Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Lily is trying to get over the loss of her mother when her aunt dies suddenly. She receives a letter that she needs to go to a house where they will play a game and she may learn who murdered her mom. While playing the game and solving some clues she remembers more of her past. This book was entertaining.

The Murder Game's protagonist, Lily, finds herself at the centre of a good old-fashioned murder mystery with a twist or two, and all in her old family home, which does not bring her the best of memories.

I have mixed feelings about this novel, but let's start with the parts I enjoyed: the setting was great and you really felt as if you were walking around Endgame, and the resolution felt right. I could mostly work it out, but not quite. There were little things that surprised me, which I believe is always the most satisfying kind of resolution for a murder mystery: you don't want the reader to be able to know exactly how it will end by chapter 2, but a completely unexpected ending that seemingly comes from nowhere is terribly anticlimactic.

On the negative side, I have to say The Murder Game for some reason feels quite a lot longer than it actually is. It takes a good while to really gather a proper pace for a book in this genre. There were a lot of things going on (and a lot of not-really-fleshed-out secondary characters) that seemed to have no real impact on the plot. However, what really didn't work for me was the way the author wanted the reader to get involved in solving the clues. First of all, if that's what you are aiming for as an author, you have to make the riddles kind of hard, but doable in reasonable time. If you are really into the story, you'll want to keep reading, not to take a good, good while trying to figure out an answer that you'll get in two pages tops, anyway. Worst of all was that even if you solved the riddle by yourself, there really was no benefit to it: it didn't give you any extra clues about the deaths in the present or the past and it sure didn't get you ahead in solving the case. I got a total amount of zero riddles solved by myself (and, to be honest, started kind of skimming through the sonnets on Day 3 of Christmas) and still managed to guess almost entirely the resolution well before I got there. It really is a pity that the whole thing doesn't quite work because it's obvious that the writer has put a lot of time and effort into it.

Overall, it can be a compelling read for murder mystery fans if you don't obsess much about the sonnets with the clues (or if you do and are a lot better at them than yours truly, I suppose.)

A perfect cozy winter mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.

I love a good murder mystery and this was one of the best. It was atmospheric and chilling. It truly kept you guessing until the last page. I loved the game aspect and all the riddles were truly unique

I really enjoyed the puzzles and writing of this book. I loved the Christmas theme and the setting. I also loved that there was a separate game for the reader to play while going through the book. This was a great book for escaping reality for a while.
I am giving four stars here, because while I found this so enjoyable, I knew halfway through the book who the killer was, and the one helping the killer was an obvious giveaway. Maybe I’m getting too good at picking up on clues, but I did know who was and wasn’t trustworthy to the main character. I think my biggest complaint is the Sara character. I think her motive is very obvious. Tom was less obvious, but I still suspected him from the start, and knew it was him halfway through.

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.