Here's a Christmas romp!

We are in the Yorkshire Dales, where Aunt Liliana has set up the family home, Endgame, to be ready for the family's yearly Christmas Game. . .however she won't be there. Because she's dead. She knew it was coming for her, so she has invited all those who could possibly inherit, and there are real stakes. Lily will be attending, albeit reluctantly. Her own mother died at this place, smack in the middle of the maze (as large as the mansion), so for her this trip back is all about duty and ridding herself of all of it, and all of them.

This is a British mystery in classic style (with a dash of Cold Comfort Farm thrown in). . . .complete with anagrams, codes, and puzzles laid out (homework-style) for readers to find per each of the twelve days of the season in a 'before you read' preamble. It lays out the kind of sticky side bits a certain kind of reader deeply enjoys. Yet for those who will whisk over and above those kind of distractions, not a whit is lost by their choice of non-involvement! Bonus for both!

If you are a Reader who likes a seasonal taste in your TBR, this is a perfect choice!

A Sincere Thank you to Alexandra Benedict, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

Yikes. This was not a great book. “Womb-like tomb” was a horrible sentence and I just could not get over it. The characterization did not work for me. It was slow and I did not like the author’s writing style.

Thank you to the author and publisher for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Purposely left this book unread till the holiday season and I’m so happy I did. This book was entertaining throughout. I had fun trying to decode the twelve anagrams in each chapter, while looking for the classic fiction titles and then trying to find out who’s the murderer. There’s an element of cozy in this locked room mystery. Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is already out, I wanted to save it for December to get in the season!

Well this one is definitely unique and not the traditional Christmas romance I normally gravitate towards this month - this one is much darker/more of a mystery, but it was fun to read that while maintaining the setting of Christmas in a giant house that’s now up for grabs for this now adult children vying for the deed. Throughout the book there’s riddles and puzzles for the reader to participate in (which I honestly forgot about), but I was also trying to make myself figure out what Lily figured out for each clue - it was definitely a unique spin on the traditional mystery. As more characters were murdered, I figured out pretty quickly who was involved, so I wasn’t surprised to find out I was correct, but this one was still a very quick holiday-themed mystery that I’d recommend to anyone who might want a seasonal read that isn’t necessarily a romance.

Again, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for this review - pick this one up today!

I think the most enjoyable part of this book for me was trying to solve the anagrams within each of the 12 days of Christmas. Although, in the end they didn’t quite make sense to me. The writing was very enjoyable and this was an entertaining Christmas cozy murder mystery. I’ve not read anything like it so I highly recommend! I could sense the outcome, but then was also surprised by the twist.

I enjoyed this story about relatives involved in solving puzzles in order to win the family manor. This book had the right amount of puzzles, family drama, and deception to keep my interest the whole way through. It also shows you never know who you can trust, even if they are your family. The setting sounded beautiful and the snowstorm added to the craziness of the search during the holiday season. It sure showed you that you can never trust family. Some portions were unbelievable and some characters were downright nasty and unlikable but overall it was a wonderfully creepy Christmas themed book. I do recommend it.

This was such a fun, surprising Christmas read. I just finished this book, and it was so satisfying. I love a winter/Christmas setting, a locked room mystery, and messed up characters. I am excited to get to the authors newest Christmas book, Murder on the Christmas Express. I get Agatha Christie vibes from this author, but with modern twist. This novel ended up being more dark than I assumed going in. See who survived Endgame House, and wins it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for a honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up

This book was captivating. This is a single POV Mystery/thriller. It follows Lily, who after her mother's death never returned to her family home Endgame. But after years away she gets a letter from her aunt to play one more Christmas game, but there is a special twist just for Lily, answers about her mother's death and the deed to Endgame. The plot was good, I liked this step up of a scavenger hunt and the clues were so intense and detailed I was impressed. Some things were a little too convenient and I predicted some of the events that took place. The writing was good. Lily was a bit irritating at times, being passive and letting others push her around and take advantage of her. I think that there was a point of her coming off as meek but still wanted her to speak up. I also thought some of her decision-making skills were lacking and she just willingly walked into dangerous situations. The added element of a Christmas theme was fun, and it made the old mansion sound not only creepy and old, but a historical type of celebration and I liked that. I would recommend this book. It has puzzles, a mysterious house full of secrets and a killer.
Trigger warnings: gore, suicide, murder
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night?

The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages' grand family home. This year's prize is to die for—deeds to the house itself—but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn't been back to Endgame since her mother died, twenty-one years ago, and she has no intention of claiming the house that haunts her dreams.

Until, that is, she receives a letter from her aunt promising that the game's riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to its darkest secrets, including the identity of her mother's murderer.

Now, Lily must compete with her estranged cousins for the twelve days of Christmas. The snow is thick, the phone lines are down, and no one is getting in or out. Lily will have to keep her wits about her, because not everyone is playing fair, and there's no telling how many will die before the winner is declared.

Including additional scavenger hunts for the reader, this clever murder mystery is the perfect gift for fans of classic mysteries, festive Christmas books, and armchair detective work.

---

Interesting plot full of twists and it's pretty well-written. I like just fine.
Thank you Netgalley for the early copy!

This book is a solid 4 star read. I enjoyed the twists and turns. Finding the clues each day was a lot of fun. Lots of different rep in this one so it will appeal to a wide audience. I'm not sure which mystery I enjoyed more, the decades old one or the current one. This one had me guessing right up until the end!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This is a locked room mystery full of clues and characters trying to solve them, to get the mansion. It was unexpectedly good and a great Christmas read though a little predictable, it has many plot twists and turns. If you're looking for a Christmas mystery that’s easy to read and enjoyable I suggest you give this one a try!
4/5

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict is a mystery/thriller about a family that plays a game with riddles every Christmas to determine who gets the best gifts. But this year, they are playing for the deeds to the Armitage family house itself. As the game goes on, the stakes get higher and higher because some family members end up murdered. This a bit of a locked room mystery, and the twists and turns are a lot of fun. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

“𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.”

