This is the perfect holiday murder mystery book! It’s full of puzzles and mystery. Eddie (the FMC), gets an jigsaw puzzle with a mysterious note. People will die if she doesn’t solve this mystery. Eddie reminded me of Scrooge and the side characters were enjoyable as well. This book read very well and I was kept guessing till the end.

Thank you to poisoned pen press and netgalley, and of course the author for this ARC!

This author, new to me, enjoys puzzles in her real life and has brought them into her new book. 80-year-old grump Edie receives pieces to an unknown jigsaw puzzle that seems connected to murders happening in her town. Her grand-nephew Sean is a cop who also gets caught up in the puzzle mysteries. Edie's attitude transformation, a la Scrooge, is a little hard to take but I love the puzzles! Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC.

An absolute delight. Inee if the most clever and intellectually stimulating thrillers read in a long time. When an author of crossword puzzles is sent a mysterious package of jigsaw pieces, the novel comes alive. She races around Weymouth and tries to solve the murders that are intertwined by the pictures on the pieces. She seems to always be one step ahead of her police dectective nephew, Sean. An absolutely creative wonderful take on the holiday thriller.

Cantankerous Edie works as a crossword puzzle setter and is a big fan of puzzles of all sorts. That's good because her prickly nature has pushed away everyone except her adopted great nephew Sean and her next-door neighbor Riga. When a set of puzzle pieces and a mysterious note arrive, Edie isn't sure what to make of it. Then bodies start piling up and she's worried that if she doesn't figure out the mystery soon, someone close to her will be one of the victims.

I liked the concept of the jigsaw puzzle needing to be solved to figure out the mystery, but I was confused by a lot of the story. I know there are certain conventions related to crosswords and puzzles of that type, but what's to say the person who set all this up is following the rules ("playing fair" is mentioned a few times). Edie is also very unlikeable as a person, even after all her trauma is explained, so it's hard to root for her. It was also confusing as to how the puzzle pieces were being distributed. Edie was getting some delivered and was told "not to tell the police" yet there were also the same (?) puzzle pieces left with bodies for the police to recover. The explanation of the puzzle pieces, how they fit together, and what was shown on them also didn't paint a very clear picture of what was going on. Some illustrations would have helped immensely! There was also the strange explanatory chapter where the killer was goading Edie to solve the mystery, then revealing all the details before she had a chance. Also, other than the fact that the story unfolds on the days surrounding Christmas and Edie hates Christmas, the holidays didn't seem to play much of a part in the events. While I liked the concept, I had a hard time putting the pieces together!

Wow….. A complex but easy to follow story. Compulsive puzzler Edie O’Sullivan teams up with her nephew D.I Sean Brand-O’Sullivan to try to solve murders with only jigsaw pieces and riddles as clues. Didn’t have any idea who the murderer was until the very end. A very enjoyable book.

This was such a fun mystery thriller to read. Not only did you have to try to solve the puzzle of who the murderer is but the author also included 3 games to look for anagrams etc. while you are reading.

The only thing(s) that would have made this book better is if I had been reading it via audiobook, around Christmas, while working on a puzzle.

Read if you enjoy:
Christmas
Mysteries
Puzzles (of all sorts)
Pop Culture References
Golden Girls Vibes
Snappy Protagonists

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders was a fun time. The MC, Edie, was full of snark, instantly warming me to her. A perfect balance to some of the other darker/sadder plot points. The pacing was fast and the story was fairly easy to follow. There are puzzles throughout (maybe less easy to follow, if youre like me) to work through with Edie. Did I guess the Murderer? Nooope. But I enjoyed Edie's problem sovling and snappy banter with the actual investigaters/family.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC!

Edie O’Sullivan is more than happy to settle into life as an octogenarian curmudgeon, jigsaw-puzzle enthusiast and crossword setter of some renown. The only people she can tolerate on a regular basis are her adopted son Sean and her ninety-something neighbor Riga, whose eccentric glamor is capable of overwhelming even Edie’s own standoffish intractability.

But if there’s one thing Edie hates more than she does most other people, it’s Christmas. The holiday has coincided with far too many tragedies in her life, leading her to refuse to acknowledge, much less celebrate, the occasion. So when a mysterious gift-wrapped package shows up on her doorstep less than a week before December 25th, she doesn’t quite know what to think.

