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Murder At Midwinter: A cozy new Christmas crime novel from the author of Murder at Maybridge Castle
The next installment in Ada Moncrieff's Christmas mystery series, Murder at Midwinter follows amateur sleuth Daphne once again as she attempts to solve a murder at her school reunion which seems to be tied to an unsolved kidnapping twenty years before.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 28, 2025
This lost me.
We started off pretty boring and then when it got interesting it was soon over.
I also question why the author set it all in 1937. We got an out and proud lesbian in 1937 like what ???
We started off pretty boring and then when it got interesting it was soon over.
I also question why the author set it all in 1937. We got an out and proud lesbian in 1937 like what ???
December 28, 2025
An absolute non-starter. Her first in the series was quite readable, however, this is so bad. One wonders why non of the many persons mentioned in the Acknowledgements and Credits at the end of this 'Christmas novel' gave the author some good advice about such things as: the lack of speed of the story, the unbelievable main character, the sometimes atrocious dialogues, the description of the period, etc. The cover is the only agreeable part of this book.
December 27, 2025
After reading Alchemised, I needed a cosy Christmas murder mystery, and Murder at Midwinter arrived right on time. In this book, you follow Daphne King, a reporter for The Times. She is invited to a reunion at her old school in Midwinter. When she returns to her old village, something from her past haunts her. When a murder takes place, Daphne knows there is more going on than just a reunion.
This book was simply fun to read. It takes place in a cosy village filled with Christmas spirit. After the murder, there are multiple suspects who could have done it. I really liked that you get to follow Daphne’s process of piecing everything together. It is written in an accessible way, but it also uses some old-fashioned English vocabulary that fits the time period of the story.
If you are looking for a cosy murder mystery to read during Christmas, this is your book.
This book was simply fun to read. It takes place in a cosy village filled with Christmas spirit. After the murder, there are multiple suspects who could have done it. I really liked that you get to follow Daphne’s process of piecing everything together. It is written in an accessible way, but it also uses some old-fashioned English vocabulary that fits the time period of the story.
If you are looking for a cosy murder mystery to read during Christmas, this is your book.
December 20, 2025
The year 1937; Daphne King, star reporter at a London newspaper attends a school reunion at her old school in Midwinter. Unfortunately someone is holding a grudge and things don’t seem all right…
An enjoyable and entertaining festive murder mystery. It’s easy to read, a good length and a good plot. The setting is lovely and the characters fun and relatable. My one gripe is that it doesn’t feel like it’s set in 1937. There aren’t really any historical markers mentioned, the main character is a female newspaper reporter (unlikely) and in a fairly open same-sex relationship (probably also unlikely for the times). It could easily have been set in the 80‘s or 2000‘s and I wouldn’t have known.
Otherwise an enjoyable, easy read for the festive season, I’d recommend!
3.5 stars
An enjoyable and entertaining festive murder mystery. It’s easy to read, a good length and a good plot. The setting is lovely and the characters fun and relatable. My one gripe is that it doesn’t feel like it’s set in 1937. There aren’t really any historical markers mentioned, the main character is a female newspaper reporter (unlikely) and in a fairly open same-sex relationship (probably also unlikely for the times). It could easily have been set in the 80‘s or 2000‘s and I wouldn’t have known.
Otherwise an enjoyable, easy read for the festive season, I’d recommend!
3.5 stars
December 3, 2025
ᯓ★ 3.5/5 .ᐟ
i don’t think it deserved a 3 but didn’t want to put it at a 4 so 3.5 rating it is.
a little slow at the start but it gets quicker the more you read it. the story was interesting with so many different personalities.
side note, i absolutely love stories where characters get trapped in a house/mansion and there’s a murder and they have to guess who is it. it’s a thrill to try and guess with them, thought that was the case here but kinda wasn’t??
i did figure out who it was as in my opinion was very obvious and i just knew i didn’t like them from the start.
apart from that, still a good read. i would recommend it. definitely will read more by this author again.
i don’t think it deserved a 3 but didn’t want to put it at a 4 so 3.5 rating it is.
a little slow at the start but it gets quicker the more you read it. the story was interesting with so many different personalities.
side note, i absolutely love stories where characters get trapped in a house/mansion and there’s a murder and they have to guess who is it. it’s a thrill to try and guess with them, thought that was the case here but kinda wasn’t??
i did figure out who it was as in my opinion was very obvious and i just knew i didn’t like them from the start.
apart from that, still a good read. i would recommend it. definitely will read more by this author again.
