Ella Chambers, the housekeeper's daughter didn't kill the billionaire's heir and grandson Liam Montgomery. She might have thought about it numerous times over the years.However, Liam is missing after the reading of his grandfather's will which left him heir. There's a blood spot in the driveway. Ella was seen dragging a heavy object into her car.Nevertheless, she's brought in for questioning. And people start canceling her jobs. Ella can't afford to lose work; she's barely surviving. At least it's happening during her least favorite time of year - Christmas.
My Thoughts: I LOVED it! It had banter, wit, danger, action, and romance. Both Ella and Liam went through the ringer growing up. The cast of characters was fascinating - I loved the four founding families. They were very Gilmore coded. Violet and Gabe and Archie were all entertaining. I would read a spin-off book about Violet and the sheriff. I loved the nutcracker part. I loved Ella's wardrobe. While it is a stand-alone novel, there is an easter egg to The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. I hope there are many more adult Ally Carter books in our future.
Why I Read it: I've been an Ally Carter fan for YEARS! Always happy for a new book of hers.
Cover Thoughts: Charming
Source: purchased at an author event
Library Recommendation: A must have Christmas mystery for your public library collection.
Author Event:
This event took place in Minneapolis and it was amazing. I went to visit my cousin and see Ally Carter too. You can see pictures from that trip here
It was hosted by the romance bookstore: Tropes and Trifles
I'm a HUGE fan of this book store. It's where I bought my book dragon:
Ally Carter was in conversation with Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Davis wore a Knives Out Sweater, which matches the vibes of both books and is on both book covers:
Elizabeth Davis's new book:
Ally Carter talked about:
her writing process
how she came up with the idea
how the founding four came to be
the punny titles
how it was hard to maneuver teens into saving the world without grown-ups
how the readers from her first YA books are now adults, so growing a new audience wasn't an issue
Here we are all together
It was a fantastic night and I'm so happy I was able to attend.
