a fun read. I laughed out loud so many times. I appreciate that Alexis Hall continues writing different kinds of books and bringing us so much entertaining genre fiction with queer characters.

In Murder Most Actual Liza and Hanna get snowed in at their hotel/castle in the Scottish Highlands. And soon guests start getting killed off one by one. Solving the mystery falls on none other than Liza, a true crime podcaster.

A very enjoyable read that'll give you a few laughs, a few head scratchers and a couple to root for. It weaves together humor, suspense and relationship drama for a solid read for mystery lovers. It feels like both a parody of and a love letter to classic mysteries. So if you're a fan of Agatha Christie, Clue, or any mystery that ends in a grand reveal, hop on!

I loved all the references to classic mysteries. From the Poirot like character, to people being killed off one by one, a la And Then There Were None, and the Clue like chapter headings... It was clear the book was written by a lover of mysteries. On the other hand, this was also written with a critical eye of the classic mystery genre. This makes it feel fresh, since the book doesn't just take the tropes but looks more closely and subverts them. At the same time, this does feel less satisfying at times, when the criticism of the genre gets in the way of actual murder solving itself.

Aside from the mystery, this is also a story of a strained relationship. Liza and Hana's bickering, arguments, slow growth and eventually healing, was probably my favorite part of the book. How they used the crazy situation they were in, to communicate more and understand each other more was done very well. Their relationship feels real and faceted

As I mentioned, at times, the book doesn't feel as satisfying as other cozy mystery books. For example, the grand reveal here, does not compare to the others in the genre. Even the revealer herself goes on for paragraphs about how she's not qualified to do this grand reveal. And as the reader I agree, partly because she was following a completely different track up until the reveal. And especially because the one connection she fails to make is probably one of the most obvious ones.

Overall, I think that this a book that fans of the genre will enjoy, as long as you're not expecting another neatly tied cozy mystery. And not only will you get to read a head scratcher of a mystery, but you'll also get to read about a relationship heal and grow.

I'm not a big fan of cozy mysteries, so I probably should not have requested this book from Net Galley. In my defense, I have requested numerous Alexis Hall books and have never been approved for one, so I never expected it to end up in my hands.

Murder Most Actual has a high body count and a marriage-in-trouble subplot. I was more interested in the latter than the former, and Hall skillfully shows both why Hanna and Liza have drifted apart and how they find their way back to each other. Part of it is the unsurprising “facing the possibility of losing your spouse to a deranged killer makes you appreciate her more” but fortunately the other part is the two women talking things out, and then demonstrating that they can and will change their behavior (while trying not to get killed).

The mystery plot is obviously based on a Cluedo game (or Clue as we call it here in the States), complete with a Professor (eating a plum), Colonel (who likes mustard), etc. Liza puts her mystery podcast skills to use trying to catch a killer, but I was completely in the dark until the final denouement, when all of the figurative cards are revealed. Since I'm not a regular cozy mystery reader I don't know if more astute readers would have gotten there before Liza does.

As usual, Hall's writing is razor sharp, with plenty of opportunities to skewer (sorry) the upper class, like this one:

Sir Richard rose with the effortless social grace of the class for whom effortless social grace was the only skill they needed to develop.