December 7, 2025
cool and compelling!
this is not the usual kind of christmas book i like to go for, but this was surprisingly super intriguing! it's an intricately woven story considering how short it is and is such an enjoyable novella. also has a mildly creepy edge to it which helps keep the pages turning.
highly readable, and i would recommend, especially if you're not a fan of the classic, cliche christmas lovey-dovey stories!
this is not the usual kind of christmas book i like to go for, but this was surprisingly super intriguing! it's an intricately woven story considering how short it is and is such an enjoyable novella. also has a mildly creepy edge to it which helps keep the pages turning.
highly readable, and i would recommend, especially if you're not a fan of the classic, cliche christmas lovey-dovey stories!
December 14, 2025
It was an okay book. The ending was a bit predictable and I felt there was a need to use a lot of difficult words to sound interesting. Sometimes that took away the fun of reading.
Also the time period and openly gay and motorriding chick. Did not totally fit.
Also the time period and openly gay and motorriding chick. Did not totally fit.
December 20, 2025
Could've been a 4 but the last quarter just seemed rushed. A really cozy mystery book.
January 3, 2026
Spoilers ahead!!
This is an easy read, you can put it down and come back and there’s no crazy details you need to remember. I liked its premise however there are times where it’s annoying to read, the internal dialogue and dialogue between characters attempts to capture speaking patterns and turn of phrasing from 1937 that doesn’t hit the mark for me. There are also too many french words in this book and I found that jarring.
The mystery is extremely solvable, the policeman’s son and his plot for revenge. The clues were all there in the snippets of the past we were provided through diary entries and newspaper clippings and it wasn’t so cleverly hidden about the motive for the one and only murder. The perpetrator sent Daphne thinly veiled threats, stalking and eventually a trail to a confrontation that was over before it started and felt low stakes. The red herrings one anticipates in a mystery novel were obvious and bland.
The murder is discovered and the protagonist Daphne King making her deductions on scene and racing about while characters state her prowess for justice is unmatched. This just felt a bit ridiculous, all the answers coming to her. There were attempts to flesh out relationships between Daphne and her old school mates and what had transpired between them, but it falls flat especially when Enid reveals Daphnes confession and Mrs Rosewood confronts Daphne about her actions that landed her son in prison. It just felt like it was easier to have everyone forgive and forget and rush to move on to next bit of Daphne’s sleuthing brilliance. Which, with every peripheral character singing her praises, got grating.
The first half had just enough to keep me interested even though it was so slow going and picked up after the murder was discovered, halfway through the book. Alas, all I can say is the story was OK.
This was the first book I read my Ada Moncrieff, it was fun over Christmas but I’m not rushing to read more from her any time soon. Sorry girl
This is an easy read, you can put it down and come back and there’s no crazy details you need to remember. I liked its premise however there are times where it’s annoying to read, the internal dialogue and dialogue between characters attempts to capture speaking patterns and turn of phrasing from 1937 that doesn’t hit the mark for me. There are also too many french words in this book and I found that jarring.
The mystery is extremely solvable, the policeman’s son and his plot for revenge. The clues were all there in the snippets of the past we were provided through diary entries and newspaper clippings and it wasn’t so cleverly hidden about the motive for the one and only murder. The perpetrator sent Daphne thinly veiled threats, stalking and eventually a trail to a confrontation that was over before it started and felt low stakes. The red herrings one anticipates in a mystery novel were obvious and bland.
The murder is discovered and the protagonist Daphne King making her deductions on scene and racing about while characters state her prowess for justice is unmatched. This just felt a bit ridiculous, all the answers coming to her. There were attempts to flesh out relationships between Daphne and her old school mates and what had transpired between them, but it falls flat especially when Enid reveals Daphnes confession and Mrs Rosewood confronts Daphne about her actions that landed her son in prison. It just felt like it was easier to have everyone forgive and forget and rush to move on to next bit of Daphne’s sleuthing brilliance. Which, with every peripheral character singing her praises, got grating.
The first half had just enough to keep me interested even though it was so slow going and picked up after the murder was discovered, halfway through the book. Alas, all I can say is the story was OK.
This was the first book I read my Ada Moncrieff, it was fun over Christmas but I’m not rushing to read more from her any time soon. Sorry girl
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for this free Arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
We once again meet Daphne King, a super sleuth investigator who has solved her fair share of crimes. This time, Daphne’s heading back to a school reunion in the town of Midwinter, where nothing ever happens… or does it!?! Daphne returns to stay at old pal Sid’s house where we meet wife Ruthie and daughter Susan, she goes up to her old school and bumps into old friends Celia and Enid. In the whirl of Christmas frivolities, a fair, many drinks and catch ups something is not quite what it seems. There is murder afoot, and can Daphne find out what’s going on before it’s too late?
Having read the previous books in this series, I knew I had to read this one too! I love the way Moncrieff writes. Her words match the era this book is set in and build up such a picture of what’s going on. I enjoyed seeing words that I’d not come across or words I haven’t seen used much. It makes the book a lovely read.
