The Christmas Eve Murders

by Noelle Allbright

Genres: Christmas

336 pages, Hardcover

Published July 10, 2025

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging, if distinctly implausible story.

The implausibility is a result of the contrived setting. Maddie, a Scottish journalist working in Manchester is heading home for Christmas, but when her car breaks down she gets stranded in a pub in the Yorkshire Dales in a heavy snowstorm. During an in-pub treasure hunt, one of those present gets murdered - in effect it's a classic country house murder mystery with a modified setting. What makes the situation more than a little contrived is that there happen to be a DI and his detective constable sidekick in the pub, so they can contact an investigation (with Maddie's help) while they're snowed in.

Once you get past this unlikely setup (plus one weak restriction of which more in a moment) though, Noelle Albright keeps the action going in good page-turning fashion. For the first few pages the writing tends to be a little over-descriptive - and the central character is surely in the wrong job as she is wary about almost everything - but once the action starts, Albright has a steady hand in building the tension and surprises. It helps that the pub has enough secret passages to keep every old house mystery lover happy.

To make the isolation work in our modern, connected world we had to have a location with no phone signal (perfectly realistically given it's the Yorkshire Dales) and that would have no landline or internet connection - this latter part was necessary, but provides that weak restriction as Albright simply has the killer cut the phone wire. We had this happen when I was at university and an over-enthusiastic audience member at a punk gig ran amok through the building cutting the phone lines for no obvious reason. It took about 10 minutes for me to fix our phone. If instead the author had made use of a smashed fibre broadband box it would have worked far better - but I admit this is a picky complaint.

The book is described as a 'hilarious and cosy festive murder mystery' - there was no obvious humour here apart from some tension-breaking jokes between characters, but there is certainly an element of cosiness and it gets full marks on both festivity and mystery. I surprised myself by enjoying it far more than expected, always wanting to read the next chapter.

[James M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing read. Thin plot, two dimensional characters, clunky prose. Spotted the killer about twenty pages in but couldn’t work out the motive - mostly because it turned out neither could the author. This whole book was a really good idea just badly executed at every stage. No character in this book behaved like a normal human I would recognise. Nobody spoke like a real person. The annoying Yorkshire accenting (I get it, I’m from there, we don’t often pronounce H at the start of words - it’s not adding owt to me experience of t’book) and anodyne thoughts of the main character were particular peeves.

I’m sure some will enjoy this and don’t get me wrong I’ve read similar pulp fiction that kind of just bobs along gently, but this one was a real slog and a wasted week when I really enjoy a good Christmas mystery. Here’s hoping the next read proves better…

[Sarah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie Marlowe is going home for Christmas to Edinburgh. However, her car breaks down in a small Yorkshire Dales village and there's no mobile signal plus there's a bad snow storm. She goes to The Merry Monarch pub to ask to use their phone to ring her car breakdown service. Maddie learns they are holding their annual scavenger hunt and she decides to join in with the locals. Shortly afterwards, there is a power cut and this brings someone out to play a dangerous game. This was a classic locked room mystery in a local pub with a cast of characters that you either loved or loathed! The story is full of twists and turns with a few red herrings to distract you from discovering the truth, which I never saw coming.

[Sarah Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this locked-room style murder mystery with a festive twist, we meet Maddie as her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve and she finds herself needing to book a room for the night in a local pub. Shortly after joining the locals in their annual Christmas scavenger hunt, things take a dark twist when the lights go out and a body is discovered…

This was a fun take on a traditional locked-room murder, and the plot was engaging. While there were a few events that stretch credibility a little, it was nicely paced and had some good red herrings to keep the reader guessing along the way.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

[Sarah Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Christmas Eve Murders by Noelle Albright is a festive cosy Christmas who done it! Maddie is driving home to her parents in Scotland when her car breaks down in the Yorkshire Dales. She is forced to spend the night in the local village pub as she has no mobile reception, and a snow storm.
She joins in with some of the locals who are having their annual scavenger hunt in the pub, however during a power cut, a body is discovered and the hunt for the killer is on.
I really enjoyed this book. It was an interesting read, well written, with a good plot line, some good red herrings, good characters and a fabulous festive setting.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Format: Print

This was a fun festive take on the classic locked room mystery with a big cast of characters to keep track of. I didn’t see the twist coming but looking back now can see a few hints so it would be interesting to read again.

I flew through this one on Christmas Eve (which I would absolutely recommend for the atmosphere). It was engaging and flowed well – just a really fun time (murder aside!). I’ll be looking out for more from this author.

[Molly Davies - O'Keeffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the premise of this book - A broken down car leading to a scavenger hunt in a cosy countryside pub with a snow storm outside ☃️❤️‍🔥
Glad it didn’t go down the supernatural route! ✅
Was hoping for a last min twist & the epilogue was too nice for me 🤣

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay and easy to read. the murderer was a bit predictable!

[Ann-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. DNF

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosy murder taking place over one night leaves a good feeling of not being too spread out. Murderer may as well have had a neon sign hanging over their head from the beginning!

[Justine Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 2.5 than a three.