Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alexandra Benedict for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Christmas Murder Game coming out October 4, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lily Armitage returns to Endgame House after receiving a mysterious letter from her aunt. Her aunt wants her to take part in the annual tradition called the Christmas Game. She never intended to return to the grand family home. Her mother died there twenty-one Christmases ago.

All Lily has to do is solve 12 clues to find 12 keys. They can’t leave the house or use their phones to solve the clues. The prize is the deed to the manor house. She doesn’t want the house, but the clues will also reveal who really killed Lily’s mother. Lily just has to outsmart her estranged cousins who have their own reasons for desiring the house. It soon becomes apparent that not everyone is playing fairly.

Trapped in the house during a snowstorm, the game turns deadly when cousins end up dead. Can Lily survive and claim the inheritance or will she be next in the deadly Christmas Game?

Overall, I really loved this story! It felt like the movie Knives Out. It was really fun. I think the murder mystery aspect set during the 12 days of Christmas was fun. I really enjoyed the games within the game. I think that makes it more fun for the readers. I think things got a little muddled towards the end. It had felt like a slow burn and then things progressed a lot quicker, so it felt slightly rushed. I did really like the ending, but there were a couple things that didn’t make sense to me. It felt a little wrapped up too nicely. But I will definitely check out more books by this author.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys family drama murder mysteries!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a great early holiday treat. The Christmas Murder Game is a locked room mystery set at Endgame House during a snowstorm which traps all of the family indoors. Phone lines down, cell phones removed. All of the cousins are gathered for the twelve days of Christmas. If one can solve the puzzle, find the twelve keys and, of course, survive, the winner will get both Endgame House and the surrounding property.
Lily Armitage hasn't set foot in the family home she knew as a child since her mother was found dead in the maze. It was ruled a suicide but Lilly's late aunt leaves her with a further incentive to attend the 'festivities'. Besides the deed to Endgame Lilly is assured that she will learn who killed her mother. Lilly has firmly avoided endgame but this makes her change her mind. For Lilly solving a puzzle plus naming a killer is one thing but it isn't long before she is faced with very fresh killings. Somebody really wants to get the grand prize at any price.
This mystery has it all - great setting, locked room, puzzles on top of puzzles, and family secrets. I won't say anymore for fear of committing spoilers.
My thanks to the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars..... This book feels like it was written by two different authors. The first half of this book was a solid 4 out of 5 stars, but the 2nd half of this book is a measly 2 stars.

The book transitioned from being a serious murdery mystery / thriller novel to a cheesy YA romance book in a blink of an eye.

As far as the mystery murder goes, the location (Endgame Manor) is on point but the characters are are hit or miss. Character development started well, but falls apart as the story goes on.

So many unexplained events / conversations / thoughts are simply glossed over for the sake of convenience and/or moving along the story.

I'll keep looking for the perfect Christmas Murder Mystery.

English manor house murder + Christmas + locked room (well, snowed in) + references to classic mysteries, plus clues in sonnets, plus meta game anagrams... this book hits all of my sweet spots. Kudos to Alexandra Benedict for a great story!

Lily’s aunt has written in her will that Lily and her cousins have to spend Christmas together and take part in a twelve-day-competition. The winner gets to inherit the family manor. The family game gets serious when one of the cousins is murdered…

The idea of the book is fun: the reader gets to read the clues to the game and can try to resolve them. However, for me the plot of the book was too complicated: there’s the Christmas game, Lily’s cousin’s murder and Lily has reason to believe that her mother was murdered as well. And all this is just the beginning…. I would have enjoyed a bit simpler plot more.

Thank you Netgalley for a chance to review this book.

Great concept of a book with murder at Christmas time what can't get better. Great writing. This reminded me of midsummer murder TV show and like Holly Jackson writing.

What a fun mystery to read! I enjoyed this mystery and trying to figure out whodunit.

Lily Armitage is returning to Endgame, her families’ house, for her Aunt’s final Christmas game. Lily lived at Endgame until her mother passed away, so while she is there she is battling and working through her grief and memories of her mother and her death. Side note, I love the name of house and how the house itself is another character within the story. Every year her Aunt would do a Christmas game, and this year is the final game. The prize is the deed to Endgame. So Lily has joined her cousins and their spouses to play this final time at her aunt’s request. This final game is full of murder, mysteries, secrets, and revelations,

It was fun watching how Lily’s mind worked out the clues and trying the figure out the mystery for myself. I loved how Alexandra Benedict integrated her own anagram game into the story for us, the reader, to play while reading the book. I love locked room mysteries like this and I love snowed in locked room mysteries. I love to cozy up and read them.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good whodunit.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandra Benedict, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Trying to solve the clues and understand what happened to both her aunt and her mother, Lily heads back to Endgame for the annual Christmas family games. What she finds there is family she hasn't seen in years and a bigger mystery than she thought possible. The puzzles in this mystery were extremely well thought out, and I'm incredibly impressed at the depth of them. This book took me back to reading The Westing Game as a sixth grader trying to figure out my first mystery. It was a lot of fun, and a mystery set at Christmas was something I'd never read before, especially a murder mystery. I would absolutely recommend this to people looking for their next holiday themed book with a twist!

