Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Alexandra Benedict for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Most of my Christmas in July picks this month are romances. I think we all saw that one coming 💀 I wanted to switch things up at least once this month and reading The Christmas Murder Game seemed like a good way to do that while still staying on theme.
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Even though I love mysteries, I haven’t read one in a while. I was excited to jump into this book! Tense family situations, a murder mystery plot, riddles and acrostics and anagrams, oh my! 😱 While this book was a quick and easy read, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked. When the culprit is easy to spot early on, it kind of ruins the suspense. I still stuck around for the big reveal, but it felt like less of a reveal and more of a confirmation. Despite this, I think The Christmas Murder Game was still a fun read! Benedict builds games for the reader into the story itself which keeps you engaged.
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It wasn’t a fit for me, but I’m sure it was a gem for others. If Benedict’s upcoming Christmas mystery, Murder on the Christmas Express, contains the same kind of reader riddles and puzzles, I’d be willing to give it a try. If you’re looking for a simple Christmas mystery to pass the time, The Christmas Murder Game might be for you!

✨ Synopsis: 'Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night?' Lily returns to her Childhood home after her aunt's passing to participate in a game of Christmas riddles designed to give the winner rights to her family home but there's a game within the game. Lily is looking for answers about what really happened to her mother.

Tropes:
🎄Christmas
🎄Complicated family
🎄Who done it
🎄Snowed in
🎄Cat is a hero?
Triggers:
🚨Discussion of Suicide
🚨Murder
🚨Weird family relationships
(not sure how to describe it but made me uncomfy)

✨So this was a lot to process. It was such an interesting premise and I enjoyed the mystery, as well as the twists and turns! I think I just didn't feel connected to the characters or fully understand their dynamics to believe the stakes or relationships between them. And I feel like the twist at the end came about so quickly with no insight into the motivation or why certain characters were connected. So I think the character development just left me wanting more. But I liked the style of writing and the Christmas back drop. Especially the juxtaposition of the holidays and the events that took place.

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict releases October 4th 2022 from
Poisoned Pen Press!

⭐⭐⭐/5

The Christmas Murder Game
Alexandra Benedict
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love the Clue Game vibes this book gives! You never know who you can and can’t trust. This book was a fun read, I loved the game vibe of it so much! If your looking for a mystery to get involved in, to try to figure out what happened this would be the book for you!

I love Christmas and I love mysteries which is essentially what drew me towards this book. It definitely provided a cozy mystery feel and was an easy/entertaining quick read for me.

Synopsis - 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?

What I didn't love was that I felt like the characters fell flat. Actions and responses to things didn't always makes sense to me and I really didn't feel drawn to any of them. I half guessed the ending pretty early so it wasn't as twisty for me as other mystery novels are.

Read if you like....
- Cozy Mystery's
- Quick/Entertaining Reads

I enjoyed it, but didn't love it!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the concept of the book and the fact that it took place during Christmastime. I thought it was really original that you could look for clues while reading, it almost felt like you were looking for the clues alongside Lily. I am looking forward to reading more books from this author. Thanks to NetGalley, Alexandra Benedict and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me an opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Not only is the story and mystery intriguing, but there are a couple puzzle for the reader to try to solve throughout the book. This was a fun and interesting book.

I absolutely love Christmas and I absolutely love mysteries! So I thought I couldn't go wrong with this book, well.. I was right for the most part. This book was a fast-paced who done it with some riddles and puzzles that needed to be solved, my only complaint was I figured out the who done it part of it about halfway through the book but by no means to this room the book for me at all! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a treat to read and figure out! The book contains a fascinating country house family mystery on top of daily puzzles that kept me reading and re-reading.

I really wasn't minding this book - it seemed like a nice cozy mystery where I as the reader wasn't really supposed to figure out the clues on my own. I was fully prepared to give this book a higher rating, but then there was incest and it felt completely unnecessary to the plot or the characters and did not sit well with me. I literally had to keep going back to the family tree that was included at the beginning (yay for this) because I was so confused when it mentioned two characters who I was pretty sure were cousins were having sex. Why?!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I got into reading a lot of mysteries this year snd this one was amazing! Reminded me of Agatha Christie and works like And then there were none. It will definitely keep you guessing.

The Christmas Murder Game is a FANTASTIC debut novel by Alexandra Benedict. This quick paced murder mystery comes out on October 4th, 2022 in the U.S. - just in time for both spooky season, and getting in the mood for the holidays! Thankful to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Christmas Murder Game in exchange for my honest review.

