After having struggled with the excerpt of this novel, the full novel didn’t really hook me either. I did like the setting and premise still. However, I found it confusing and I felt lost because of all the characters. I did want to like it more.

3 stars.

Thanks to Martin Edward’s and publisher for my honest and voluntary review.

I had a great time with this book. Did I solve the mystery ?...No. I had an idea of who it was, but then I changed my mind and got totally sidetracked. I loved the puzzle elements to it, they gave the story more depth and interest. I will most definitely be buying a physical copy of this when it is released.

For me, this really needs to be visual - I think you need to see how things play out - a bit like the movie "Clue". I wasn't really a fan of this one and its set up. The story line was great, the characters fine, the setting suitable, but ... I don't know ... the delivery just wasn't there for me. I felt like I needed to be watching rather than reading, if that makes sense.

Give it a go as Martin is the supreme classic crime novelist -and his curated anthologies are exceptional.

Oooh this could have been so good🙂‍↕️
I was so excited to read this book and the mystery in the mystery it provided. The promise is not simple as you’re supposed to pay attention to two separate mysteries at the same time. one is a game invented by one of the characters at the other is one happening to the ensemble. And unfortunately I felt myself care more about one than the other.
The whole book is inspired by Agatha Christie which made the whodunnit way too simple to guess, fortunately I didn’t guess the why and this was a big and surprising twist.
The writing was very pleasant to read and kept me engaged but because I guessed who was the murderer so easily and so early in the book I cannot give it more that three stars which is a bummer.

Six people are invited to play a cludoesq game in order to win a prize that will chnage their lives.

Each person is hard up and each desperastely want to win

This is a cunning read and I did not see the ending.. its a massive shock for the reader.

I loved how the author has included the reader in playing the game and I was immersed from the start.
It is an atmospheric read and set in Winter so I felt the coldness and as the game progressed I really did feel like I could be next..

This book was just so much fun! The mystery was really well crafted, with twists that didn’t come out of the blue but were surprising. I found that it did not fall into cliches while giving me a feeling of reading the Golden Age of Murder Mysteries books. This book is a Christmas one and it will be coming out around that time, so I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a cosy holiday reading experience.

If you’re a crime fiction lover, who yearns for puzzles and brainteasers as you work out whodunnit, with what, where and why, you’ll know Martin’s latest novel. Six people with links with the world of crime writing are invited to spend Christmas in a snowy village, in surroundings that will soon have them cut off from everyone else… and where truly grim things happen. Only one crime expert has to solve the fictional murder to reap life-changing rewards, but there’s quite a lot of drama to get through before they can begin deciphering clues. Not everyone, however, is playing fair.

I found this to be a compelling mystery and I was enthralled from the very beginning, I love mysteries and puzzles and this fit both perfectly,
Six book/crime people are invited to Midwinter to play the ultimate murder mystery game with a large cash prize as an incentive, It’s very cloak and dagger with an eclectic mix of staff and invited guests,
Twelve people in all stay at Midwinter and through various perspectives, the story unfolds, Each guest is down on their luck, with little to no family to spend Christmas with and were lured by the chance to get back on their feet.
When one guest is found dead within the first 24 hours, it is deemed an accident…but how many deaths can be ruled accidental with a short space of time?
It was like reading two mysteries as the reader got to play along with the guests the game set for them as wel, as determine whether there is murder afoot!
With plenty of clues towards both and the perspectives of the characters, I found it thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable!
Now that I have been introduced to this author, I will be on the look out for others from him too.

I admit the twist was a bit out of the blue, I was not expecting that, but I loved the story and all the characters. It was really good, you could be a detective while reading, and at the end, they give you all the clues that were on the book.