Liza and Hanna have been having marriage problems for some time now, so Hanna books them a romantic weekend away in a remote Scottish hotel. Liza’s irritation at not being consulted about the whole thing, though, is soon lost to the distraction of an event very close to her career as a true crimes podcaster. Maybe she shouldn’t be relieved at the chance to investigate a murder, right enough!

This was a gem of a find for me on NetGalley. I thought it’d be a fluffy cosy mystery, but it has more teeth than that. In fact, it perfectly treads a line between almost-gritty murder mystery, and a bit of a spoof of the board game Cluedo. Colonel Colman and his liking for dijon, indeed 😉

Those little nods were a huge amount of fun for me to spot, cleverly not quite direct references but so close. However, as the book progresses it gets a little more serious, meaning the punning never becomes irritating even as some of the characters (looking at you, Ruby who’s not Ms Scarlett) stay just a little on the pantomime side.

I did find some of the relationship woes a little trying to begin with. Hanna in particular is just *so* negative and sarcastic, I could see how it would grate on her wife as well as the reader. But it seems that near-death experiences can be good for a marriage and it’s genuinely lovely watching them remembering their love for each other as events spiral ever more deadly around them.

Some of the set up and events are pretty outlandish here, but very in the style of classic Christie – world infamous crime lords and all that – and it does benefit from being read as a bit tongue in cheek. But the way the mystery unfolds is nicely satisfying, and I really liked the epilogue’s glimpse at life after.

I’ll be looking out for more of Alexis Hall’s books, this was a lot of fun!

This is quite a fun cozy mystery that fans of AJH will definitely enjoy. It has all the British charm he is known for and it’s as always incredibly funny. I must say I enjoyed the first half more than I did the second.

The mystery aspect was cute and engaging and it kept me wanting to find out who done it. It loses a bit of steam later on especially due to single person narrator.

I did really enjoy that we start with a married couple, that makes it different than most murder mystery books. I think the idea of a mystery to help fix the relationships was good but not executed as perfect as it should have. Some of the issues aren’t resolved so it feels like a patch instead of a solution.

Not the best of AJH but I hope he writes more cozy mysteries like this.

This is the second book by Alexis Hall that i read and it was just as fun as the first one. I think his books are always a good way to get one's mind out of a dark place and the way he builds his characters and their relationships is always captivating in its vividness.

Hanna decides to take her wife, Liza, on a quiet weekend away to try to save their shaky marriage. However, things aren’t turning out as well as she hoped -Liza is annoyed that she wasn’t consulted on this weekend, the other guests are, to be kind, quirky, and now a blizzard has arrived trapping everyone in the hotel.

Then one of the guests, a man seen earlier arguing with his wife, falls to his death. Finally things seem to be looking up for Liza, a true crime blogger who sees it as an opportunity to actually be at the scene of a murder...well, a possible murder. But then the bodies start piling up literally and she realizes that not only is trying to solve a real murder a whole lot harder than talking about one but she starts to realize that she and Hannah are trapped inside with a possible murderer who seems intent on ensuring that no one gets out alive.

Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall is an entertaining homage to the golden age of mysteries. The cast consists of all the stock characters we’ve learned to love from those books including a femme fatale, an amateur aristocratic detective and a real detective with a (possibly probably) fake French accent. If the plot is improbable, the sly humour underscoring it makes it nigh impossible to put down. A fun fast read and I enjoyed every minute of it.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Rakuten Kobo for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This is a fun light and quirky book. Easy to read and overall enjoyable.
The characters were fun and they mystery was good.
3.5 stars rounded ip

Liza (a true crime podcaster) and her wife Hanna (works in finance) head off for a weekend getaway in a Scottish estate. However, they quickly become trapped as the snow starts falling and the bodies start piling up. Hanna and Liza's marriage has been on the rocks, but how will they fare as they find themselves in the middle of a real-life murder mystery?

