Murder At Midwinter

by Moncrieff Ada

Harvill Secker Murder At Midwinter ABISBOOK Harvill Secker.

Genres: Christmas, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 20, 2025

Reviews

[Kelsey Hayes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry to say. Utter rubbish. From the very start it felt as though Ada Moncrieff had swallowed a thesaurus and was trying to fit as many words into this book as possible. None of the characters felt real or likeable. The murder didn’t happen until page 173, leaving only 100 pages for Daphne to investigate, meaning that most of the clues just fell into her lap and were pretty obvious.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was easy to read, but i didn't enjoy the story too much. I found the pacing quite odd and it didn't work for me; the actual murder happened only halfway through the book and then it was solved within a few chapters.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nifty festive whodunnit. Decent plot-line and characters, set against a Yuletide backdrop. My only qualm? Moncrieff should have finished it one chapter sooner.

[Dani ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The real crime was likening this story to Agatha Christie’s books.

[Julian Worker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1917, Daphne King was an 18-year-old girl who solved a kidnapping mystery at her secondary school, Midwinter Academy.

In 1937, Daphne returns to Midwinter Academy for a twentieth anniversary reunion. A series of peculiar incidents, including a plague of dead frogs, alerts Daphne to the fact something strange is in the air. Unfortunately, overnight one of the returning pupils is found dead in her room...then another woman is attacked. Daphne springs into action and determines to find out who the murderer is. Are the two cases, twenty years apart, connected in some way?

Daphne follows a few false trails to find out who the murderer is and what the connection is to the kidnapping for 20 years previously.

[Gemma Farguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book but I wished I’d read the reviews first and not wasted my time. As some have already said, the murder didn’t happen until page 170-ish and there are only 273 pages in the whole book! The so-called investigator had to wait for the evidence to literally be handed to her. Disappointed to say the least.

[Jody Greaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this, my friend got it for me for Xmas, I was naughty and opened it early 🤣
It’s a Christmas based murder mystery. Starts off very slow and I wasn’t sure it would be for me initially
The writer uses too many long fancy words which I found off putting
There was a scene that annoyed me, the FMC asked for a whiskey at a bar and on the next page it said about her drinking her wine.. bit of an oversight
The other thing was it was based in 1937 but there was a couple of things that didn’t fit well with that era. The FMC was a lesbian and that would have been frowned upon then and there wasn’t much mention of it being secretive or people not agreeing with their relationship
At one point in the book she telephoned several people at their homes from the hospital But most normal people then wouldn’t have had a phone at home, only affluent people and the characters weren’t portrayed as rich
I know it’s silly little things but they annoyed me, but it was a
Quick read
And that is 25/25 books this year 🥳

[Heather C Gibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars ⭐️ I was looking forward to reading Murder at Maybridge Castle expecting it to be a cosy Christmas mystery, but it never really delivered. The slow build-up and large cast made it hard to stay engaged, and despite the festive setting there was very little Christmas atmosphere. The murder doesn’t occur until around page 170-odd, after which the story feels rushed, leaving what could have been a classic country house whodunit feeling underwhelming.

[Ellie P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve decided not to rate any book below 3★ this year unless I actively hate it.

This was a light, silly read. Not the best detective novel I’ve read, and the language is very pompous. It only stopped irritating me once I started reading it in an exaggeratedly posh voice in my head.

It’s slow for most of the book, with very little happening, and then everything is wrapped up in the last few pages.

Will I read more by this author? Probably not.

3/5

[Mae Leveson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this on a whim at the local supermarket, as I was looking for something light to read whilst travelling. Overall, it was a disappointing read and it failed to maintain my attention. I reached the stage where I neither liked nor cared for the characters and it didn’t feel much like the festive escapism, as described by The Times.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so much! Great December read.

[Yvette Camilleri · Rating 2 out of 5]

set in past, old fashioned writing

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

[bryan fothergill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fascinating outing from Ada Moncrieff. Daphne King is once again on hand to unravel the clues to the mystery.
A great little festive whodunit read this Christmas.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas crime caper - I couldn’t ask for more! I really like the protagonist of these books, and I find them great fun. The seeds are planted well in advance, no complaints

[Felipe Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
Ended up being too obvious but still entertaining.
My main critic is that the build up didn’t pay off as I would have likes.

[Sarah Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a struggle to get through the first half of the book because it moved so slowly and nothing really happened. The description of the pub went on for pages and pages it was quite dull. When she finally gets to Midwinter, I thought that the reunion would be where they solved a crime that took place 20 years before because the murder didn’t happen until over halfway through, I forgot there was supposed to be a murder at all. And the weird threats of the killer leaving dead frogs in the women’s bedrooms were so strange and confusing for them that the murder victim never even took it as a threat, she thought a frog had hopped into her room and just died there. It’s also never explained how he gets into their rooms while they’re sleeping to place these dead frogs.

Once the murder happens the pace picks up and it was a much more enjoyable read, but there were sentences that were over complicated and stuffed with unnecessary words that over complicate things such as Daphne having a “not inconsequential amount of wine” or “Veronica cleared her throat meaningfully, in that arch tone that only Veronica could deploy in clearing a throat”. It feels like the author was trying to meet a word count.

Daphne King is supposedly this amazing investigative journalist but when the killer tells her it’s all about Hargreaves she is completely baffled, but as soon as the murderer named Hargreaves as the motive it was obvious to me he was his son.

I did enjoy the story itself despite the strange pace and unnecessarily added words.

[Samantha Fulton · Rating 1 out of 5]

she could not believe that THE daphne king, was made out to be the best detective, and yet did not understand the clues until the murderer was before her, THE daphne king, with a knife. not sure she deserves her acclaim as THE daphne king.

[Hannah McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good! It was a great cosy murder mystery for Christmas time…and not too Christmassy for New Year either. I loved the plot and it had me guessing the whole way through. Sid and Daphne were my favourite characters, they were written so so well!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Yazmin Whyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moncrieff's back at it again with a captivating festive murder mystery. Fantastic!

[Gregor Fleming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly Enjoyable posh tosh

[Lucija Tarkuš · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ not gonna lie it felt quite boring and I didn’t care for characters at all. Also quite predictable.

[Sheila Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good setting off characters. Good description. Good ending.

[Jay Urquhart-pettifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good