Bah Bloody Humbug by Jo Middleton

 

Christmas is fast approaching, and Anna Johnson wants nothing to do with it after the previous two years. The less said about finding dead bodies, the better. All she needs to do is get through the school's 'Seasonal Community Gathering' that she's been roped into helping with. Surely nothing can go wrong at a primary school?

I have read and enjoyed the previous two books in the Christmas Murder Mysteries series by Jo Middleton, but I think the latest one, Bah Bloody Humbug, has to be the best. Don't worry if you haven't read the previous books, as this works well as a standalone.

Anna is determined that this Christmas is going to be better than the previous two. To help things along, she's eschewing most seasonal traditions; no tree, no decorations, and certainly no turkey dinner. The family is going to have to make do with poke bowls instead. It's hilarious that Anna thinks all her bad luck is connected to festive traditions.

This year it's just the immediate family, but before she can settle down to quiet family time, Anna has to help set-up and run the school Christmas Fair that is run by the PTA. Centring the story around members of the PTA makes for comedy gold. This is less about the playground mafia that is frequently envisaged when a school PTA is involved and more about some of the weird characters that make up everyday life.

It isn't long before a body is found. Initially, it's considered a tragic accident, but as Anna and her best friend, Jen, dig deeper, they begin to suspect a murder has occurred. Jen has made appearances in the previous books, but her greater role this time around was hilarious. I found her very easy to visualise, particularly her flirty nature.

Basically a locked room mystery, with blackmail at its heart, we see Anna and Jen run through the gamut of assumptions, red herrings, and ridiculous accusations, none of which lead to the identity of the killer. It is only by process of elimination and a slapstick chase that they eventually find the killer.

Bah Bloody Humbug by Jo Middleton will be published on 22nd October 2026 in paperback, ebook, and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a review copy.

Author Details

Jo Middleton is a writer, mum of two grown up children and slave to a golden retriever and three cats, named after fictional detectives. Jo published her first novel, Playgroups and Prosecco, in 2019 and has since gone on to work with her good friend Gill Sims, hosting her 2022 theatre tour and co-hosting a podcast, It’s Five O’clock Somewhere. Happy Bloody Christmas was her first crime novel and is an amalgamation of everything she loves best - murder at Christmas, what's not to love?

Jo lives in Somerset and when she’s not working or tending to a pet she loves reading murder mysteries, binge-watching dating reality TV shows and being dragged around the countryside by her disrespectful dog Mako.