A fun holiday whodunit that meets the criteria for what I call an Elevated Cozy Mystery.

Moncrieff gives us excellent setting and sense of place at Westbury Manor, where a holiday gathering is commencing for Christmas. Lady Westbury (along with her husband and three children) play host to a motley crew of friends and found family turned suspects when one amongst them is found outside in the snow on Christmas morning dead of a gunshot wound.

The atmosphere is perhaps less eerie than in many country house mysteries, but the settling is still viscerally intriguing and befitting the genre. The mystery itself is fine, mostly focusing on standard tropes but well executed. It’s relatively easy to figure out the solve early in the story, but that doesn’t really damage the reader experience.

I especially liked the buddy comedy vibe of Hugh and the Westbury siblings, and Hugh’s relationship to Lady Westbury as well. I hope this book was just the first of many cases for amateur detective Hugh Galveston.

This book reads like an old fashioned English mystery, and I'm a big fan of those. The question of whether David Campbell- Scott committed suicide or was murdered is the featured in the book, and Hugh Gaveson, taxidermist and amateur sleuth sets out to find the answer. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.

A very enjoyable, if not very original, English country house murder mystery. There are several red herrings and several possible suspects but it wasn't too difficult to guess who was the murderer. I'd read more by this author when I am wanting an easy, light hearted read.

Loved the characters and the setting of this book, while the storyline left me wanting more. Love cozy mysteries, but this was a little too predictable for me.
Quick, easy, cozy mystery.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book but unfortunately not as much as I'd hoped I would. I love the setting and the characters are all believable but the story was very slow moving.

Oh man, I was really looking forward to Murder Most Festive. At a glance, it seemed like a book that was right up my alley, because I’ve been into cozy mysteries lately. However, unfortunately, Murder Most Festive didn’t turn out to be for me, and I ultimately DNFed it. I just couldn’t get into it. My main problem was how I felt like I was always at a distance from the story. In the part that I did read, there wasn’t anyone for me to latch on to, whether they were personable or abrasive. The narrative jumped from person to person, often explaining their feelings as much as it did their actions, and it did this sometimes paragraph by paragraph. And when the mystery did get going, sort of, the way it was introduced wasn’t my favorite reveal ever. Overall, this just wasn’t for me. But I urge readers to check out other reviews, because I do think there’s an audience for this, especially for those who might appreciate the attention given to the historical details.

This copy of the book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for this review, thank you!

Christmas 1938. The Westbury family and assorted friends have gathered together for another legendary Christmas at their Sussex mansion. As family tensions simmer on Christmas Eve, the champagne flows, the silver sparkles and upstairs the bedrooms are made up ready for their occupants. But one bed will lie empty that night And so starts your typical English Manor House mystery. There isn't anything new or original about this story. You will definitely feel as though you've been there, done that. But I actually enjoyed this take on a golden age mystery and it was a fun, if not original, read. My biggest complaint with this book is that it is screaming for a good editor. Do books even get edited these days? Way too many disjointed and confusing sentences. The use of slang/jargon that was not used during the era portrayed and a handful of other distracting mistakes made this a 4 start instead of the 5 it could have been. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

witty, England, satire, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, snarky, snobs, snow, investigation*****

1938 rural England. A gathering of family, friends, and other loons at Christmas. Then a death. The whole business is part satire, part, spoof, and part farce. The publisher's blurb is a good hook and the book is a really fun read!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

A very enjoyable, if not very original, English country house murder mystery and just the thing for the post-Christmas dip. The setting is familiar, as are the characters including the ooh aars that belong to the local village. There are several red herrings and several possible suspects but it’s not too difficult to guess which one was the murderer. Getting to that point is good fun though and the ending, set in the drawing room with all present and the amateur sleuth holding court while he carefully details why and how he has come to his conclusion (in true Christie style), is satisfying.

I’d read more by this author as it’s good light entertainment. There are a couple of disappointing anachronisms, however. The phrase ‘blah de blah blah’, as far as I know, was not in use in the 1930s and ‘yadda yadda’ certainly wasn’t.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.

Murder Most Festive by Ada Moncrieff is an elegantly written look at the lives of aristocracy in Britain in pre-WWII days, and what happens when those lives are disrupted by a murder, at Christmas no less.
The book features a diverse set of personalities, all of whom have a possible motive for doing away with the victim.
I must admit that after getting to chapter five, I found the style of writing - which causes one at times to consult a dictionary, so flowery is the prose - rather tedious. So much so that I finally organized the over 200 pages of books on my Kindle into folders, a task that took almost four days, rather than return to reading the book. But as I had procured it though NetGalley and thus committed to reviewing it, I was determined to give the rest of the book another go.
I am so glad that I did! At Chapter 5 and beyond, the book really takes off! The characters are fascinating and entertaining. The mystery is complex and keeps you guessing right to the end. I admit that while I suspected the correct person of committing the murder, I had no clue as to why until the final chapters.
I highly recommend this book for fans of historical mysteries. Get through the weighty beginning and you won't be disappointed at what follows.

This is a charming murder mystery set in 1938 in in Sussex, England. Lord and Lady Westbury are hosting Christmas festivities at their country estate. Joining them are their three adult children, Stephen, Lydia, and Edward. Along with old and new acquaintances. When one of the guests is found dead on the lawn Christmas morning the house party try to enact some sort of normalcy, while one of the guest tries to determine which of them is the murderer. Everyone it seems had motive. The story is told in a delightful way and I enjoyed how each layer was revealed. I did suspect who the baddie was going to be pretty early on. There were a few red herrings thrown in, but all the strings led to the responsible individual. This is a fast-paced and enjoyable read, but the ending was a little too tidy. I kept expecting something to happen, but it didn't. I did enjoy how the author made note of "observers" during interactions and I though that was a fun way to include the audience and drop a few hints. Overall this was a fun read, but I wouldn't consider it a Christmas story. Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Ada Moncrieff for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Christmas Mystery….?
At face value this book seemed to have everything to make it my perfect read, particularly as a voracious reader of Golden Age crime and not being averse to modern day interpretations. The era, the plot description, the vintage style Christmas book jacket - all held immense appeal. Sadly, it just didn’t deliver. On any level.. The writing was poor and disjointed, the characters flat and underdeveloped and there was little in the way of plot. Atmosphere of the age and of the country house situation simply wasn’t there. Fans of Agatha Christie, as the blurb refers, will surely be most disappointed.

Festive and fun, a delightful read! The mystery was intriguing, the characters colourful, the red herrings plentiful and misleading, and the conclusion quite satisfying. This was a very zippy read and while festive, didn’t hit you over the head with the holidays. I highly recommended it!

Enjoyable book, with a group of house guest sharing Christmas at a typical English Manor. a guest's body is found in the garden on Christmas morning. Is it suicide or is it murder.........? Secrets, red herrings and combating characters included.
A good fast moving read.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this book it kept me entertained until the end.

At times this novel seemed a bit difficult and disjointed to read and catch the jist of the story but still enjoyable. Fun characters, cozy setting with great details, and a classic whodunit mystery to solve. A nice summer read!!

Just terrific! A classic country house murder told with acerbic wit. What could be better than a 1930’sChristmas setting, an appealing amateur detective and a full array of fun characters., all written with a modern sensibility.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review…slow moving and is character driven…. At times, it is intriguing…