What a wonderfully funny book. The sheer absurdity of the situation, set against the banality of preparing for a family Christmas with the in laws, is what makes the novel so entertaining. There are some really classic, laugh out loud, hilarious comments and moments. Although murder is clearly not a feel good theme the love and closeness of Anna, Oli and Ben is very uplifting. So, too, is Anna’s relationship with her best friend, Jennie, and with her brother his partner. In some ways, a classic whodunnit, but in others so much more. The writer has a way with words and uses them effectively. When Anna finds a body in her pantry her first thoughts are to salvage their Christmas celebrations and protect her family from unpleasantness. However, faced with the apparent incompetence of the police officers, she quickly decides to investigate and solve the crime herself, enlisting the help of husband, Oli, son, Ben and friend, Jennie. Some difficult moments follow as the team try to eliminate suspects. A refreshingly different Christmas story, which I definitely recommend.

I loved this book. Totally ridiculous but laugh out loud funny. With the most inept police officers you could ever come across; if you find a body in your larder you're going to just have to solve the murder yourself, even though it's Christmas Eve and your super critical mother in law is about to descend (and you have the worst hang-over ever)..

I think most mum's would empathise with the panic of trying to produce the perfect Christmas and being thwarted at every turn but then to discover your boss with your best Sabatier knife sticking out of his chest - you know that you've really got your work cut out

A festive murder mystery.

Highly entertaining, vaguely believable and a whole lot of ditsy - but all in a very good way!!

After the family's annual pre Christmas party, Anna is feeling worse for wear and all she wants is to finish her to-do list and finally sit down with the world’s biggest glass of wine. When she opens the larder, her plans are quickly thrown to smithereens after discovering a dead body taking up the space.
To Anna's dismay, the local police are more interested in returning to the station to eat mince pies than investigating the crime. Anna and her best friend Jennie get their thinking caps on, the murder boards out and work their way down the list of suspects.

Never waste a good knife!

PS: I loved this passage (and the Aldi instant coffee reference) in the ARC. Hopefully both make it to the published version!

"Someone should really make it much clearer to men that hearing things like ‘I’ve cleaned the toilets’ is much more attractive than a six-pack or a full head of hair. Ask any woman, especially a mother, about their preferred style of foreplay and I bet plenty of them would say ‘having my partner wash up without being asked’."

This festive cosy crime book is a great antidote to any romantic Christmas story! I love the way the myth of the perfect family Christmas is debunked. Anna is a brilliant character, many mums will surely identify with her situation in the run up to Christmas, with the imminent arrival of the in-laws. I definitely recommend this hilarious novel.

A great easy read with lots of laughs. This was just what I needed to read and bore great relevance as I hate and do not do Christmas. Full of twists and turns. Don't try to ananlyse as this is a light read! Look forward to the author's next book. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

Anna wakes up on Christmas eve morning to find Santa dead in her pantry, well obviously it's not the real Santa, but it is in fact her boss!

After calling the police, who seem more interested in getting to their Christmas party and eating their boss’s homemade pies, Anna decides to take matters into her own hands.

This book was set during a 24 hour period while Anna, her husband Oli, son Ben and best friend try to solve the murder of her boss.

I really wanted to love this book as it is exactly the kind of story I love, but I found the pace rather slow, and it wasn't as funny as I'd hoped it would be. Overall I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others but it lacked something.

Loved this! The book was full of humour and interesting characters and kept you guessing until the end. Anna is feeling stressed on Christmas Eve.. She has a million things to do to make the house look perfect and on top of that she has her mother in law due on Christmas morning. Her mother in law spends her time making sly digs at Anna regarding everything from her cooking to her weight so probably hosting a massive party the night before Christmas Eve was not a very sensible idea. She gets up early the next day to clear up from the party and with a long list of jobs only to find her boss has been murdered in her larder. Along with husband and best friend Jennie she sets about trying to solve the murder before her in laws arrive. With quite a list of possible suspects and limited time Anna decides to prioritise being a detective and let Christmas look after itself after the police appear to be thoroughly incompetent. I have not heard of Jo Middleton before but will be looking out for her now as this book had me gripped with its humour and relatability. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me ad ARC of this funny book.

A book full of Christmas cheer, plus a dead Father Christmas. Can Anna, Oli and Jenni solve the mystery of the body in the larder before their guests arrive for Christmas dinner. Chaos at its best.