First, I want to start off by saying how fun and unique this book was. This was a book of puzzles and clues with puzzles for the reader to solve within the book aside from the ones in the story line. Then, when it was combined with the storyline, this was a book, that was made for me.

Unfortunately, it was as gripping as I wanted it to be but it was still a book that kept my interest and intrigued to know the ending. Normally a large number of characters doesn’t bother me but it seemed like a lot, especially in the beginning.

I felt the story was a bit slow the first half of the book but as the story progressed past that point, the pace quickened and it’s when it became more interesting. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book but it didn’t make me want to ignore household chores.

Classic snowed in murder mystery, with the twist of Christmastime and a game with lots of puzzles to solve. I think if I enjoyed word puzzles more I would have enjoyed the book more. It was very creative, but hard to follow for me with the puzzles since I'm just not great at them. Because of that, it kind of took away from the story for me. But to a puzzle lover, I'm sure this would book be fantastic!

Thank you NetGalley for this book!

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

'Endgame has kept our secrets for half a century, now it's time for it, and its secrets, to have a new owner.'

When Lily returns home to her aunt's manor house, she discovers that in order to inherit, she and her estranged cousins must stay together over the Christmas week and take part in a family tradition: the annual treasure hunt.

But as they are drawn deeper into the game, the clues seem to point not to the deeds to the manor house, but to the key to a twenty-year-old mystery: what really happened to Lily's mother?

As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, it becomes apparent that the game has turned deadly and that Lily is fighting for more than just an inheritance: she is now fighting for her life. Does she have what it takes to survive?

12 clues, 12 keys and 12 days of Christmas for the heirs of Endgame House to find their inheritance, but how many will die before Twelfth Night? (Goodreads synopsis)

This is Alexandra Benedict’s debut novel, and I was intrigued by it. The mystery and the plot are almost an ode to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Obviously, there is differences, but the undertone is still very present. One similarity was in Christie’s novel, we follow Vera’s thoughts as she reflects on the death of the little boy Cyril. Benedict has us follow Lily and her thoughts/grief about her mother.

I also found myself wanting to know why the inheritance was set up as a “Christmas Game.” From what I understood, Lily’s mother, aunts, and uncle all had to play at their time, too. But, and I could have missed it, I didn’t see any explanation as to why this was set up that way. It would have saved some confusion if maybe this “history” had been stressed, and not “the maze was where my mum died.”

Because I compared this to Agatha Christie, I had guessed some of the plot. However, I did not solve any of the clues to the Christmas Game, and found them to be very interesting and unique.

Benedict also added her own “christmas games” to the novel. I admit that I did not look for any of these, because I found them to be distracting from the novel itself. I might, however, re-read this later, and at that time I will focus on those games.

Overall I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

The Christmas Murder Game is a very entertaining mystery where the remaining members of a family are locked in a house to solve the mystery. This is a family that has played and solved games involving clues. So, it comes as no surprise when the remaining elder of the family sends out letters to all that they if they want to win the inheritance, they need to show up on Christmas Eve when they will be locked in the house, given a riddle/clue to solve and then find the key. There will be 12 keys, for the twelve days of Christmas. But there is a secret room and it must be found by 4pm on the twelfth day of Christmas.

For Lily, the inheritance is of no interest, but in her letter from her beloved aunt, it seems the mystery of Lily's mother's death may be found, and she should plan on participating. The rest of her family have other greedy ideas, and the bodies start to pile up as the killer is determined to use Lily for her ability to unravel the clues so they can be the winner and take all.

This was a fun Christmas read, not the typical holiday story. I have to say I was able to see some of the hidden clues but couldn't put them in context of where to find the keys. I did suspect who the killer was but was shocked at the twist that I did not see coming.

Great premise of a family house party where they solve puzzles to win the house. However the reality is a really dull predictable read that was too long with a really obvious killer far too early in the story. The anagrams made it sound complicated but really you had no time to think about these without interrupting the read. All in all not great. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

There is a saying that you can't go home and Lily Armitage doesn't want to. Endgame House holds bad memories for her; memories she'd rather not revisit. But her aunt Lillian has died and Lily and her cousins are back at Endgame for one last Christmas games revelry. They are to stay at the house, without cell phones, for the entirety of the Christmas season. Every day, one clue will be released leading the cousins to a key. One of the twelve keys they find will unlock the door of a secret room. Whoever has that key on the last day will inherit the house. Of course, they have to survive in order to win. Not all of them will.
This is an intriguing story and there are two games woven into the mystery. There was a lot going on in this story but that left some gaps that I would have liked to have had filled in.

Three and a half stars
This book come out October 4, 2022
ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Lily's aunt and adopted mother, Liliana, has died. Lily and her four cousins and their two spouses must play a game to win her luscious country estate/hotel. A snowstorm traps everyone inside the mansion with no way to communicate with the outside world. Twelve days of puzzles. Twelve days of clues. Plus, plenty of murders along the way. Who is willing to do anything to win The Christmas Murder Game?

