The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year (2024) blends crime, suspense, and an enemies-to-lovers plotline to create a holiday whodunit with a happy ending. Ally Carter (a pen name of author Sarah Leigh Fogleman) is a New York Times bestselling author of action-adventure stories for middle-grade and adult readers. She is best known for the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year follows crime writer Maggie Chase as she attends a Christmas celebration at the home of her favorite writer and “biggest fan,” Eleanor Ashley. She is disappointed to learn that her professional rival, Ethan Wyatt, is also in attendance, but when Eleanor goes missing from her locked study, Maggie and Ethan must team up to discover who has been trying to murder the famous author. Maggie’s past experiences with her gaslighting ex-husband threaten to undermine her developing relationship with Ethan, and they quickly learn that appearances can be deceiving.

This guide refers to the Avon Paperback Edition published in 2025.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of agism and illness.

Plot Summary

On Christmas Day, Police Inspector Patel is questioning authors Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt.

The narrative then shifts to one week before the Christmas holiday. At the Killhaven Books Christmas party, Maggie learns that she has been invited to celebrate Christmas in England with her “biggest fan,” the writer Eleanor Ashley. She doesn’t want to stay home and think about her deceased parents or her ex-husband (Colin) and ex-best friend (Emily) being together, so she accepts the invitation. This will be Maggie’s first Christmas since her divorce. At the Killhaven Books party, Maggie overhears a conversation between her professional rival, Ethan Wyatt, and another man. She is hurt by Ethan’s response to the news that Colin has left her, and she forlornly wishes that she were more like Eleanor Ashley, who is her favorite author.

Three days later, Maggie boards a private jet to England to attend Eleanor’s party, but when she sees that Ethan is also there, she regrets her decision to attend. She suggests that the two of them set aside their personal “issues” for now, and Ethan seems confused. When he changes shirts, Maggie spots a long scar on his back.

A driver named James takes her and Ethan to Mistletoe Manor, the home of Eleanor Ashley. Eleanor welcomes them and introduces her niece, Cece. When James brings Eleanor the mail, Maggie notes a blue envelope that looks like a medical bill. Cece accidentally reveals that Eleanor is writing her 100th book. Suddenly, the rest of the guests arrive just ahead of a snowstorm.

That night, Maggie and Ethan meet Eleanor’s nephew Rupert and his wife Kitty. They also meet Dr. Charles, the snobby Duke and Duchess of Stratford; Freddy Banes, a lawyer from the firm that represents Eleanor; and Sir Jasper Rhodes, another mystery writer. Eleanor explains that Maggie, Ethan, and Sir Jasper are her guests, but she doesn’t know Dr. Charles. Rupert “reminds” Eleanor that she invited him as a friend of Kitty’s. After dinner, Eleanor excuses herself to write. That night, Ethan and Maggie hear Cece banging on Eleanor’s door. She has brought some of Eleanor’s favorite tea, but Eleanor only turns up her music. Cece leaves the tray.

The narrative reveals that one year ago, Maggie learned that her recent novel was a popular book club finalist. At that some time, she discovered Emily and Colin’s affair.

Now, as a blizzard engulfs the manor, Cece reports Eleanor missing. Everyone rushes to Eleanor’s office, but Eleanor isn’t there, and the door was locked from the inside. They split up to search for her. When Ethan starts the record on the player, Maggie recognizes the song from one of Eleanor’s books. She pulls a copy from the library shelf and finds mistletoe inside, then rereads the novel’s epigraph and concludes that Eleanor is testing them.

Maggie sees a maze outside, just like one from Eleanor’s books. Ethan follows her to the maze, bringing her Eleanor’s coat and hat. In the maze, when Maggie recalls learning that the book club chose Ethan’s book over hers, she resentfully tells him that she overheard his comment about Colin leaving her. Suddenly, they hear a series of gunshots, and Ethan protects her.

They get back to the house just as Cece finds Sir Jasper unconscious on the study floor. Kitty and Dr. Charles tend to him. Maggie suspects that he has been poisoned, so she tells James to bring activated charcoal. An inspector named William Dobson suddenly arrives, demanding answers. Maggie believes that the would-be murderer mistook her for Eleanor in the maze, but Dobson argues that only Maggie and Ethan have motive to kill Eleanor, who is his old friend.

Maggie’s knowledge saves Sir Jasper’s life. That night, Ethan sleeps in Maggie’s room and promises to keep her safe. He confesses that he used to work for the Secret Service. Maggie admits to taking and reading Eleanor’s notebooks on her 100th novel. Maggie and Ethan’s conversation reveals that five years ago, they met each other for the first time when they got stuck in an elevator together. Maggie panicked, and Ethan calmed her; when they reached their floor, he observed Colin criticizing her. Maggie did not recognize Ethan from this earlier encounter because his physical appearance was very different at that time.