Inside the package is a small, incomplete jigsaw puzzle depicting blood-spattered black and white tiles and the crime scene outline of a body. The accompanying note warns her that if she can’t figure out what this signifies, four people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve and it will be all her fault.

Not being an idiot, Edie consults with Sean, who has been newly promoted to Detective Inspector with the Weymouth police department. Neither Edie nor Sean is entirely convinced that the “gift” is anything more than a weird prank, until a man is found violently assaulted nearby, with a matching jigsaw puzzle piece clutched in his hand. Realizing that Edie might be in serious danger, Sean forbids her from investigating further… as if being forbidden to do anything has ever stopped the headstrong older woman from going ahead and doing just as she pleases.

With puzzle pieces continuing to arrive on her doorstep, Edie must use all the resources available to her to figure out what’s going on, even when some of those resources irritatingly exhort her to climb well out of her comfort zone:

QUOTE
“If you’d joined the cul-de-sac WhatApp group, you’d have known that by now.”

“I’m not a joiner, Riga.”

Riga sighed. “But it would help if you were. Everyone with cameras has gone through their footage for you. Mr Pickwick said whoever it was didn’t come in a car–his CCTV shows the road.”

“They’re just being nosy arseholes.”

“Edie, they’re trying to help. If you could just–”

“It’s the obsession with true-crime podcasts. Everyone’s trying to be a backseat detective.” Edie knew her wave of defensiveness was hiding something, but she didn’t want to look inside at what it was.

Riga raised her penciled eyebrows. “And what does that make you?”
END QUOTE

Even as her well-meaning neighbors attempt to help her figure out who’s sending the jigsaw pieces, Edie is forced to confront a lifetime of secrets that she’s kept both long-buried and protected beneath her prickly exterior. But which of these secrets could possibly be prompting a devious killer to torment her with the puzzles she so loves creating herself?

Meanwhile, that same killer is having their own crisis of conscience. Compelled to kill, but just as desperate for Edie to stop them, the killer watches the blood pouring out of one of their victims and wonders if all this is worth it:

QUOTE
Blood pulsed out of Latimer, soaking into the soil and leaves of the woodland floor. Closing their eyes, the killer whispered an atheist’s prayer, then stopped. A god who would take a murderer’s offering was not one from whom they wished benediction.

Opening their eyes, the killer realized they were still grasping the log. They had to drop it, leave it for the police to find, but their fingers wouldn’t uncurl. They gripped onto the wood as stubbornly as Latimer held on to life. It was as if the killer was stuck there until Carl Latimer died. Perhaps that was how it should be. Latimer might deserve to die but, as a human, his life should be respected, even if it was taken. The killer stood taller under the dark forest sky. “I’m sorry.”
END QUOTE

Alexandra Benedict weaves a terrific fair play murder mystery around the themes of connection, atonement and the deadliness of assumptions, as eccentric, stubborn Edie tries to fight the habits of a lifetime in order to stop a surprisingly sympathetic killer. In addition to the absorbing main plot, this volume is filled with Ms Benedict’s trademark word games, which fit even more seamlessly into the prose of this book than in prior novels. Revolving around Christmas, Charles Dickens and Fleetwood Mac, the games provide loads of extra entertainment for the puzzle lover. I only wish I’d known about the two delicious-looking recipes included here for my weekly cooking column, though I was definitely more than satisfied to relish the rest of this terrific seasonal-themed volume.

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders
by Alexandra Benedict
#ninetythirdbookof2024 #arc

CW: death, murder, adoption, fertility issues, cancer, suicide

On the 19th of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner, and Christmas curmudgeon Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces. Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation. As the body count rises, however, Edie knows that only she has the knowledge to put together the killer’s murderous puzzle. Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer – and finally lay her past to rest.

