This novel has a fun premise, great for fans of murder mysteries who still want to read seasonally. The plot manages to be both convoluted and predictable, but I enjoyed it. What needed work was the character development. Even in murder mysteries, I need characters to be more than stereotypes. With more nuanced characters, this book would have worked so much better.

There's always a danger with books like this, that they try to be too clever. I think that The Christmas Murder Game just manages to balance on the right side of being full of clues and clever little hints without being too clever.
This book is very much a puzzle-type mystery. Yes, there's murder and suspense, but really it's hard to take that part of the book seriously. The deaths of various people are all part of the game for the author (if not the other characters who populate the story). You could read this book as an exercise in solving the clues, finding the anagrams and the other little hints and titbits that the author has hidden, or you could read it as a classic large house whodunit. I didn't try to solve the anagrams, although I did manage to spot some of the other Christmas Mystery book titles that were scattered through the pages. I did know who was behind it all, or at least behind the modern mystery before the big reveal. If I'm honest, that part of the story was a little stretched, but I think that if you take this as a puzzle book, rather than a thriller, then it worked well.
Overall, this was a gripping read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. But then, I'm a fan of golden age mystery books and they are what this was a homage to.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

What a wonderful true Christmas mystery! I love that fact that you have to look for clues in each chapters. Having two games in the story makes it even more fun to read. I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in a long time as I have with this one. It’s a beautiful surprise gift for someone to receive for Christmas. It’s the gift within another gift. Highly recommend to read and to give!

An unusual mystery book, The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict has twelve anagrams in each chapter to decode, a classic fiction crime title. Lily hasn’t returned to the Endgame mansion she happily grew up in since her mother’s apparent suicide. With her Aunt Lillian’s death, Lilly is instructed to return, along with all her cousins, for twelve days of a Christmas hunt, with the winner inheriting the Endgame property. Lilly has the additional incentive as she will also discover the truth of her mother’s death. So, a classic English murder mystery unfolds in snowy yuletide, with numerous family members and tensions that could end up being deadly. Tensions mount as they are snowed in, cut off from help and the first dead body is found. An enjoyable variation of classic English crime fiction, with a three and a half star rating. With thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

A locked country house mystery with keys that will mean someone inherits it all. Lily's grandmother has died and now she's going back to Endgame for the annul Christmas house party because she not only wants to inherit the house she wants to know what really happened to her mother, who allegedly committed suicide. There's a dysfunctional family (oh those cousins), blizzard, no cell phones, and then......There are also puzzles in the text but I didn't work to solve them (I'm sure others will). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Yes it's reminiscent of Christie and Knives Out but it's got a different vibe.

A locked door Murder mystery plus Christmas and solving puzzles? Yes please! I loved this book.

Lily and the living members of her family return to Endgame House to spend the Twelve Days of Christmas solving clues where the winner will be given the deed to the house. Underlying it is her aunt’s letter telling her that her mother did not commit suicide and that the game would also reveal the murderer.

I thoroughly enjoyed trying to solve the puzzles along with Lily and the glimpses of a traditional,English Christmas.

The book did feel a little bit slow until the mid-point when the clues started coming fast along with multiple murders because someone does not want Lily to inherit the house. I could not put the book down once I passed the mid-point.

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC of this book.

The Christmas Murder Game seems like a traditional country-house mystery except Benedict has actually embedded a puzzle within the text for readers to solve. I must admit I didn't try to solve the word puzzle; I spent my time reading. Lily, who we gather is about 33 years old, and her obnoxious cousins must spend the 12 days of Christmas at the manor estate of Lily's deceased aunt. A riddle that takes the cousins on a scavenger hunt will be given each day. Solve the riddle; get a key. The cousin with the most keys will inherit the estate. The catch is that no one must leave the grounds for any reason during this time and all electronics have been confiscated (and a blizzard is raging). What could go wrong?

While the reader gets a bit of backstory on Lily, the cousins are not fully realized. We do know Lily's mother died at the manor under mysterious circumstances when Lily was a child. She really doesn't want to be back at the manor but hopes to learn what happened to her mother. This book had so much promise, but I thought the first part dragged and the amount of figurative language was astounding. The plot picked up at the half-way point but the villain was obvious, at least to me. Entertaining book but could have been so much more.