I love the characters. Susan was a delight, Sid was lovely and it was nice to have a little of Veronica. I think this will be the perfect book for a cozy murder read around Christmas time.
All that lost me a star was that the book didn’t blow me away, but it was a truly lovely read and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it.
We once again meet Daphne King, a super sleuth investigator who has solved her fair share of crimes. This time, Daphne’s heading back to a school reunion in the town of Midwinter, where nothing ever happens… or does it!?! Daphne returns to stay at old pal Sid’s house where we meet wife Ruthie and daughter Susan, she goes up to her old school and bumps into old friends Celia and Enid. In the whirl of Christmas frivolities, a fair, many drinks and catch ups something is not quite what it seems. There is murder afoot, and can Daphne find out what’s going on before it’s too late?
Having read the previous books in this series, I knew I had to read this one too! I love the way Moncrieff writes. Her words match the era this book is set in and build up such a picture of what’s going on. I enjoyed seeing words that I’d not come across or words I haven’t seen used much. It makes the book a lovely read.
I love the characters. Susan was a delight, Sid was lovely and it was nice to have a little of Veronica. I think this will be the perfect book for a cozy murder read around Christmas time.
All that lost me a star was that the book didn’t blow me away, but it was a truly lovely read and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it.
August 22, 2025
Set in December 1937, Murder at Midwinter invites us into the snow-dusted halls of Midwinter Academy, where old classmates gather for a Christmas reunion that’s anything but merry. Daphne King, once a teenage sleuth, returns to the scene of a long-buried mystery—the disappearance of a classmate twenty years earlier. But when one of her old friends turns up dead, Daphne is drawn back into the role she thought she’d left behind.
Ada Moncrieff blends golden-age charm with a touch of melancholy. The setting is gorgeously atmospheric—twinkling lights, crackling fires, and the quiet menace of secrets that refuse to stay buried. Daphne is a thoughtful, quietly determined protagonist, and her reflections on the past give the story a lovely emotional depth.
This is a mystery that doesn’t rush. It lingers in memory, in old rivalries, in the tension between who we were and who we’ve become. Perfect for curling up with on a winter’s night, especially if you like your whodunnits with a dash of nostalgia and a whisper of ghost story.
With thanks to Ada Moncrieff, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
Ada Moncrieff blends golden-age charm with a touch of melancholy. The setting is gorgeously atmospheric—twinkling lights, crackling fires, and the quiet menace of secrets that refuse to stay buried. Daphne is a thoughtful, quietly determined protagonist, and her reflections on the past give the story a lovely emotional depth.
This is a mystery that doesn’t rush. It lingers in memory, in old rivalries, in the tension between who we were and who we’ve become. Perfect for curling up with on a winter’s night, especially if you like your whodunnits with a dash of nostalgia and a whisper of ghost story.
With thanks to Ada Moncrieff, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
December 11, 2025
A SCHOOL REUNION... A CHRISTMAS PARTY TO DIE FOR.
December 1937. Daphne King is attending the twentieth anniversary reunion at her secondary school, Midwinter Academy, a weekend that will see resurrected rivalries and alliances amidst the Christmas festivities. But a string of peculiar incidents prompts Daphne to suspect that she and her friends are being sent messages - or threats - related to the disappearance of a classmate twenty years ago.
It was a mystery which clouded their final year at the school - and one which Daphne, as a budding eighteen-year-old sleuth, solved.
When, the morning after the reunion, one of Daphne's old school friends is found dead, Daphne finds herself in the role of investigator once more. Are the two cases linked? And has Daphne learned from the mistakes of her past?
December 1937. Daphne King is attending the twentieth anniversary reunion at her secondary school, Midwinter Academy, a weekend that will see resurrected rivalries and alliances amidst the Christmas festivities. But a string of peculiar incidents prompts Daphne to suspect that she and her friends are being sent messages - or threats - related to the disappearance of a classmate twenty years ago.
It was a mystery which clouded their final year at the school - and one which Daphne, as a budding eighteen-year-old sleuth, solved.
When, the morning after the reunion, one of Daphne's old school friends is found dead, Daphne finds herself in the role of investigator once more. Are the two cases linked? And has Daphne learned from the mistakes of her past?
November 29, 2025
2.5 stars, really. I haven't read any of the others in the series, but don't think that really matters.
The story is a cosy crime, but honestly is rather thin and improbable. Quite silly really. If you like your cosy crime very cosy, to the point of comatose, then this may be the one for you.
The villain is signposted pretty much from the start. Very little guessing required, once the murder has been committed (and this doesn't happen until half way through.)