The story starts following Lily as she returns home to Endgame, her aunt's manor house, after her aunt has recently passed away. Her aunt, Liliana's last wish was for Lily and her estranged family members to gather during the holidays at Endgame one last time to play the traditional annual treasure hunt. However, this time the prize isn't a PlayStation but the manor itself.

As they play the game, the clues not only point to who will inherit the house but also seem to hold the key to the mystery of what happened to Lily's mother twenty years before when she tragically died at Endgame house. It becomes clear that Lily is fighting not only for an inheritance she isn't even sure she wants, but as a snowstorm cuts them off from the town - she is fighting for her life. Who in the house wants to make sure she doesn't get Endgame...and why?

I really did love The Christmas Murder Game (TCMG), I would give is somewhere between a 4 and 4.5 star rating, the beginning was a little slow for me, and I didn't fully get sucked in and couldn't put it down until about 2/3's of the way through the book. TCMG reminded me of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, with a Christmas twist. Highly recommend reading this one!

After her mother’s death years ago, Lily has avoided going back to the ancestral home. However, it is unavoidable after the death of her aunt as she and her cousins are to play one last Christmas game. However, this time, players start turning up dead. Lily is also trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her mom at the same time.

I did see part of the whodunnit coming but it was still a pretty enjoyable book. I gave up early on trying to solve the riddles within the book that the author lays out. However, that is an added challenge for anyone wanting to undertake it!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like puzzles and working out cryptic clues this will be a favourite, if you just like a "who done it mystery" this will not disappoint just on the storytelling level. There are many twist and turns with a plot that wraps around a house which is cut off, a challenge set, a group of relatives after the prize, the past to unravel and with bodies to find.
Enjoyed it very much.

Thanks you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the DCR

I received an ARC of, The Christmas Murder Game, by Alexandra Benedict. Family, you got to love them. This is one crazy family, have to solve riddles, to get an inheritance, how far will family go to get theirs?

Lily returns to her family home after many years to participate in the annual Christmas game. This year, the clues have been written by Lily’s recently deceased Aunt, and the prize is the family fortune and home. Lily receives a letter from her aunt telling her that if she solves the clues she will also uncover the truth about her mothers death years ago.

This book is obviously based on the Agatha Christie classic, “And Then There Were None”. However, this author and book don’t measure up to Christie at all.

Here’s why: 1) The plot drags. 2) I figured out who the murderer was about half way through the book 3) The authors writing style includes a very liberal use of clumsy and awkward metaphors

Overall, I would not recommend this book at all, but I would like to thank Netgalley and Poisioned Pen Press for providing me with an eARC so I could check it out.

This was not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the concept. It was an okay read. Not bad, just.not my cup of tea.

This was an Interesting one I didn’t hate it nor actually enjoy it. Loved the concept of the book though! Altogether it was an okay read

This is a fun quick read with likable characters…thanks to Metgalley and the publisher for the electronic copy to review…mystery and mayhem…murder and games…friends…who is next? What will happen? This is a talented author in weaving a great story…enjoy…

Ok, this book had me hooked just by the title. Two of my favorite things are murder mysteries and Christmas. Both of them together in one book? Irresistible! I absolutely loved the beginning. When you first open it open you get a blue print of the Endgame House, which gives off major Clue vibes. The next pages are the family tree to help keep everyone straight. And then. AND THEN! as if two of my favorite things aren’t enough, the author included a couple of games to play while reading. The first are the lyrics to the Twelve Days of Christmas are made into anagrams and sprinkled throughout the corresponding chapters. The second game, she hid the titles of some her her favorite Christmas Mysteries in the book as well. All this and I haven’t even told you about the actual plot yet!

Lily is in her 30s and her Aunt passed away. In her final wishes, she set up a final Endgame (a game traditionally played the Twelve Days of Christmas in their family) with each puzzle leading to a key. Whoever gets the key that opens a secret room in the house will inherit the massive manor and all the land and riches that go with it. Lily has to use her brain to not only unravel those clues to find the keys, but her Aunt was also leaving clues about what really happened to her mom. And then her family starts dying around her. Who can Lily trust?

I loved this book. It was a little slow at the start but quickly picked up pace. I liked that Lily told you how she worked out the clues, otherwise I would have been absolutely lost. I would not have figured out this clues to save my life. But I wasn’t raised in that family, so that’s expected. I found myself rooting for Lily, and I will absolutely be using the phrase “What Would Bowie Do?” from now on!

*rounded up from 4.5*

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a child Lily Armitage lost her mother to suicide in the maze at Endgame house a place she has avoided for most of her life but when her Aunt Liliana who adopted her as a child dies she is left instructions to return to Endgame House and learn the truth about her mothers death by playing the Christmas Puzzle with het cousins

Not as good as it sounded but still a good read