My thoughts:
This was a cute Christmas murder mystery centered around jigsaw and crossword puzzles, two of my favorite things. It was fate to me to read this book. Edie comes to terms with longing and regret, and she is able to change her ways by Christmas, much like Scrooge, another of my favorites. It wasn’t exactly low stakes, since people are murdered, but it was very close to cozy and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the advance copy. (Available now, pub date was 10/8/24)

I thoroughly enjoy when my favorite genre of mystery and thriller meets the holidays and this book was a great example. A self-proclaimed crone who dislikes Christmas due to numerous family tragedies around the holidays is content with her cats, crosswords and jig saw puzzles until a mysterious package arrives a few days before the dreaded holidays. She discovers a threatening note and a few jigsaw pieces alluding to murders that only she can stop. This package sets off a whirlwind of murder and a police investigation headed by her adopted son who may or may not be a target. The exciting story line is skillfully entwined with anagrams, cross word clues and various puzzles along with a poignant character study as the main character come to reevaluate her life in the midst of this crisis.

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders took a painfully long time to get into motion. Even then, it just wasn’t interesting. This book was a ‘no go’ for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars

A murder mystery especially appealing to puzzle fans. It features the often irascible and unlikeable Edie O'Sullivan who crafts crosswords for a living and does jigsaws for fun. Edie hasn't had the easiest life and she makes things harder for herself. Some December tragedies in her past have left her a holiday loather and she usually shuts herself away around Christmas. Even though she raised her nephew Sean and is basically his mum, she never participated in any holiday stuff for his sake. Now he is grown, a detective inspector, married to Liam and awaiting approval for them to adopt a little girl. He and Edie have a loving but often prickly relationship. She has been rude to Liam and has basically isolated herself from their life.

When December arrives, Edie gets an early present in the form of a package containing a message and a couple jigsaw pieces that show a crime scene. It coincides with the attempted murder of a local acquaintance of Sean's. She originally tells Sean about it but when she receives another package indicating that Sean is also in danger, she keeps the details to herself. She has a deductive mind and is soon interviewing various people connected to the clues. Sean is removed from the investigation due to his and Edie's involvement.

This is quite readable even though Edie is often obnoxious in her defensive rudeness. By the end, she sorts it just in time, and the ending ties everything up in a neat happy package. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Alexandra Benedict has two previous Christmas murder mysteries, but they are all stand-alones. That said, she does mention the Murder on the Christmas Express, so the novels are in the same timeline.

I liked Edie. I completely understood her anger and sadness at Christmas. I also can understand why the only person she allows near is her nephew/son Sean. However, I would have thought that the police would have kept Edie close, in light of the jigsaw puzzle pieces being sent to her, and in order to remove her as a suspect.

The mystery was interesting as well. Since it tied so well with Edie and Sean, some of the motive made sense. I also did not figure out the solution, and thus found it well thought out.

As with her precious novels, Benedict includes games that the reader could search for throughout the novel. As I have mentioned before, I do not participate during the first reading, but I might re-read in the future and try them.

Overall, I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars.

When Edie receives a mysterious jigsaw, she thinks it might just be a fan. However, she soon realizes that there is a killer who is trying to get her to solve murders before they are committed. Her nephew, who she raised, Sean is a detective who is investigating murders that seem to be related. Things become more dire when clearly the killer has a personal vendetta against Edie.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I definitely did not see the killer coming, although it definitely was plausible (not like out of nowhere), There were a few plot points that I don't think were resolved completely. Despite that, I thought it was an overall enjoyable mystery.

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

I'm giving this book 4 stars because of how fun it is! I love a great mystery, however, when the author goes out of their way to make it fun, with games and puzzles intertwined, it becomes something I can appreciate even more. And that's exactly what Alexandra Benedict did! In the beginning of the book, we are given 3 games - one incorporating anagrams, the next incorporating Fleetwood Mac songs, and lastly, a word scramble (which begins at the beginning of each chapter). She also includes Charles Dickens references as well as fun recipes at the end. (Big time baker over here! Haha)
The story itself was alright, but it was the mystery that made it that much better. The clues were clever, and I liked how we couldn't guess the killer even if we tried. It was given to us at the end, with the killer having one heck of a motive. The pacing was steady, however not as fast as I would have liked it to be, with much of it feeling repetitive (Edie's character, her past, her dislike of Christmas). Overall, this was a fun, cozy mystery and one which I would definitely recommend!
Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press,  and Alexandra Benedict for this ARC.

Mystery and intrigue…secrets and red herrings…friends and family…puzzles…mayhem…this talented author has written a page turner. Thanks Netgalley.