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: cozy mystery, locked room
Location: a Scottish luxury hotel
Pub Date: Out now (available on Kobo only, I think?)

I loved the premise of a true crime podcaster and her more reluctant wife being placed in the middle of a murder mystery. There are many places where I giggled, places where I appreciated profound statements about love and marriage, and places where I was intrigued what happened next. However, I do think this dragged on a bit long, in a way that started to feel a bit repetitive, and I would have appreciated a slightly more condensed version. With that said, I did enjoy it and was excited to find out how it all came together at the end.

Read this if you like:
⭕️Clue-style, locked door mysteries
⭕️Queer main characters
⭕️Cozy mysteries
⭕️Lots of snow, an antiquated hotel, and lots of odd decor

Thanks to Rakuten Kobo and #netgalley for a copy of this book!

Okay so I got an arc approved through NetGalley for this title after I had already finished reading it so here's my slightly different new review.

I enjoyed reading this book, it keeps you on your toes and was a cozy read that I finished in one sitting. I'm not a mystery reader but the plot was light enough for me to actually get into this book pretty fast. I think that this book has like every single murder mystery trope ever done in a hilariously witty way where it just...works?

While romance is more of a subplot in the book, I hated everything about the main couple's relationship and the characters in general which is pretty uncharacteristic for an Alexis Hall novel. Liza is probably the most insufferable character in this book with her total lack of effort into the relationship making it worse. Hanna, on the other hand, seems like the perfect partner and at the end of the story, I just did not get why they stayed together.

It was kind of disappointing to see that while the entire book was written in 3rd person's POV. we only follow Liza's narrative 90% of the time. There was so much more to explore there that this lacked.

The biggest issue I had with this book was how criminally under-researched the writing of a POC protagonist felt, I would even go as far as to say that she felt a bit whitewashed.

Pick this up if you want to read something light, gripping, and comfy to read on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

My goodness, this was a fun read! I don't read a ton of mysteries, as the thriller types aren't always my speed, but this type of cozy mystery seems to be more up my alley.

I enjoyed the elements that remind me of Clue, especially the campiness of the ensemble cast and the complexity of the who-dun-it. I was also reminded slightly of Only Murders in the Building, both because our protagonist is a true crime podcast, and for its loving (and valid!) criticisms of the explosion of true crime and the ethical concerns of the genre. I especially liked that this story balanced stock character types with a resolution that was somehow both mundane and complicated. A fun time!

Alexis Hall manages to make retelling of classic stories fresh and full of new life. The characters and worlds are always created wonderfully. Hall’s characters have banter that makes the reader laugh out loud!

A colonel, a priest, and a podcaster walk into a -bar- luxury hotel in the Scottish Highlands...and chaos ensues.

True Crime podcaster Liza and her wife Hanna go on holiday to salvage their tenuous marriage, and we get to witness how their relationship fairs with an added bonus - a dash of homicide. Okay, so more like a heaping spoonful of homicide.

As with every Alexis Hall book I've read thus far, this book was loads of fun, and I enjoyed every moment of it. The characters were phenomenally ridiculous in a way that only a true Hall character can be, and their interactions with one another had me smiling from ear to ear. Of course, nothing was more enjoyable than watching Liza and Hanna's familiar banter. It was a nice departure from a typical romance where you watch two people meet and fall in love since, in this case, we got to watch them fall back in love.

The remaining -suspects- characters were an absolute riot. There's an honest-to-god femme fatale seductress, a vicar, a passive-aggressive married couple (not Liza & Hanna), a couple of aristocrats, a professor, a PI that speaks in the third person (who reminds me of the inspector from The Pink Panther), and a military colonel hell-bent on...well, being a military colonel. If that doesn't sound like the most exciting dinner party to ever be snowed in at a remote hotel, I don't know what does.