Now, James tells them that Eleanor was planning to change her will, but Freddy will neither confirm nor deny this. They question the duke and duchess, and upon finding the couple searching for Eleanor’s safe, Ethan guesses that they know about the will. Kitty mentions that Rupert just sorted out Eleanor’s finances, and Maggie and Ethan conclude that Eleanor caught him stealing. They follow him and overhear him talking to Dr. Charles, whom Rupert invited so that the doctor could falsely declare Eleanor unfit to manage her affairs.

Ethan finds a secret passage behind a wall panel decorated with mistletoe. He leads the way through the dark, reminding Maggie of how they met in the elevator. She asks about his scar, and he tells her that several winters ago, he saw a car that had slid off the road, so he pulled over to check on the driver. When the snowy cliff shifted, he fell. As a result of his injuries, he had to undergo extensive physical therapy, and he also had to overcome an alcohol addiction.

Maggie reflects that she feels safe with Ethan. He urges her to trust herself more. They climb up a ladder into the greenhouse, which was destroyed in a fire a few weeks ago. Ethan now theorizes that someone set the fire and deliberately and blocked the door, locking Eleanor inside; without the secret passage, she would have been killed in this earlier attempt on her life.

Maggie realizes that someone has been trying to kill Eleanor for weeks, so they go back to the house and start asking questions. In the library, they reveal that almost all of the guests have motive to kill Eleanor. Victoria accuses Cece of vying for an inheritance, though Cece claims to be the daughter of Eleanor’s brother. The narrative reveals that Freddy’s firm did the DNA testing that proved Cece and Eleanor’s kinship. Suddenly, the power goes out.

Later, someone ransacks Maggie’s bedroom and takes Eleanor’s notebooks. Maggie says the novel is about a woman who disappears because someone is trying to kill her; however, she could not find the final notebook to know how the story ends.

Ethan’s blue eyes remind Maggie of the envelope that Eleanor received earlier, so they rush to Eleanor’s study. They don’t find the envelope, but Maggie notices a tiny camera. Ethan goes to the kitchen to get some food, and Maggie remembers that her laptop has battery power. She plugs the camera in and watches the recording, which shows Eleanor taking the tea tray from Ethan. Maggie wonders if Ethan was the one to poison the tea. Suddenly, someone hits her over the head.

Ethan to find Maggie gone. He sees the laptop and panics, realizing that she must think him guilty of foul play. He is also deeply worried about her safety.

Maggie wakes up in the greenhouse with her hands tied. Ethan looks out a window, sees her flashlight’s beam, and rushes to rescue her. Someone sets fire to the greenhouse again, and Ethan and Maggie escape into the tunnel. When they emerge in a cottage, Ethan confesses that he loves her. Following another clue, they run to the library, where Maggie finds several circled numbers in another of Eleanor’s books. It’s a combination. Another clue leads them to locate Eleanor’s safe under a rug on the floor.

In the morning, Maggie and Ethan address the guests, explaining that Eleanor left a series of clues. A manila folder from the safe contains bank statements proving that Rupert stole $2.6 million from Eleanor. Next, they say the duke and duchess became desperate when Eleanor cut them off financially. They name Cece as a fraud and Freddy as her “accomplice”; he was the one who faked the DNA test, but Eleanor had another test done, confirming that she and Cece are not related.

Maggie explains that the would-be killer had to have access to Eleanor’s home because they poisoned Eleanor’s tea. She pulls the final notebook from the box, and reveals that Eleanor’s 100th novel is a nonfiction story about a young woman and a powerful man who beat her and left her to die 40 years ago. The girl knew that no one would believe her because Inspector Dobson was her attacker. At the time, Dobson asked for Eleanor’s help in solving the crime in order to convey the sense that he had nothing to do with it. He thought he’d gotten away with murder, but Eleanor secretly helped the girl leave the country. (During the recent Christmas gathering, Dobson used the cottage; he was the shooter who mistook Maggie for Eleanor in the maze.) Now, as Maggie explains these things, Dobson points his gun at her.

Dobson drags Maggie toward the garage, but Ethan appears, holding a rifle. Dobson knows that Ethan can’t make the shot, and he makes Ethan drop the gun. Maggie pulls a knitting needle from her sleeve, stabbing Dobson in the thigh. Just then, a helicopter arrives.

The narrative shifts back to the present-day interrogation. Inspector Patel says that Dobson will stand trial. Multiple law enforcement agencies got a call that morning that a crime was taking place at Eleanor’s home; the implication is that Eleanor was the one to make the call.

Maggie and Ethan look for a secret passage in Eleanor’s study and find that Eleanor left gifts for them. Ethan’s gift includes a note that Eleanor wrote, saying that she knew Ethan would protect Maggie. Maggie’s gifts are an old thimble, a silk glove, and a 1930s romance novel: new clues.

A news article summarizes the events at Mistletoe Manor and reviews the speculation about Eleanor. The writer surmises that Eleanor will never return to her home.

One year later, Ethan and Maggie go to Greece, where they find Eleanor and James, but Eleanor still won’t reveal how she escaped the study.