Each day there is a new puzzle. Each puzzle gives hints as to where keys to a secret room containing the property’s title are hidden. Most of the puzzles are anagrams. While some are solvable by the reader, many are not. Fortunately, there are larger puzzles to solve for both Lily and the reader. Was Lily’s mother’s death a decade ago really a suicide? Was Liliana’s recent death just a fatal asthma attack or something more sinister? What really happened to Lily's Uncle Edward? And, of course, who is killing everyone at the Christmas party?

I absolutely adore the premise of this book. However, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The characters feel like more like stereotypes than genuine people that the reader should care about. The happy lesbian couple, the pun-filled middle-aged dad, the nagging wife, and the selfish witch are all present and accounted for. Even Lily’s backstory is only vaguely defined. The daily puzzles seem too difficult to be a fun game for the reader. However, guessing who the perpetrator of the four larger puzzles was much too easy. Lily also had me screaming mentally at her stupidity. Running after a murderer with no weapon in hand is just dumb, plain and simple.

While The Christmas Murder Game was overall a disappointment, I still admire the idea. Hopefully, a production company will purchase it, edit it, and make it into a great movie someday. 3 stars.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

A fun puzzle mystery to get you in the holiday mood.

This is my first experience with Ms Benedict’s writing. And while many reviewers find her predictable and trite, I found the characters and plot warmly familiar in their predictability. It was like reading a book that seems familiar, but not boring because of it.

Benedict creates a charming lead character in Lily, one you cheer on, knowing what the outcome will be. I especially liked the modernness of love in all its forms throughout the novel.

For a quick and enjoyable read, I would recommend this novel to get you into the spirit of giving.

The premise is, a murderous Christmas game involving family secrets and riddles, but the execution wasn't up to scratch. The plot is predictable, the characters flat and one-dimensional, and the writing just isn't good. I did guess most of what the ending would contain and did find the trajectory a little predictable in places, but this did not detract from the fun I had whilst reading it, nor did I feel let down by all the conclusion consisted of.

Lily is invited to the Endgame, her departed aunt's manor. She goes, reluctantly, to honor her beloved aunt, who raised her after her mother's death, but she hasn't been back there in years. When she arrives, she realizes that in order to inherit, she has to compete with her estranged cousins in a traditional Christmas game by following the clues to find the keys that will reveal the secret room... and what really happened to her mother. She doesn't care if she doesn't inherit, but she does want to find out what happened to her mother...
This was a great mystery, very engaging, I was hooked from page one and then couldn't put it down. It reminds me a lot of Agatha Christie's kind of story, with a fun twist. I loved Mrs. Castle's character. I did guess the big twist very early in the book, but after the big reveal, there are a few more smaller twists that I did not see coming at all. There are characters you will love to hate, although I did find that all the characters are defined by one trait, they were all very unidimensional, I would've liked to see more development and depth, but I was there for the mystery, so it didn't bother me a bunch. I loved the whole concept, it was a super original way to present a whodunnit mystery set at Christmas time, with bodies piling as fast as the snow outside. I loved the games integrated to the story, although I got so into the book that I forgot to play. There are solutions at the end of the book, but I skipped them, because I intend to reread it (bummers... not!) to play them. I definitely recommend!
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The premise for this book intrigued me to the extent that I went back to it and requested it after initially passing it by. I'm glad I read it for many reasons, and I thought it was going to be a real gem for the first few clues but, unfortunately, it wandered off into too much introspection regarding the main character's mother. Some was necessary to explain why Lily was living such a closed-up existence, but finally it just got much too repetitious. Plus, I simply could not stop making comparisons to Agatha Christie's wonderful And Then There Were None.

Lily has received a letter from her Aunt Liliana after her death. She has set up a game at Endgame House that will result in whoever solves the most mysteries becoming the owner of the property. Twelve days of solving mysteries, relatives who seriously don't get along, an epic Yorkshire snowstorm and death. Aunt Liliana said for Lily to not trust anybody at all but that was almost impossible to do during this awful time of isolation.

Well, it was clear to me who the murderer was. Early on! Much too early on. The clues were interesting at first but then began to feel like busy work for the game players. Too much establishing an alibi for everybody and then knocking down all the alibis. Motives built up and then knocked down. I had hoped after about six or seven clues that there would be some passage of time with those clues summarized for the reader. No. Every one of them was acted out no matter how unimportant it seemed to be. My solution was right, my guesses about the construction of the clues was right. It's not much fun when it's that easy to figure out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-galley of this novel.

I am a sucker for a country house Christmas murder mystery. Lily and her cousins have come to Endhouse for the annual Christmas game, but this time the grand prize is Endhouse itself. But Lily is there to find out the truth about what happened to her mom years ago.

The Christmas Murder is a fun book. The riddles are given in the form of sonnets and they are rather clever. Of course, the group is snowed in and when the first person is killed, they can’t reach the police by phone (the lines are down), by care (there is a tree down across the driveway), or by cellphone (they were confiscated at the beginning of the game so no one could cheat). It’s a claustrophobic atmosphere where you can’t trust anyone.

Yes, the premise is a bit unrealistic and the killer obvious, but it kept me entertained throughout. It would make a good seasonal read.