It was just so much fun! There was a lightness to the story that you don't often find in a mystery. Rather than each murder being met with abject horror, it was more like "here we go again" paired with a very dramatic eye-roll. Even so, I was still figuratively at the edge of my seat the entire time - as precarious as Liza and Hanna's relationship at times.

Everyone has marriage problems, but not everyone has to deal with those in addition to fellow hotel guests dropping around you like flies. But as Alexis has shown us, a relationship is much like murder; sometimes, you just need to look at it from a different point of view.

Thank you, NetGalley and Rakuten Kobo, for the e-book!

Link to review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4555693937

This was a cute and fun murder mystery. It takes place in a snowed in hotel where the characters are all stuck and I read it in February in the winter when I feel like there's nothing to do and nowhere to go, so it was an extra cozy read. I liked the play on the Clue murder mystery with over the top characters and farfetched events- yes you'll have to suspend your disbelief a bit, but I don't know how you couldn't given it's a play on the "people are stuck in a house and suddenly start getting murdered". I liked that the lead characters were a lesbian couple and it was cute that the main sleuth is a murder mystery podcaster. Having the main characters be a younger lesbian couple and most of the other characters old "fuddy-duddies" made for some fun banter and nice jabs and sides about politics. I got a bit lost in the tangled web of the mystery, but I just went with it and I like the turn it took, going for a bit of an over the top plot that is grounded in reality somehow worked. Once I got towards the last dozen chapters I really didn't want to put it down. If you like murder mysteries with some comedy, especially if you liked Clue the movie, I would definitely pick this up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

‘Murder Most Actual’ is another delightful story from Alexis Hall. Goofy, quirky and fun, even with all the murders! I enjoyed the Clue/Agatha Christie vibes going on while Hanna and Liza are trying (and sometimes failing) to keep their marriage afloat. I wanted a little more of their relationship but I think all the parts blend pretty well, especially the podcasting aspect. This book is especially good for folks who enjoy murder/mystery that isn’t especially gory. Overall,, I enjoyed every chapter and will continue to read Alexis Hall faithfully.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rakuten Kobo for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

this was good.

but also a bit strange.
it felt like it tried to be too many things at once.

but if you want a cozy mystery, strange happenings, quirky characters and a old castle setting being snowed in with murders happening?
go for it.

for me?
i need more.
i need characters that are more than a little snarky and have a sarcasm level i enjoy but otherwise don’t really have a characteristic.
i also want more of a relationship i should care about than constantly hear that both parties involved find the other party beautiful or sexy.
and while Liza had this kind of snark that had me grinning, every other character felt a bit like a wet paper bag.

also can i just say that this entire book fells very much like a modern try/retelling on agatha christi’s hercule poirot- including a (faked feeling) accent. but a weaker version?

i think mysteries that try to keep the reader guessing but the clues actually visible enough that after it’s all revealed the reader. an go “it was all there! why didn’t i put it together?” or pat themselves in the back for noticing all the details… that’s hard.
and i didn’t feel the author managed the balance in this book.

for me this felt like a romance trying to be a mystery. but keep falling towards the romance drama more than towards mystery.

its still a readable and enjoyable book.
it’s good.
just don’t try to compare it to any other mystery type book that mit might remind you of while reading.

This is a very enjoyable traditional mystery that satirizes some of the best known tropes in entertaining ways. I always enjoy Hall’s light touch with dialogue and description and find their turns of phrase to be witty and warm. I hope this turns into a series, or that Hall continues to write in this genre.

Honestly, this was an absolute bummer after the standout performance of Boyfriend Material. Could not get myself to care about any of the characters and was not at all invested in the saving of the marriage at stake here. I genuinely do not understand why Hanna and Liza are trying to save their marriage. They clearly do not like each other - ESPECIALLY Hanna. She only has disdain for Liza’s work and Liza is constantly apologizing for absolutely nothing while Hanna never apologizes for anything. Hanna constantly does everything possible to make Liza feel terrible about herself. This is gets even worse as it’s compounded by the fact Hanna is white and Liza is Black. The white partner constantly belittling and demeaning every single thing the Black partner does? It just absolutely reeked of white fragility and expecting the Black partner to pick up the pieces.

