I was startled to find that Alexandra Benedict was not a first-time author. On the one hand, Benedict took a tired trope — the snowbound country house murder in which the guests realize that they’re trapped with a killer — and provided plenty of twists. I didn’t realize who the killer was until Benedict chose to reveal it. On the other hand, Benedict wrote clunkers like a reference to “peppermint feathers” — what the hell are you talking about? — and quiet a few instances of writing bad enough to win the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest:

"The Yorkshire lanes don’t help — artery narrow, hedgerows encroaching on the road like bad cholesterol."

"…she used to sit in the kitchen next door and listen to laughter, swearing, and boring training videos winnow through the sides of the serving hatch while she and her mum made them lunch.."

Yikes! Everyone needs a good editor, but some people need one more than most.

Benedict’s characters also tend to the two-dimensional: the snarky, jealous cousin; the stern housekeeper; the sullen, self-effacing orphaned protagonist. I expected more from Benedict, an author with more than a dozen novels to her name, even if what she’s written is mostly Avon bodice-rippers.

Four stars for the intricate plot and two for characterization, some embarrassing prose and some implausible twists average out to a three-star rating.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review. #NetGalley #TheChristmasMurderGame

Settle down for awhile with this one because once you start you don't want to put it down!! A real page Turner! Lily's story pulls you in right away! Thrilling! Solid mystery with great descriptions. Kudos!! Thanks #netgalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Christmas Murder Game.

I love mysteries, especially when the suspects are locked in a central location and people start dying off.

After her mother's death, Lily Armitage has not returned to her family's grand home, Endgame House.

When her aunt suddenly dies, Lily returns to the house to participate in the annual Christmas Game for the ultimate prize: deeds to Endgame.

But will winning the game be the end of her?

I enjoy puzzles and anagrams, though I'm nowhere near as good at them as Lily is so I was intrigued by the premise of the story.

Yet, the narrative didn't draw me in as much as I had hoped.

The writing was fine, as well as the tone, but the pace was slow, especially when you realize the participants have to stay in the house for 12 days to complete the game.

I also found the premise a bit contrived as I kept reading; why couldn't Lily's aunt just tell her who killed her mother instead of luring her back into the game with a promise of revealing who the murderer was?

It seemed cruel and pointless.

It wasn't hard to figure out who the bad guys were, especially as the bodies began to fall.

Is some suspension of disbelief required here? Sure, but so is an elaborate game well planned for 12 days.

Another caveat I had: Lily. She was a meek and mild character. I couldn't stand her doormat personality, her submissiveness and despite her prowess at solving the games, she wasn't a person I rooted for nor empathized with.

I didn't care for anyone since everyone were pretty unlikable and lacked character development.

I did kind of like Isabelle though she's barely in it.

I liked the concept behind The Christmas Murder Game but the characters were unmemorable and the pacing of the narrative could have been better.

Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night? This was a great classic manor house-type whodunit. Kept me guessing all the way. Intriguing characters and a unique plot made this really hard to put down. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

The perfect whodunit. A holiday themed mystery game, a country estate and even a map to track clues. I had so much fun with this book it reminds me of Agatha Christie. I did not preemptively solve the mystery but I had fun anyway.

tl;dr
A tense, atmospheric, closed circle mystery with a classic whodunnit feel. End feels a little contrived.

About
Liliana Armitage is dead, and ownership of the family mansion is up for grabs. A series of twelve riddles are all that stand between the remaining members of the family and ownership of the luxurious house called Endgame. Lily Armitage has no desire to return to Endgame and the painful memories it holds of her mother's death all those years ago. But a secret letter arrives, informing Lily that her mother's death was actually a murder, and the culprit's identity will only be revealed if she can solve the riddles of Endgame.

Thoughts
The book opens with a map of the house that looks purposefully like the board for Cluedo/Clue. I think it's the best hint possible for readers to set their expectations. What lies within this book is a mystery that feels very classic: strict rules, only one winner, no world-breaking plot twists. Fans of closed circle mysteries, "And Then There Were None" plot lines, and angry family members scrambling to solve clues for an inheritance will find all that in spades here. The numerous puzzles in this book rely heavily on in-universe knowledge to solve, so it's not a fair game mystery. The author makes up for it by hiding anagrams within the text of the book for readers to find. I played along for the first part of the book (it was fun), but I stopped once the plot picked up because I was too engrossed in the story.

