The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter: My First Audiobook

I'm not an audiobook person usually, but I was recently recommended The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by one of my bookish friends. We were talking about Ally Carter's debut into adult fiction. I had read The Blonde Identity and she was currently listening to this TMWC. I logged the title in my brain, but I didn't think much of it. Well, until the day before Christmas Eve when I was getting a last minute add-on for a gift and got stuck in traffic in the parking lot. Bored out of my mind, I went on Spotify where, lo and behold, TMWC popped up. I thought "eh, why not?"

In that parking lot, I got through the first 16 chapters (crazy, right?). The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year plays into Carter's forte of crime-busting romances. While it's not a spy book like her others, the characters have a decent understanding of doing their own detective work because they are murder mystery writers and spy writers. So, what is this book about? Maggie is a divorced, quiet murder mystery writer. Ethan is a (seemingly) cocky, charming, and enigmatic writer that drives Maggie absolutely nuts (because of course). When the two are invited to spend Christmas at a famous murder mystery author Eleanor Ashley's estate in England, they go. However, they are not expecting to end up in an actual mystery. When Eleanor goes missing, they must figure out how and why because one thing is clear: someone is trying to kill her. Full of poison and Knives Out type characters, this book is a fun ride that sees our protagonists go from enemies to lovers.

I liked the audiobook format for the most part. My one problem is that this book is dual POV, so some chapters are Maggie and some are Ethan. The Maggie chapters I loved. The Ethan chapters were meh because when the male narrator did Maggie's voice, it sounded like a stereotypical guy dressed up badly as a girl in a tv show. It was soooo annoying. I almost couldn't get past it, especially since the male narrator made her sound whiny. She is kind of a doormat and whiny character, but there was no need to make her voice quite so grating.

Overall, this was an entertaining listen. Easy to follow and fun. Quick to get through. Since it's full of action, I stayed interested for the entire listen, which is why it was the first audiobook I've ever been able to finish. I'm not sure I'd like it as much reading it because it's heavy on the holiday tones. There's lots of mistletoe and ribbon, which could be viewed as being on the nose and corny, though that's kinda the point of a lot of holiday books I think. I wouldn't listen again, but I do recommend this book for someone looking for an easy listen. It was good for driving, listening in the shower, and going on runs.