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.

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 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.

Delicious..
Having enjoyed the previous extract of this forthcoming title, the full reading copy was a delight. What will soon be a Christmas murder mystery with a difference where six people, all with links to the literary world of crime, have been invited to a play a game by the rather elusive Midwinter Trust in an idyllic Yorkshire village. The prize, they are told, will be potentially life changing. With six members of the Trust also in attendance and the village about to become cut off by a snow storm, what could possibly go wrong? Well, the game is truly afoot. Just tremendous, a fully formed murder mystery combined with true puzzles for the reader to solve alongside, both intriguing and entertaining, brimming with red herrings, clues and misdirection galore. Delicious.

I was lucky to receive this book to review via NetGalley. Getting to read the story and solve the puzzles contained within it felt like Christmas had come early. This is Martin Edwards' first Christmas murder mystery but it contains the ingredients of many of his other novels in that there are solvable clues throughout the story which lead the reader towards the correct solution. This is a very golden age approach which Martin has successfully applied to the modern idea of a puzzle book that is also a mystery. In this story, a group of people are invited to the extremely remote village of Midwinter to compete to solve a fictional murder. But, before long, the real bodies start piling up in the snow that generally accompanies Christmas mystery novels. Not only do Martin's readers get the opportunity to solve the 'real' murders but they are also given the clues provided to the contestants so they get to solve both sets of murders. I loved competing against the characters to solve the 'fake' crime and was successful at this but I missed the twist that Martin had so cleverly engineered that was the answer to the identity of the 'real' murderer in Midwinter. This book would make a fabulous Christmas present as it is highly entertaining and completely addictive.

An interesting meta mystery, with a puzzle within a puzzle. 6 players and 6 staff all confined in a snowbound village for Christmas. Enjoyed both puzzles and the gradual disclosure of the plot.

Well this book was different to things I have read recently and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t solve the mystery, no where close but this is fine. The book is set in a village called Midwinter. The four people who run the Trust decide to hold a murder mystery weekend over the Christmas break and invite people to attend. There is a prize for the winnder of the competition. These 6 people are completely vetted and do seem to have a lot in common from the writing/publishing world. As they arrive the village is completely snowbound and they may have to stay longer than envisaged. As they all get to know each other the questions start being asked and not necessarily answered and are sometimes vague. The beginning does not run smoothly as the 6 are all vying for the prize and do not trust one another. Strange and worrying things start to happen and there is friction in the Trust. As the 6 start to play the game they begin to wonder how it will end. Then something happens and it almost goes from bad to worse for the 6. I will not write anymore so as not to spoil the story but it was intriguing and a must read. As I said above I did not solve the mystery but the ride to the end of the book was worth it

I absolutely love Golden Age crime fiction and Martin Edwards is clearly an expert. The 'puzzle in a puzzle' was very well done and the setting close to perfection. I could have done with a little more character development however - this is always a fine line in Golden Age, to give the characters life while still serving an intricate plot. Great read though

A great “who dunit? Christmas, snow, and murders but not your usual mystery. Well written, good characters and plenty of clues for those of you who can work things out. Me? I had no idea who did it until the reveal at the end.
My thanks to Net Galley and the author for an ARC

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards is a fun festive read.

It’s a brilliant homage to the Golden Age of Crime. It centres on a remote village Midwinter village in the North Pennines with a population of six welcoming six guests to playing a residential ‘whodunnit’ game over the Festive Christmas Period. There’s a huge prize, so everything to play for.

The story moves along at great pace and unfolds from multiple points of view. The weather is extreme and the village is cut of by snow, thus creating a ‘locked in’ feel adds to the atmosphere and sense of peril.

I loved the way the book was structured with The Players in the Game, Rules of the Game, Bonus Puzzle Content. I particularly loved the addition of the Clue Finder at the back of the book, something that was common in Golden Age crime books of the 1930s. It was great to look at it at the end and see things I should I have picked up on!

I haven’t read books by Martin Edwards before, but based on this compelling book I will most definitely seek out his other books.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Aria & Aries, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Who doesn’t love a festive whodunnit?! Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards is a fun festive read.

It harks back to the Golden Age of Crime and centres in Midwinter village where a population of six welcoming six guests to playing a residential ‘whodunnit’ game over the Festive Christmas Period. Everything to play for!

Six people who have an involvement with crime writing are invited to the isolated village of Midwinter for Christmas celebrations. These celebrations include a murder mystery party, with clues given to the guests each day until Christmas Day when one of them will win by correctly solving the mystery. The guests are greeted by members of staff, some people are known to each other, others are not. There is the inevitable snowstorm and so the village is cut off completely. The game begins with the first clues given, but then one of the guests is found dead. This book intrigued me, as the reader is given the choice to play along with the guests, or simply read the story. I was trying to solve the puzzles myself and I liked the extras too, podcasts and extracts from diaries, and lists. I must say I did not discover whodunnit, but thoroughly enjoyed the journey to the end of the game.
Thank you for my advanced copy.

I loved the setting of this book, being snowed in and isolated at Christmas and how that added to the mystery. I enjoyed the story being told through different perspectives via diaries and other sources in the bonus content.

The characters were interesting, I was intrigued by their backstories and I liked that I was constantly questioning who to trust.

I also really appreciated the cluefinder at the end and getting to see how everything was hinted at throughout the book and what clues I picked up on or missed!

This was my first book by this author and I’ll definitely be going back to read more of his other work.