"The Christmas Murder Game" by: Alexandra Benedict was a fun and throilling holiday read. I greatly enjoyed the premise of this story and the mystery that engulfed nearly every page. The idea of having to travel to a place you have sworn off as part of the dying wish of someone you loved in their life was a relatable introduction to our MC and her journey through "The Christmas Murder Game." I greatly enjoyed the characters in this story and this is a book I could absolutely find myself going back and re-reading.

Locked door mysteries are all the rage lately and I'm here for it! I live for the suspense and thrills of following characters as they slowly realize that they're in a bad situation with no way out. This story combined the well-loved locked room trope with another of my favorite tropes, a "Clue" like game. Add in the fact that it takes place in a creepy old house at Christmas time and it seems like the perfect book for me.

Unfortunately, something about the execution of the story left me a little bit unsatisfied. The book was a lot of fun but just didn't grab me like I hoped that it would. I do appreciate that there are more Christmas books being released for us "anti-romance" readers. Overall, this was a decent story but not as good as I had hoped.

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have mixed feelings on this one. Sometimes, it was really fun, and at other times, it was really, really silly. Based on the small amount of Agatha Christie that I have read, I do highly recommend <i>The Christmas Murder Game</i> to fans of hers. If that's you, I think you'll really like it. It's also a very festive read. Those things aside, however, I would say you can go ahead and skip this one.

2 stars!

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book about 40% through. I thought this would be a fun premise, but overall it was just boring.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

“This house is sick!”

Lily’s family has a tradition at Christmas. They play a game where they have clues they must solve in order to receive their gifts. The one that figures out where the gifts are receives an extra gift. Lily hasn’t been back to her family home for several years. The only reason she’s back this Christmas is to find out what really happened to her mother…She doesn’t really intend to participate in the family game. Especially when the prize is the house that she desperately wants to be rid of. But when people start dying, she needs to solve these puzzles and figure out who is killing her family members before she’s next.

This book has a slight Agatha Christie feel to it. I liked all the puzzles in the book. And that there were puzzles within the puzzle in order for lily to find out what happened to her mother. I felt like it had a slow start to it and it seemed to take awhile to get to the real meat of the book. But I did enjoy it. I will read more from this author in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Happy to include this title in “Cosy Reads for Christmas,” a cozies-themed gift list as part of the holiday books package in Zoomer magazine’s Zed Books section.

Isolated setting, snowy holiday and family secrets are wrapped up nicely in this Christmas telling of a family gathering during the holidays. Upon her Aunts death, Lilly and her family must return to their family’s estate to play the traditional Christmas game. The prize is ownership of the estate but for Lilly it will bring closure to a family secret. I enjoyed the book, settings and characters. The only element of the story that I lost interest in where the sonnets that were given as clues , they could have been somewhat shorter in length. Thanks to Netgalley for this early release.

Lily Armitage must return to house where her mother died and to put the clues to the game together to solve her mother's and aunts murder.

The beginning of the book was alittle slow but once Lily got to Endgame House the pace really picked up. I enjoyed this book alot it had the feel of And Then There Were None.

I thought the idea of solving riddles to win the inheritance as well as having the clues to her mother's murderer intertwined in the riddles was quite clever and intriguing. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you Netgallery and Poision Pen Press fir the ARC

This was a pretty good mystery. I loved all of the riddles and the fact that it was almost a mystery within a mystery. I found the ending was slightly predictable and I could guess fairly early on how things were going to turn out. Overall I enjoyed the book though and I would recommend it!

A cute little Christmas murder mystery? Sign me up. This book did not disappoint, and I’m sort of shocked that others are hyping this book up because it does deserve some hype. If you are looking for a Christmas storyline/murder/mystery.. look no further.

This book had a super interesting premise and was such a unique concept and I truly wanted to enjoy it as I love Christmas and love murder mysteries. The writing style seemed a bit amateur and read like a casual verbal conversation, which I found difficult to get into.

I received an advanced reader copy of the Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict in exchange for an honest review.

The Christmas Murder Game is a murder mystery that checks off a lot of the most popular trope boxes. It’s got a cozy vibe, set in winter, a countryside mansion, old money, closed-circle, family secrets. There is plenty in this book for people to love.

I felt this book was an enjoyable and straightforward mystery. I did get confused occasionally, but fortunately the book comes with a family tree to keep track of everybody. I wouldn’t say it’s extraordinary, but I don’t have anything to criticize it for either. Benedict knows the genre well and delivered a solid story.