I LOVE a locked-room mystery and having seen Abby (@CrimeByTheBook) rave about this holiday-themed one, I couldn’t wait to dive into it next to my Christmas tree.

There is an eerie vibe starting right from the beginning with Lily reading her aunt’s letter, in which she claims Lily’s mom was murdered. The story has all the makings of a classic mystery: an isolated setting with no modern technology (one of the rules of the Christmas Game the family always plays), a snowstorm that traps everyone in, a fractured family, a manor (Endgame House) that acts as a character itself, and panic once the bodies start appearing. I was amazed at Alexandra Benedict came up with all the sonnets, anagrams, and clues that the reader can try to solve alongside the family. Lily is an incredibly likeable character who you root for, in both figuring out the sonnet clues and to emerge from the darkness that surrounds her and her mother’s death. I also really loved the close relationship of Lily and Tom - they reminded me of the relationship I have with a few of my own cousins. Endgame House and the book remind us that memories are poignant; they serve as a prompt to share what we love about those in our lives when we can. I was disappointed at one of the reveals - it took a predictable path (especially with one of the characters) that didn’t end up being as shocking as I would have liked. However the very end was well done, which partly made up for it.

The Christmas Murder Game is a story of family, games, grief, memory, and home. The inventive puzzles, setting, and despicable family members alone made for an overall entertaining read, perfect by stormy night by a cozy fire. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a new to me author and I have to say I am looking forward to reading more by this author! I loved this book

The Christmas Murder Game was a book I read through @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress . It’s a closed room mystery about a woman named Lily. She’s coming back to Abe state for the holidays that she used to live in with her Aunt Lilliana. She’s now passed on and has set up an annual version of the Christmas Game. The winner will win the estate. Lily is hoping for answers about her mom’s death from when she was a child. She’s given the heads up not to trust anyone and soon enough people start dying.

❤️Review❤️

This had all of the elements of a book I would really love. It has the spooky setting, a game, mystery, people dying one by one. What more could I ask for? Unfortunately I just found it to be way too slow. It could get repetitive without revealing anything really new. I guessed the “bad guy” pretty early on, which made the reveal not as exciting. By the end I ended up switching over to the audiobook to finish it. The audiobook made it easier to finish. If I wasn’t reading it for review, I might have dnfed it. I’m so happy to see thrillers/mysteries themed around the holidays that aren’t just cozies though. So that’s definitely a plus!

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Netgalley #NetgalleyReads #BookReview #Bookstagram #BooksBooksBooks #HolidayReads #Suspense #Mystery #NewBooks #2022Books #NewBookRelease

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict is a seasonal murder mystery sure to be enjoyed by fans of Agatha Christie etc. Lily Armitage hasn't been back to the family home Endgame House since her mother died tragically on Boxing Day over twenty years before, but this Christmas she is going back, along with all of her cousins, to play one last version of their traditional Christmas game for the exciting prize of the deeds to the house. Unlike many of her estranged cousins Lily doesn't care about the house, the real reason she has returned is a promise that the game will also reveal the truth about what happened to her mother. Trapped together in the house while the snow falls outside, their phones confiscated to avoid any cheating or external help, the cousins are promised a new clue for each of the twelve days of Christmas, with the person who solves the clues and finds the key to a secret room within the house becoming its new owner. The stakes are high, but they get even higher when the first of the cousins is murdered, and the cousins turn on each other while trapped in the house.
This was a really entertaining mystery, I loved the tension between the characters and learning about the family history that has lead to their fractured relationships. There's nothing better than curling up on a snowy winter night with a book like this and being swept away by such an engaging and entertaining story. The author has even built in some games for the reader , with the solutions given at the end of the book.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Akin to The Inheritance Games but with a festive twist, this yuletide who-done-it is set at Endgame House, a sprawling country manor estate in Yorkshire, England.

🗝️🅢🅨🅝🅞🅟🅢🅘🅢
This year's prize is to die for.... deeds to the house itself, but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn't been back since her mother died there twenty-one years ago.

...Until, that is, she receives a letter from her Aunt promising that the game's riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to the identity of her mother's murderer.... So with a plethora of eclectic cousins as her competition, the game is afoot!

🗝️Great festive read, very easy to get into, completely far-fetched and ridiculous but thats the joy of literature, it can be whatever the author wants of it.

❓What I totally loved was the author had included her own "Game within the Christmas Murder Game" where she sets the reader a game to solve anagrams within each chapter, I thought that was a fantastic unique touch.

🔥Defo a great book to devour in a night next to the fire 🔥with a hot chocolate ☕



Thanks to @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the ARC of this novel

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This is a fun book to read during the Christmas season.. It is a classic locked room mystery full of cryptic clues and characters trying to solve them, all hoping to get the deed to a family mansion. Though it was somewhat predictable, it had enough twists to keep you interested. If you're looking for a quick Holiday read, give this one a try.

Really great read. I find Christmas books can be just "thrown together" for the sake of it and just terrible. I loved this book so much I am looking forward to Alexandra Benedict's new book!

What could have been an Agatha Christie type murder mystery turned into something quite flat, and complicated at the same time. Predictable and on the boring side, this one just doesn’t make the grade!