This was such a fun campy mystery! It felt like a holiday version of Knives Out meets a modern take on Agatha Christie. I absolutely loved the Christmasy elements- they brought such an atmosphere to the mystery. I also could not predict any of the plot twists. It’s hard to make a “game” thriller work but in this context, it was perfectly executed. This is what I wanted “The Inheritance Games” to be. The plot was constructed beautifully and in a way that kept me entertained. 5/5 stars!

my actual rating 4.5/5 stars.
"Follow the clues. Find the fortune. Solve the Mystery. This
Christmas is to die for. Let the game begin. . .” This was a fun murder mystery! The plot captured my attention, but it was the quality of the writing entirely captivated it. Lily is the main character who’s told to go to Endgame House which she’s set to inherit. I was immediately invested in guessing the answers to the riddles, anagrams, and clues that was featured throughout this book that they had to solve, as well as discovering who, among this large cast, could be trusted. Answers to both were definitely fought for. Not only that the author gave two games for us to play within the book! Twelve clues on the twelve days of Christmas, and twelve keys are scattered throughout the house for Lily and her relatives to find. The first individual to uncover the secret room will receive the entire house and the land it resides upon, as their own. Lily's prize differs however, as she is playing to discern
which, among all those gathered, are keeping secrets about her mother's death. So who knows what happened?!?

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Alexandra Benedict, and the publisher, Zaffre, for this amazing opportunity. As well as a great read!

Lily Armitage has returned to Endgame House to play the annual Christmas Game against her cousins. But this year they’re playing for more than a chest filled with gifts. Over the Twelve Days of Christmas they will receive twelve clues, leading to twelve keys, only one of which will open a door leading to the ultimate prize…Endgame House. It’s all a game, until a murderer strikes. Now, who will survive until Twelfth Night?

The idea behind The Christmas Murder Game is intriguing. Who doesn’t love a Christmas mystery set in an isolated country home, cut off from the world by a snowstorm, filled with contentious relatives trying to unravel clues within a Christmas game, as one amongst them commits murder? What fun!

This is a book I should have enjoyed. I loved the idea of the book and wanted very much to enjoy it. But, there was very little that I found to like about it. Unfortunately, what could have been a fun take on several Golden Age of Detective Fiction tropes was instead unnecessarily complicated, frustratingly cryptic, and utterly depressing.

Maybe I’m making unfair comparisons (having just read another mystery set at Christmas involving a dysfunctional family), but the characters here are basically cardboard cutouts…caricatures meant to represent stock personalities…all of whom came across as bland, unengaging, and thoroughly unlikeable.

The narrative was written in the present tense, thankfully not first person. It felt jarring, without any rhythm or flow, making it very hard to get into the story. The author also strove to incorporate clues throughout (in the form of symbols, similes, and metaphors) but as there were so many they just became more of a distraction. And as there were forty-three chapters, there was a lot of symbolism to get through. It all became very tiring and really could have benefited from a great deal of paring down.

I was intrigued by the games (The Twelve Days of Anagrams and Title Deeds) within the story just for the reader to solve. It was really a fun idea, but attempting to insert the solutions into the narrative resulted in awkward or, in some cases, unintelligible phrases.

All in all, quite a predictable, yet frustrating, read. As I’m sure you can surmise from the above, this is not one that I can recommend.

Source: ARC made available through NetGalley by Poisoned Pen Press.

"Follow the clues. Find the fortune. Solve the Mystery. This Christmas is to die for. Let the game begin . . ."

The premise of The Christmas Murder Game hooked me from the first time I read it. However, I don't know that this was the most cohesive, well-plotted attempt at an Agatha Christie style murder mystery. The characters fell flat for me, and the plot seemed a bit too far-fetched and scattered at times.

The Christmas Murder Game is set to be published on October 4, 2022. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

This book combined many of my favorite literary themes so I was excited to read it. Lily is lured back to her family home after the death of her grandmother. She is promised a final mysterious game (a family tradition) and answers to the questionable suicide of her mother many years ago. Lily navigates old grudges and strong connections as she works with (or against?) her family to solve her grandmother's riddles and clues. The winner will take ownership of Endgame, the family mansion. I really enjoyed the secluded English setting and the slow unfolding of family drama. However, the plot was complicated and there were lots of confusing twists and turns. I would call this a fun distraction of a story and certainly a quick read. Enjoy it for holiday feeling in a super creepy mystery.