The reveal of the killer was fine. I wasn’t surprised, but honestly I also wasn’t invested. I was hoping it would be Hanna as it would maybe kind of rationalize some of her shitty behavior towards Liza as her treating her that way to cover her own tracks.

Alexis Hall can do no wrong. I love her romance novels and this murder mystery novel was no exception. It was fun and Easy to follow. It got me out of my head and gave me a good escape which is exactly what I was looking for. I love how Alexis Hall is so detailed And makes me feel like I’m there and a part of the story

I really, really wanted to love this and while there were parts that I enjoyed, the relationship between Liza and Hanna also cut into my enjoyment of this. The characters, the setting, the murder; very Clue like and lots of fun. The ending and the explanations for the murders, also very fun. The relationship between the two ladies? Very tedious. Liza’d attitude towards her wife really made me want to tear my hair out.

Liza is a true crime podcaster on the outs with her slightly controlling financier wife, Hanna. Hanna orchestrates a long weekend getaway at a quaint Scottish castle, and since a blizzard just so happens to roll into the area, it seems like a great way to reconnect and get them back to a good place... That is, until a guy falls off the balcony and dies. From then on, Liza dives into the investigation of a lifetime for someone like her, as the whole twisting and turning murder plot unravels before her, day by day. Liza, with grudging help from Hanna, tries to figure out who did what.

This book is delightfully tongue-in-cheek, and is clearly, and heavily, inspired by "Clue," down to chapter titles that each name a character, a location, and a thing. There's even 6 characters that, while they are not ALL named the same, can be represented by each of the Clue characters: Mrs White, Mr Green, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, and Colonel Mustard. And if you're not imagining a young Tim Curry as Mr Burgh, you're just doing it wrong. I had so much fun reading this book, and watching the mysteries unfold, and I just couldn't stop talking about it. I was excited to read more from this author because of how much I'd loved a previous book, and I was not at all disappointed. I laughed throughout the whole book, and couldn't help grin at every Clue reference that got trotted out as the story unfolded. I was pleasantly surprised at the resolution to the whole thing in the end as well.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Anybody that's a cozy mystery fan will love it, and if you've played Clue, and especially if you've seen and enjoyed the movie, you will absolutely adore this book. I can't wait to see it released, so that I can get a copy for myself to reread and share with friends.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. I thank the author and publisher for this opportunity!

I was very intrigued by this book and was genuinely fascinated by the play on words that allowed for the author to introduce characters inspired by Clue in an original format. The mystery itself was quite fun, and I think the author did a good job with the explanations in the end.

My main dislike was actually the two main characters and their relationship. I found it very unfortunate that they had little to no depth--much like their relationship. For characters that were married for 10 years, they did not seem to know how to communicate (or to communicate at all). Hannah's resentment of her wife was dragged on for the entirety of the book, and so was their argument. I dreaded their interactions and I think the book could have existed without their bickering.

Overall I think the book was a fast read and enjoyable if you remove or ignore Hannah and Liza's interactions.

What happens when a romantic weekend away to a Scottish castle, that is supposed to save their rocky marriage, turns into a surprising snowed-in murder mystery with no access to the outside?! Read Murder Most Actual to find out! It’s a lovely sapphic cozy mystery that kept me guessing until the very end.
The fact that chapter titles are Clue accusations made me love it right away.
There are many nods to Clue & various famous detectives of past, which I enjoyed.
I found it refreshing to have it be about a married couple that’s been together for a decade & is currently struggling within their relationship. So many books are about finding love, which makes this book stand out.
If you’re in the mood for a cozy whodunnit with a varied cast of characters, including the true crime podcaster with a struggling marriage that’s never been this close to murder before, I would check out Murder Most Actual!