The Christmas Murder Game also comes with a game within a game, with various words and phrases hidden throughout as anagrams. Personally, I didn’t participate in this game, because that wasn’t the kind of reading experience I was interested in. I would have gotten too focused on finding the scrambled words to pay attention to the plot. But that’s just me. If you’re into anagrams and world puzzles then I’m sure you would enjoy this element.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader copy.

Things I liked about this book:
- The setting
- The classic British country house style mystery
- queer representation
- puzzles in puzzles

Things I did not like about this book:
- Flat characters
- Predictable ending and "twists" along the way
- not enough Christmas
- incest !

I held off on this eARC because I wanted it specifically for the holiday season. I'm glad that I did this because it was a fun read for the Christmas season. Essentially, the story is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie style, closed circle mystery. For those who are intrigued by these sorts of mystery stories and puzzles as well, this book is a great one. There are anagrams and other fun pieces of the mystery to engage the reader. The characters have all returned to the family manor for a tradition of the twelve days of Christmas, with a new puzzle daily. These are often based on classic writings, such as poems or other works of literature. In addition to the literature aspect, the protagonist also was able to apply her knowledge of the family member who designed the puzzles to devise the answers. Some of the intrigue is within the puzzles themselves and also the interaction between the family and deciding if anyone can trust anyone else.
If you are looking for a cozy mystery that is holiday themed (loosely), this is a good choice.
#TheChristmasMurderGame #NetGalley #PoisonedPenPress

I was excited to read The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict based on recommendations from others and it sounded like a perfect cozy holiday read. This book is perfect for readers who love a closed room mystery, festive reads, and puzzles to solve. For those of you who enjoy word puzzles, the anagrams in this book are plentiful as are the metaphors. I put this book down at one point; which is not something I usually do, however, found upon picking it back up and finishing, that I not only got fully engaged in the story, but rather enjoyed the story in the end. This book takes place over the Christmas holidays following the death of a family member who was a fan of riddle games and a game is devised with the winner being awarded the keys to inherit the family estate Endgame. This story follows Lily and her cousins, who as it turns out, all enjoy a good riddle to solve. Lily isn’t interested in winning the house, but finally learning the truth about the death of her Mother. With a winter storm trapping the family from any hope of leaving, and the rules stipulating no cell phones, the family decides to play the game. Each day for 12 days a new “clue” riddle must be solved to earn a key. Everyone has their own agenda, the trouble is, cousins start to die and the murderer is clearly a member of the family. Everyone is a suspect, and no one is safe. Who will survive to inherit the house, and will Lily ever find out the truth? This book contains additional puzzles for the reader to solve. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you love locked room mysteries? Add in a surprise blizzard, a murderer on the premise, and a fun seasonal vibe, and we’ve got a winner with The Christmas Murder Game!

Benedict has created a fun game that the Armitage family plays filled with riddles that this time around lead to keys, which will eventually grant the winner the deed of Endgame House. The puzzles are so well crafted and I tried my best to look for clues before the characters got the answers, but I was consistently stumped.

On top of a great premise, Benedict has created a fantastic setting with a huge house tucked away in the middle of nowhere. The house itself is filled with nostalgia for our cast of characters and starts to take a role of its own as the story progresses. And while we’re talking about the characters…yeah, they’re all suspicious at some point. Lily, our main character, while the most innocent, also has some secrets she’s hiding. Rooting for her to win was so much fun!

If you’re looking for a great seasonal read that will sweep you away into a slow burn mystery, this is definitely one I recommend checking out!

I thought this was a very fun mystery! It had a lot of things I liked: close proximity, riddles, hidden pasts, secret places. It was really well done. I didn’t do any of the games that the author placed throughout for the reader to do, because I don’t have an eye for those types of things, but loved the idea of it all! Very creative.

This book intrigued me as a holiday read because it was different from the average rom-com feel good holiday books we usually see. Overall it was an enjoyable change of pace however it was lacking in a few areas. Somewhat predictable. Slow to start but the second half picked up. Would have benefited from greater character development but overall I would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Well, this started out very interesting, but got more confusing as time went on. I really had a hard time keeping different characters straight, and also what their motives were behind their actions. I thought this had so much promise, but just fell flat for me by the middle.

I got this book from netgally and the description made me so excited to read it. However it just didn't really hit the mark for me. It was a good story but I figured it out quickly. Yes there were still some twist here or there that were surprising but nothing was like "wow" to me. I didn't really like the clues. It was not very interactive like I was hoping. I just had such high hopes for this book.