I think USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Benedict may have just given me the gift of my most favorite Christmas mystery novel of all time – The Christmas Jigsaw Murders.

After receiving a parcel with six jigsaw pieces on her doorstep, Edie O’Sullivan, a crotchety octogenarian and renowned crosswords setter (whom I imagined as Stephanie Cole AKA Doc Martin’s Auntie Joan) must solve the most important puzzle of her life.

A cryptic note with the package read, “Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.” Signed, Rest in Pieces.

Recognizing something worrisome pictured in one of the puzzle pieces, Edie shares some of what she knows with her nephew/adopted son, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan. When a man is attacked and left for dead with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean forbids Edie from investigating any further in an effort to protect her.

Needless to say, Edie — a self-proclaimed pain in the arse, who has always gotten in her own way but has always done everything she could to protect Sean — is determined that she is the only one who can solve the mystery but she will have to face her demons to do so.

Also author of The Christmas Murder Game and Murder on the Christmas Express, Benedict gives readers everything we need in a page-turner of a modern-day Christmas mystery. A ticking clock, characters with rich layers of back-story and humor, red herrings, suspects and true to the title, you need all the pieces to really solve the puzzle.

I ho-ho heartily recommend The Christmas Jigsaw Murders to fans of British mysteries, cozy mysteries, Christmas mysteries, LGBTQ+ mysteries and fans of anagrams, which Benedict has peppered throughout the novel, with nods to Dickens, Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac.

I received an advance readers copy from Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks, courtesy of NetGalley.

Last year I read Alexandra Benedict's book Murder on the Christmas Express and was excited to see this novel show up for a read this season. I enjoy a "who-dun-it" mystery with some great twists and turns which harken to the works of Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.

The main character is an 80 year old reclusive puzzle setter named Edie, who does not have the best relationship with friends, family, or neighbors, except one woman who lives next door and seems to be a perfect foil to her grinch like ways.

When Edie receives a package on her doorstep foretelling of murders to come if she does not solve the puzzles in time, Edie has to get her great nephew, but also closet person she has to a son, Sean, involved who is also a Detective Inspector. The plot weaves through a host of characters in Edie's past, making her relive some things she would much rather leave in her memories.

I will say this is more of a cozy murder mystery. It's a bit hard to say it's a thriller/ suspense but there is a point where you are wondering about one character (no spoilers).

My only critique is there is quite a bit going on in this book which I think makes it a lot to work through. I think Edie puts her nose into a lot of things she shouldn't which would muddle aa true crime investigation but it wouldn't be a fictious "who-dun-it" if the character we are following didn't do some outlandish things. She is our grumpy Ms. Marple or Jessica Fletcher (from Murder She Wrote).

Puzzle-solving curmudgeon Edie receives a cryptic jigsaw puzzle foretelling multiple murders by Christmas Eve. She contacts her adopted son, a police detective, but he distances her from the investigation. As the body count rises, she must confront her past to solve the killer’s deadly puzzle and stop their crime spree.

Edie is no Jessica Fletcher. She’s a complicated character who struggles to allow love into her life. This novel has a fairly dark tone without being gruesome. It’s kind of a mashup between cozy mystery and psychological thriller. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Octogenarian crossword puzzle creator Edie O’Sullivan receives a mysterious and alarming “gift”, six jigsaw puzzle pieces that appear to show part of a bloody crime scene. The accompanying message, cleverly signed “Rest in Pieces”, warned that four people will die if Edie doesn’t solve the puzzle and stop the killer. Edie and her nephew, Detective Sean Brand-O'Sullivan, race to follow the clues as more puzzle pieces and bodies start piling up.

This Christmas mystery is loaded with complex clues and layered with additional puzzles, including anagrams and references to the works of Charles Dickens and Fleetwood Mac. It’s clever but I found that trying to find/solve the additional puzzles took my focus out of the story (maybe this is just a “me” issue, because I felt similarly about the author’s book The Christmas Murder Game). While I enjoyed prickly, shrewd Edie and her character arc, this book ended up not working for me because it didn’t feel as though the reader could solve the mystery on their own. Even puzzler extraordinaire Edie acknowledges that “part of the enigmatologist’s code involved being oblique as you like but always giving enough information to solve the puzzle.”

Many thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Dreamscape Media for providing me advance copies of this book.