An enjoyable extract from a stalwart of the British classic crime scene! I hope the rest of the book is as good.

“Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife” by Martin Edwards ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an extract from an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A whodunit, howdunit, and whydunit wrapped in classic mystery tropes – a snowbound village, a locked ice house, cryptic clues, and characters hiding secrets. I mean, who could resist?

The extract I received was just 35 pages, so while it’s hard to form a full picture, there’s definitely intrigue. The story flicks between character introductions, the game’s premise, a true crime podcast, village history, and even a reading list – all within a short space. It felt a little disjointed, almost like too much packed in at once. However, I suspect the full novel will allow for a smoother, more immersive experience.

Six crime-adjacent contestants are invited by the mysterious Midwinter Trust to solve the murder of a fictional writer in a remote Yorkshire village. With snowstorms closing in and staff from the Trust watching their every move, things inevitably take a darker turn. When the prize is life-changing, who wouldn’t be tempted to break the rules?

I can see this working well as an audiobook – the layers of narrative seem like they’d lend themselves to being read aloud. That said, the extract alone wasn’t enough to compel me to purchase the book, but I’d happily borrow it from the library when it’s released.

If you love classic crime setups with a modern twist, this might be one to keep an eye on!

#BookReview #NetGalleyReview #Whodunit #MissWinter #MysteryBooks #MartinEdwards #Bookstagram #CrimeFiction

An intriguing extract that jumped around a little and just as I was getting into it, it came to an end. This has the potential to be a man addictive festive murder mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley for the earc extract.

„Miss Winter in the library with a knife“ is a Christmas themed murder mystery. A group of mystery/crime authors get invited to a game of whodunnit and whydunnit in a secluded small town inhabited only by members of a prestigious society.

This extract was quite short, so I can’t properly delve into the execution of the book (as I have only gotten to read the first 3 chapters). As I am missing this vital aspect of the book, I haven’t properly been able to form an opinion yet. What I can say is that the premise of the book sounds quite interesting and there appears to be an alternate story that would connect to the main plot later on. Both of these aspects of the book intrigued me. However the writing style felt a little pretentious at times, which would have been fine, had it fit with the storyline. This however wasn’t the case.

Overall I would like to know how the book continues, but if none of my friends or family just so happen to come in possession of a copy, I most likely wont be reading the rest of the story. The book started of okay, but not strongly enough for me to inconvenience myself in order to continue it.

I really enjoyed the Extract from this book and will more than likely pick up a copy when it is released. The description sounds really interesting and I look forward to seeing where the story goes.

With thanks of the author, publishers Aria & Aries, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC extract of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed what I read in this extract. The concept sounds like a fun one, and what I read was certainly enough to make we want to seek out the published work to see how it unfolds!

A mystery a puzzle set in the village of Midwinter in the Pennines over the Christmas period. 6 people invited to play the game. All is not as it seems. Who is lying. Can you only trust yourself. We are introduced to only a few characters in this extract but already your interest is piqued. I cannot wait to get access to the full story.
I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

I am aware of Martin Edwards via his work with the British Library Crime Classic and I knew he was a crime writing in his own right, but never red any of his titles, but when I saw this extract (with its intriguing title), I had to try it out.

And I am very intrigued from what I have read. Six people (all connected the crime writing) invited to the mysterious village of Midwinter to play a game: Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer. There will be six member of staff to make sure everyone plays fair, but with a snow storm cutting the town off and the prize that people are willing to kill for, things might not stick the Golden Age rule of play fair...

Will keep my eyes and ears out for this title when it comes out in the latter half of 2025.

This extract begins with an author's note explaining that this isn't a regular whodunit but rather an interactive and immersive mystery. From the extract this started like an other mystery and featured a lot of very common tropes such as the characters being locked in due to a snowstorm and the setting being an isolated village in the countryside. Thus from the extract I am struggling to see how this differs from any other Christmas mystery.

That being said I thought the writing style was easy to read and I liked the way that the characters were introduced with some hints to their backstory without it feeling like information overload. I loved the setting of the tiny village in the Pennines and I thought the combination of the snowstorm and it being Christmas gave it a really fun atmosphere.

Overall I enjoyed this extract however from the sample I have read I'm not sure how unique this is and it didn't live up to the author's promises.

I can not wait to read the full book the extract has me hooked and wanting more give the FULL ARC NOW
Such a exciting new read

The Book title and description is what drew me towards requesting this extract. I also love a murder mystery - having read the extract I am intrigued to see how the rest of the story goes.
I like the differing information given in the part of the story I read.
it makes me think that the audiobook version of the story will be great as well.

Martin Edwards is a new author, and I thank Aries for the extract of Miss Winter in the library with a knife.
Six down in their luck people that are related to crime writing are invited to a game in a remote spot in the North Pennines with a prize that will change their lives.
The storyline sounded really intriguing which I liked. This premise is mysterious and the characters that I did read sounded interesting. In what I read I found the storyline to be unique than other locked room mysteries I read. I can’t wait to find out more once it has been published. 4 stars from me.

I really liked this sampler. martin Edwards' writing was as good as always and the premise set up was done well. I'll be sure to pick this up when it becomes available next year!

I really loved the premise of the book. It sound so interesting and i will definitely pick it up once it's out.
I enjoyed reading the rule of the games, having the invitations and other elements.
We still haven't met half of the characters and i'm already hooked

Martin Edwards says he wants to combine his love of mysteries, puzzles and games in his new book, Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife. However, it’s hard to tell how well he succeeds with this short extract. His introduction states it’s an interactive mystery but any interactive component is not yet there: we simply have an Introduction and three chapters to read, so I can only pass comment upon the author’s written text.

Edwards says he wanted to have fun and we do too: great fun! Character assessments such as “[…] unqualified smartarse with the personality of a piranha and all the compassion of a boa constrictor” and wondering whether a writer had lost the plot made me snigger. Those readers who are familiar with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and other detection writers will relish the list of books by Harry Crystal, which includes The Nine Gaolers and Trent’s Last Caper. This is definitely a laugh-out-loud book, even if the subject is murder.

The setting is the north of England, an area that Edwards knows well. His descriptions of the landscape and the bleak wintry weather are evocative: being out on the moors, miles from any settlement, during a snowstorm is a bewildering and scary experience. The village of Midwinter is on that moor, seven miles from its railway station (as is genuinely the case with many old stations on those sparsely used lines). The chapters are interspersed with pages from the village’s website, one of which positions Midwinter as a place where people can go to unwind and contemplate life: “the perfect setting for contemplation, mindful thinking and creative reasoning”, which, of course, describes us readers as we try to solve the mystery.

I’m really looking forward to reading the finished book (or website, depending how the “interactive” component is enabled) but I did have a few quibbles with this very early version. Bernadette Corrigan states in Chapter 1 that there are twenty-five lower case symbols in ancient Greek. I thought (and I am very happy to be corrected) that there are only twenty-four letters (with sigma having two forms: ς at the end of a word but σ elsewhere) and that ν was only the thirteenth letter, not one towards the end of the alphabet. Also, the cipher as shown isn’t split into words. If I’m right (and I do stress IF) that means that the cipher shown and explained in Chapter 1 doesn’t quite work as described. The village website mentions "residents", but I think "guests" is more consistent with the ethos described. Finally, mentioning a car’s trunk rather than its boot did grate, even if it does indicate Edwards’s rightful international popularity.