This was such a joyous, funny Christmas romp even if Santa did get murdered in the larder, amateur sleuths Anna and Jennie finding the murderer through some fairly unorthodox methods, mixed up with family and friends was truly enjoyable and I loved every minute

It may seem strange to be reading and reviewing Christmas books in September, but plenty of other reviewers probably read it on the beach. It’s fun, witty, dangerous, and twisty, just great for a holiday read. In my case, it was a hospital read, and all the better for firstly, raising my spirits and second, for having lot of extra information coming in from co-opted sleuths so that a summary and progress report came along just when I needed it.

Jo Middleton must know my niece and her friends. I’m sure the main character is based on Leah, who runs The Spinney 53, our local waste reduction store. She has much the same vibrancy and zanyness, and probably the same approach to parenting: just keep your fingers crossed.

I loved this book. I am considering buying it for said niece and friend. Old fogies like me will recognise the stresses of modern life even if we don’t do everything on the phone. For me this was fresh, exciting, funny and intelligent. I mean, what would you do if you came downstairs to clear the dregs of your Christmas party, and found Santa, dead in your larder. I mean, how are you ever going to get the bloodstains out before your MIL arrives?

Brilliant priorities, so funny; kids and husband —and single again friends— typed to a t. Wonderful book. Don’t miss it (although UK readers may enjoy it most!). Probably also suitable for teens to read after listening to you chortle.

PS. no Christmas puddings were harmed in the making of this book

Anna wakes up Christmas Eve morning heavily hungover from the house-party she hosted the night before. She gingerly makes it down stairs, steps into her posh new walk-in larder and see's Santa, dead. What's worse is he has one of her favourite, expensive knifes sticking out of his belly.

The police arrive on the scene akin to the Keystone Cops! bumbling their way into the larder, trampling over the evidence, knocking pasta all over the dead body. The interactions with Detective Bacon and Simons are hilarious.

It's clear to Anna that these two bumbling officers of the law are never going to be able to figure their way out of a paper bag, let alone solve a murder. So, with the help of her husband, Oli, her son Ben and best friend Jennie, she begins to investigate, all whilst trying to prepare the house for the Christmas day visit with her in-laws.

Anna and Oli, put together a timeline of events from the previous nights drunken frivolity. A list of suspects for them to investigate with Means, motives and opportunities.

This book is laugh out loud funny. I found myself reading aloud excerpts to my wife, who would look at me with dismay.

The plot is well thought out and Anna's investigation takes a logical approach, following tried and tested methods from other works of fiction. When evidence is uncovered, her notes are updated and we receive a refresh of the timeline and list of suspects.

All of this is wrapped up with very funny situations and conversations which reminded me of the old British TV sitcom, 2 point 4 Children. I believe the family in that series would behave much the same as the Johnsons here.

All of the clues are there for you to be able to solve this, as any classic whodunnit should. And this is a classic whodunnit.

I would like to convey my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel. All opinions are my own

A really enjoyable black comedy murder mystery. Anna discovers her boss’s body in her larder the morning after a Christmas party. The police are more interested in their Christmas Eve party at the station than in the murder and so Anna, her husband, Oli, and her friend, Jennie, set out to solve it themselves. Anna is simultaneously trying to prepare for her in-laws arriving, i.e. her nightmare mother-in-law who makes Hyacinth Bucket sound reasonable! I can easily see this as one of those wonderful English black comedy films with a star cast. There were many laugh out loud moments and it’s a reasonable murder mystery too, although I’d worked out who the murderer was fairly early on. I’d happily buy this as a stocking filler this Christmas.

This is a quirky story that will have you laughing and sympathising with our world weary heroine. It’s written in such a way that you are absorbed from the start, it’s real with no heirs and graces and I loved it. Smart with some great one liners. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

