Murder Most Actual

Murder Most Actual (2021) Alexis Hall

Liza and Hannah are having a bit of struggle with their marriage. A struggle that Hannah tried to help by scheduling a vacation for just the two of them: no internet, no cell services, just the two of them in the wilds of Scotland.

Except that Hannah didn’t consult Liza about any of it.

So they are having problems.

Liza allowed herself a quiet moment to resent the fact that Hanna hadn’t just been overbearing; she’d been overbearing and right.

Their fellow guests are an interesting sort: everything from a retired colonel to a professor to a man and his aunt.

“Belloc’s an ass,” declared the colonel.

The door burst open.

“Oh, is he?” demanded Belloc, who Liza would have bet money had been waiting outside for the perfect moment to make a big entrance. “But I wonder, would the great Colonel Coleman have the courage to say this to Belloc’s face?”

The colonel stared at him. “You’re an ass.”

And a private investigator who speaks about himself in the third person.

But when the first death happens, Liza becomes interested and Hannah becomes frustrated. After all Liza is only a true crime podcaster, she’s not a criminologist or detective.

First, this is very definitely an Alexis Hall book. His voice is distinct and he does lovely banter.

This was beginning to add up. Not necessarily to add up correctly, but to add up to something, like when you split the bill in a restaurant and somehow everybody came out feeling like they were down about a fiver.

Second, it’s a rom-com murder mystery based upon Clue with characters like Colonel Coleman and Ruby.

It’s also fun, although I did get thrown a couple times such as when they were outdoors someone was described as looking down at the floor. (Is that a British thing? I thought a floor was a finished surface?.) And also when we learn there are stables, with horses–so why didn’t someone take a horse into town to fetch the police when the phone lines went down?

But it was fun.

Will you guess the murderer? Likely not. But for me that’s not the fun of a cozy mystery.

Published: Rakuten Kobo Inc
Rating: 8/10

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