It’s 1938, and Lord and Lady Westbury are hosting a Christmas gathering for family and and some select friends. Alas, when one guest turns up dead the next day, it throws a pall over the festivities. Originally thought to be a suicide, a closer look by one of the guests, a would-be amateur detective, suggests it was murder. Though a murder mystery, this tale is clearly a character-driven one. The clues that the reader is shown are nearly nonexistent - we are truly not able to solve the murder. Much of the book is taken up with the conversations between the characters, as they discuss mundane happenings as well as the death. Only at very end is the long awaited solution of the demise of the unfortunate man finally apparent. Not aiding in understanding the characters, their backgrounds, or their personalities is the somewhat stilted language of the characters dialogue and the prose of the narration. ( )

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! ( )

Murder Most Festive (2020) is a Christmas murder mystery set in 1938. The book was charming, but I am not the audience for this. I prefer the real deal – actual Golden Age mysteries.

It was a light read and I enjoyed some of the dialogue. However, it isn’t a riveting mystery and I had a strong hunch about the murderer and motive quite early on.
As mentioned, some of the dialogue was fun, but I never got the same vibes off this as from an actual GA mystery. There was something about the writing, and I can’t put my finger on what put me off. Maybe some scenes were trying a bit too hard? Maybe some scenes and expressions were more at home in the 1920s than in 1938? I mean, the focus on the achievements of some of the characters in WWI seemed out of place while current affairs, or more current affairs, taking place in the 1930s don’t get mentioned at all.

What really soured my reading experience, tho, were these:

1. The story dragged and it was so obvious when the author added “stuffing”; and
2. There was a scene at the end when an MP, who didn’t hold a title, is addressed as “Sir de Havishem” and “my Lord”, which was wrong on few levels – including getting the actual name wrong. He was Mr de Havilland. So, not “Sir”. If he had been titled, it would have been Sir Anthony, not Sir de Havishem/Havilland. But it also would not by “my Lord”.

Still, if this becomes a series, I would not mind reading a sequel. ( )