This book, my gawd, this book is bloody brilliant!!!
I have never laughed as much while reading a book!
I've been through it all with this one from snorting sniggers while on the bus (apologies to the couple on the seat in front of me, who obviously thought I was laughing at them discussing their medical issues) to chuckling in the dark of night in bed (the dogs gave me a look which clearly said; me mam's bonkers, and walked off in disgust) to full blow belly laughs - this book is an absolute bloody corker (I am definitely going to buy a physical copy just to have it on the keeper shelf!)
Any woman can relate to every aspect of this (maybe minus the dead Father Christmas in the pantry, but each to their own!) Anna is every woman, she wants a normal Christmas, but everything that can go wrong does (always the case right?) The hangover from hell, kiddos don't give a chuff and best not be disturbed, husband still snoring, how dare he! The house looks like it's been through the apocalypse; where did all the mess come from....oh, yes she remembers! Inlaws on route for Christmas dinner...don't mention dinner, they'll be lucky to get a packet of crisps and oh yes nearly forgot; a dead Father Christmas in the pantry! Perfect!!
There is a single thing I didn't like about this, I flew through it within days (for me, that is astounding as I am the slowest reader). murder mysteries aren't always my go-to genre, but I was completely drawn into the blurb, I loved the sound of it and was so pleased I read it and will definitely read more from the author!!
The writing is so honest and incredibly funny, there is wit and good-natured humour on every page, Anna is a brilliant character, a real woman who has the world on her shoulders, a to-do list that never ends and a chaotic family and fabulous always there for her friends (good job too, there is a murder to solve!). I was completely hooked from the first page, I had no idea who the murderer was the writing is so crisp and clever that you're pondering and trying to figure it all out right up to the big reveal. I loved it, and will happily read it again and again!

I have read so many books that I laugh aloud or sniggered to myself. Never have I read a book that has appealed to my sense of humour like this book did. Happy Bloody Christmas has had me in fits of laughter, I mean tears streaming down my face, jaw achingly laughter. What I must have looked like sat in my car on the school run, tears running and wildly laughing to myself. The woman in the car next to me must have thought I was having some midlife crisis or breakdown!
As a woman in her mid-40s, this book was so relatable that it was like reading parts of my own life - minus the murder mystery bits, of course! I loved the plot, the pace of it, how I felt like I was a part of the team trying to solve the mystery. All the characters were fab, especially the best friend duo of Anna and Jennie. I haven't got a single thing I didn't like apart from it had to end. Bloody brilliant!!
I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a great festive murder mystery. I think it would appeal to anyone who's in their fabulous 40s. I found it hilariously good fun.

All Anna wants is the perfect Christmas day. After waking up christmas eve hungover and finding a dead body in her larder, things aren't looking good. With her in-laws' arrival for Christmas dinner the next day, what is she to do?

Thank you to Avon Books UK for my advanced copy.
My opinions are my own

The writing was light, frank and very funny. It had me smiling and laughing out loud throughout which is very rare. I found it all very relatable, with the character going off on amusing tangents every so often and text messages being added in to bring it up to date. I was gripped from the beginning right through to the end. I wasn't completely sure who the murderer was until it was revealed at the end.

The chapters were quite long so you got a good chunk of the story before moving on. I did get very engrossed in what was happening and I didn't want the story to end.

There was a good pace to the story. Even though there were a few different suspects to go through and lots of different things to consider, I never got bored. There was quite a lot of chatter and thought processes from the main character, which were very amusing and entertaining to read. I never felt bogged down and managed to keep up with everything that was going on. There was a good flow to the story so everything ran smoothly together and made for an enjoyable read.

The characters were excellent. I loved the main character. She was amusing, relatable and a joy to read. I also enjoyed reading about the rest of the family and the way that her husband was always there to support her. There were also some interesting dislikeable characters which added an extra layer to the story.

Lastly the settings. They were only vaguely described as it was more a character focused story. Any setting that was integral to the story was given a bit more attention.

Overall a very funny Christmas murder mystery that I highly recommend.

Full of cosy festive vibes and humour. Jo’s writing is engaging and quirky in the very best way. A must read for Christmas 2024.

An absolute riotous Christmas cracker. Very funny, hugely enjoayble and (aside from the dead body in the larder) very relateable.

Highly recommend.

This book was fun and vibey for the holidays. I enjoyed the mystery and the romance. Definitely a good one to add to your list.

What a great ride this book was! From the first few pages I could tell this book was going to be a fun adventure.

I instantly loved it being in first person as Anna is a fabulous narrator! I also loved the rest of her family and they all had such nice personalities.

The plot was the perfect level of whodunnit mixed with cosy mystery and lots of comedy.

I really enjoyed a lot of the references and how very British they all felt!

The only reason this didn't quite hit a 5 star rating (my rating is actually a 4.5 rather than just a 4) was I did predict pretty early on who the culprit was but overall it didn't take away from the enjoyment as it was fun to see how the characters figured it all out!

All the Christmas elements were fab too! Not too over the top but festive enough to set it apart from a stand any time of year mystery. So whilst this is set on Christmas eve it's definitely a book you could read at any point during the year.

Definitely looking forward to reading more by this author in the future as I found the writing style easy to read and the humour really helped give the characters and story a strong voice!