Thank you to Alexandra Benedict, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun murder mystery! I enjoy a good Christmas book and a good mystery so this was an easy read. I like how the game was designed and the different clues that Lily had to solve. This is a twofold mystery as she tries to find keys over twelve days and discover the truth behind her mother’s death. It was woven together with multiple clues in an environment filled with tension, distrust, and murder

I did find the clues to be repetitive in style and predictable to solve toward the end. I found myself suspicious of the right person but I never committed to them so I was never sold on my guess. This is fun and easy read if you are in the mood for something on the devious side this holiday season (or any time of the year)!

I received an arc via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Christmas, word games, AND murder? Sign me up!

Lily is called back to her family home for one last Christmas game to determine who will inherit the house. Family feuds turn sinister and no one can be trusted as everyone works to figure out the clues. Only one can win but who?

Not only were there clues in the game but also additional things for you as the reader to find out that weren’t associated with the sorry. As much as I wanted to find out who was behind everything, I didn’t want the story to end!

Families can have interesting holiday traditions, some may be deadly. Over a decade ago Lily discovered her mother's body at the family manor during the 12 days of Christmas celebrations. She left and swore she would not return. But her the aunt who stepped up and raised her has requested she return for one more Christmas. There will be games and a daily treasure hunt for a key. At the end of the twelve days one person will hold the winning key and inherit the family manor. Lily doesn't want the house and would skip the festivities except her aunt assures her the secret to her mother's death will also be reveled. Lily attends, the family becomes snowbound and the bodies start piling up - very Agatha Christie like. For people who are really into puzzles and such there are puzzles within the book.
This is a review of a copy proved by NetGalley.

"I would kill for this place." For most people this would be said in jest. However, in The Christmas Murder Game this is all too real.
I enjoyed this book and finished it quickly. I enjoy challenges and was able to find all of the titles in the book. Not really good at anagrams but did try. I was able to figure out the villains well before the end. The book was a little slow and confusing at times but this did not detract much from the reading.

The idea was good, the execution not so.

I thought this was an Agatha Christie-esque looked room murder mystery story where the reader could engage with the riddles and try to solve them with the characters, yet the clues in sonnet form only made sense to a few of the characters.

Speaking of the characters, none of them stuck out. They were all very flat characters, even the MC. When the murders start, they seem to brush those off as if dead relatives happen every day in their lives, and kept on looking for clues.

The writing was strange, from typos to the casual use of "obvs" in the prose and weird metaphors to hide Christmas related anagrams. I admit, I started skimming the text at about 30%, when I was certain I knew the culprit.

The book could have benefited from a lot more editing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of "The Christmas Murder Game" by Alexandra Benedict.

Lily is visiting her ancestral home for the first time since her mother was murdered when she was a child. Her aunt and adopted mother has invited her back from beyond the grave for one last mystery game to be played over Christmas. With all of her cousins, friendly and not so, joining her this will be a Christmas full of secrets, mysteries, and even more than Lily could possibly imagine.

This thriller was one of the best ones I have read in quite some time. It was well paced, held lots of drama and suspects, and even as those suspects dwindled I only had hints of who the actual murderer was until the big reveal. The raveling together, in verse no less, of two mysteries, secrets, and a murder suspect was done so well and while I didn't spend the time working out each of the clues myself someone who would like to do so would have a lot of fun searching out the secrets hidden within this book.

5 stars, thoroughly enjoyable and scary enough I didn't want to put it down.

Unfortunately this book did not capture my interest. The idea was okay, but the writing didn't grab me at all. I wish I had liked the book more, but it was very difficult to finish for me because of the writing style.

R E V I E W

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Start date: September 6, 2022
Finish date: September 10, 2022
Pub date: October 4, 2022

▫️locked door mystery 🗝
▫️word puzzles & anagrams 🧩
▫️lovable (and love-to-hate) characters🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♂️
▫️family drama 🏡

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a neat book! I’m not really sure what I was expecting but this surprised me. It was exciting, clever, and very Agatha Christie style in my opinion. Not only did it include puzzles for the characters to solve, each “day” included a hidden anagram for the reader.

If you like locked-door mysteries, word puzzles, decades-old murder mysteries AND current murder mysteries, pick this one up this holiday season. Pub day is coming soon, October 4, 2022.