The main character Lily is clever and talented, but she spends a lot of time making herself smaller (literally and figuratively) to avoid the attention of her louder cousins. While she does learn to be herself a little more, I was disappointed that she didn't manage to be more assertive in the end, relying on a bit of contrived luck to get out of a bad situation. Other characters vary in likability (on purpose), with some rather clear-cut villains and several genuinely sympathetic friends. Overall, a fun read for fans of classic-styled murder mysteries.

Oh my, what beautiful, descriptive writing, it pulled me in immediately, although the premise of a game within a game already had me. Lily and her cousins have to return to Endgame House after the death of her aunt, she hasn’t been there since her mother died 21 years ago. Now winning the game means winning the deed to the house, and someone is willing to kill for it. As the Yorkshire wind blows and snow piles up, cutting them off, I didn’t want to put the book down, wondering what came next.
As everyone tries to solve the daily riddles given to them on each of the twelve days of Christmas I wasn’t able to solve any of the anagrams or find any of the titles, but that didn’t take away from my absolute joy in the writing and the story. And how could I not love a book with a layout of the floor plan drawn out like a Clue game board in the beginning. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my advance copy, I’ll highly recommend it to everyone.

This book really interested me in the beginning with the premise, but kinda fell a bit flat for me honestly. I expected more.

Lily is blamed for her mothers death, which happened when she was a child (eye rolls). And now all her cousins have congregated at their ancestral home to play a game whose prize is to win the deed to the house (which apparently Lily has already inherited, but she signs away her rights to play the game- which if she loses, she can contest and still win). She acts like she doesn’t care, but if she really didn’t she wouldn’t even join the game. And in this economy, who can afford to give a house away.

This book was good! I was worried when we got to about 40% and day 2 wasn’t done yet, but then we picked up speed and made it through all 12. I had a feeling I knew who was behind it all-felt good to be right.

Plus side—a real page turner with intriguing set-up and a keep you guessing pace
Minus side—annoyingly passive protagonist, too many uninteresting back flashes, preposterous ending

When Lily returns home to her aunts Manor House she discovers that in order to inherit she and her estranged cousins must stay together over 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 and 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
Really enjoyable read Christmas mystery thriller totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press
I just reviewed The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict. #NetGalley

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Poisoned Pen Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


This one captured my attention immediately. The descriptive text written to put you in the moment. Quite enjoyable and hard to put down.

A Christmas Mystery and a game. This book absolutely blew my mind. I loved that there was a game within a game. This book really had me thinking. Lily is a very smart character and I love Mrs. Castle and Isabelle. I read this book in a record number of days and I will go back and reread it to see if I can figure out the answers to the game within the game.

This book is amazingly written! All the characters have amazing descriptions and you can instantly imagine who they are, what they are like. I don’t want to go too much into the story and ruin the book but it is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone!
The introduction to all the characters definitely took abit to get going but it didn’t take away from the book at all. Trying to figure out the riddles was definitely an unexpected but enjoyable element of the book and I really appreciate the extra time and thought that would have gone into that!
The ending of this book was 100% unexpected and I think that made the book so much better, the fact that it wasn't predicted at all!

I will inevitably be reading this book again especially at Christmas time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.
The book was based on clues being left around a family mansion, that family members had to solve which would lead them to a key. There were 12 keys to find, and a different clue for each, then one of those keys opened up the door to a secret room, which then meant that person who had that key, won the deeds to the house.
Obviously there was a lot more to it than that, including lots of whodunit murders, and lots of family tension.
I loved trying to work out the clues but honestly I was awful.
I have learnt one huge thing about myself reading this book...... You would never want me on your team in an escape room!!!

Painstakingly Plotted….
A festive murder mystery is always, always a delight and one that invokes the Golden Age is, for me at least, more so. A snowstorm, a village, a country house, an estranged family and a tradition- the Christmas Game. That tradition is soon to turn deadly and there will be more than an inheritance at stake. Uniquely told, a joy to read, painstakingly plotted and puzzles in which to participate - this is a modern take on the traditional Christmas Country House Murder Mystery. All good, festive fun.