Also some irritating Americanisms, given it was meant to be set in 1930s England, which just sounded wrong to a British reader but perhaps not to anyone else. Very little research seems to have been done into what life would have been like in 1930s England and thus seemed just all round rather off kilter.
The story is a cosy crime, but honestly is rather thin and improbable. Quite silly really. If you like your cosy crime very cosy, to the point of comatose, then this may be the one for you.
The villain is signposted pretty much from the start. Very little guessing required, once the murder has been committed (and this doesn't happen until half way through.)
Also some irritating Americanisms, given it was meant to be set in 1930s England, which just sounded wrong to a British reader but perhaps not to anyone else. Very little research seems to have been done into what life would have been like in 1930s England and thus seemed just all round rather off kilter.
October 18, 2025
Daphne King, investigative reporter who solves the crimes the police cannot, is all started when she was at school at Midwinter Academy for girls, where she not only rescued a kidnapped fellow pupil but also caught a thief. Now she is back in Midwinter for a school reunion and strange things are happening, dead frogs, strange notes and then one of her friends is dead.
An exciting tale and a very good read. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.
An exciting tale and a very good read. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.
December 19, 2025
I loved it and recommend this book to everyone. If you enjoy crime, suspense and mystery
in Christmas setting, then this one’s definitely for you!
First of all, I absolutely love reading stories set during the festive season and when you add a bit of intrigue and a case to solve, it becomes such a fun ride. This was my first book by this author, and I instantly fell in love with her narrative voice, the way she builds the story and her engaging writing style. So do yourself a favor this winter and give this book a chance! The weather’s getting colder, the festive season is near, and if you’re in the mood for a good read, don’t let this one slip by.
This is an ARC review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for kindly sending me this physical copy in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, I absolutely love reading stories set during the festive season and when you add a bit of intrigue and a case to solve, it becomes such a fun ride. This was my first book by this author, and I instantly fell in love with her narrative voice, the way she builds the story and her engaging writing style. So do yourself a favor this winter and give this book a chance! The weather’s getting colder, the festive season is near, and if you’re in the mood for a good read, don’t let this one slip by.
This is an ARC review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for kindly sending me this physical copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 22, 2025
I grabbed this book in the mood for a Christmas murder mystery, but it missed the mark for me.
Honestly nothing much happens in the first half of the book, when things do start to happen it's obvious who is behind it all. The climax of the whole story was over in like two pages, with no follow up and quite a bizarre inclusion of the man the main character had wronged in the past coming through to help.
Honestly nothing much happens in the first half of the book, when things do start to happen it's obvious who is behind it all. The climax of the whole story was over in like two pages, with no follow up and quite a bizarre inclusion of the man the main character had wronged in the past coming through to help.
December 25, 2025
A gentle cosy crime set in 1937. Daphne goes to a school reunion where the past catches up with her. I found I couldn’t really warm to the characters and didn’t feel like I knew any of them apart from Daphne and her partner Veronica. Descriptions of them seemed to be sparse. Also when a writer uses dead animals in books I do tend to dislike the book straight away. Kermit and his pals should give Ada Moncrieff a wide berth!
Read
January 12, 2026Murder in a small village set at christams in the golden age? Yes!
Reading it? No!
I got 27 pages in and needed to put the book aside. The language is pompous to the level of grating. The main character shows an attitude that is putting me off, and there are contingency errors.
So, a no from me.
Reading it? No!
I got 27 pages in and needed to put the book aside. The language is pompous to the level of grating. The main character shows an attitude that is putting me off, and there are contingency errors.
So, a no from me.
December 8, 2025
I will remember I do not like cosy crime books. Nor do I like books aiming to emulate golden age crime. Positive point- it’s a quick read and , if you like all loose ends tied up in a glittery bow at the end you may like this.
December 11, 2025
2.5 ⭐️ - Cosy Christmas murder mystery. Read all 4 of the books in this ‘series’ and they are cosy, quick reads. Nothing too deep and fairly easy to figure out what’s going on, but still a good read for the period festive atmosphere!
January 4, 2026
Daphne investigates a case in Midwinter, the rural town where her erstwhile school is. This is cozy and seasonal, but for a murder mystery the crime takes place rather late in the narrative, so you have little detection.
December 3, 2025
Very enjoyable and quick cosy crime read.
December 6, 2025
Book club pick was very easy reading .
December 11, 2025
“She had boiled the frog, now it was time to extract it.”
December 15, 2025
this was soooo boring…. i liked the characters but idk i just couldn’t click into the story
December 22, 2025
Entertaining festive mystery.
December 22, 2025
[2.5]
a very generic festive murder mystery. twists were fun and interesting. setting was very scenic.
a very generic festive murder mystery. twists were fun and interesting. setting was very scenic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews