I was hesitant in the beginning of this book because I didn't care for the second Christmas mystery written by this author. The first one was great and had me nearly gasp at the twist ending. However, I persevered and wound up actually enjoying this puzzling mystery. I have to also confess that the author's waxing poetic about how much she loves Charles Dickens didn't help my skepticism about this book since I always found his books far too wordy.

Edie O'Sullivan writes crossword puzzles that are of national renown in the UK. When she receives a mysterious package containing some puzzle pieces and a note saying four people will be dead by Christmas Eve if she doesn't solve the puzzle, she immediately rises to the challenge. Edie does not suffer fools and does not tolerate nonsense, whimsy or Christmas, much like Scrooge. Except when the first body turns up, Edie realizes this isn't some silly game and the killer really is playing for lives.

I would not necessarily say this was a good book. It bogged down at times and I got tired of all the anagrams pretty quickly. I should preface that I too am a word nerd but anagrams aren't my thing. However, I am giving it four stars because I cared enough to read to the end. It was a fair twist but since I read the book in two sittings, I'd say it held my interest.

My thanks to Simon and Schuster as well as Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting read with lots of puzzles. Readers may get a little lost in managing between the story and puzzles, but overall, this is a nice read.

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict is a mystery novel. It was such a fun and entertaining read. The characters were perfectly written and the plot was very thrilling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love Christmas so I’ll give it two stars for the setting but the mystery wasn’t very good, it was confusing and the reveal was not plausible.

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict is a mystery novel. 

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Edie O'Sullivan is the esteemed 80-year old Pensioner Puzzler.  Whether jigsaw, crossword, anagrams or something else, her puzzle solving skills are amazing. But she is about to tested.

When she receives a box with six jigsaw pieces that combine to create a crime scene, she is perplexed.  The accompanying note challenges her to solve the puzzle, or people will be dead by Christmas Eve.  It is signed "Rest in Pieces".  She and her 90-year old neighbour Riga Novack put on their thinking caps.  But Edie also calls DI Sean Brand-O'Sullivan, her nephew (but mostly son).  After all, this is more his area of expertise.  But she is going to hold back one piece of the puzzle.

When a man is found on a running trail, beaten almost to death, with a jigsaw piece in his hand, they realize this is no joke.  Sean tries to convince Edie not to investigate.  Yeah, right.


My Opinions:
This book was simply great.  It was a fun and entertaining read. 

It is about friendship and family, about love, about secrets and regrets.....and about revenge. 

I absolutely loved both logical Edie (who hates Christmas),  her "son" Sean (who loves Christmas), and Riga (who sees what Edie misses).  Cantankerous old puzzle solvers,  whom I would love to know.  This book was definitely character-driven, and what characters!

The plot was good, and although the perpetrator was unknown to me until the end (as it should be), it was well fleshed-out, with a number of red herrings.  I loved the puzzle theme, and anagrams played a big role.  I don't seem to be getting any better at those!

.The book also had some games for the reader to try.  I love Fleetwood Mac!  Then there were the two recipes at the end...don't think I'll try either one of those.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this....although a little early, we all need to get in the mood for Christmas!

I have mixed feelings about this book 🫤

The mystery was captivating and had me hooked right up until the last few chapters. The solution was so left field that I don't think any reader could have guessed it because we weren't given all of the information.

The main character was very difficult and hard to like. Again, the last few chapters gave us a background of why she was like this but by then I already disliked her so much it didn't change my views on her.

I did enjoy the book for the most part but when I finished I was left unsatisfied with everything.

This is the first time I have read anything by Alexandra Benedict and I’m sorry to say that her style of writing just isn’t for me. I love jigsaw puzzles and mysteries so I thought it would be a win. Unfortunately the characters were very off putting, the writing was kind of all over the place and a bit too woke for my preference. Sadly it just wasn’t for me and I was unable to finish it. Maybe at another time but not now.
Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and Alexandra Benedict for this advance reading copy.

Three cheers for the return of the ingenious puzzle master that is Alexandra Benedict and her annual Christmassy, puzzle focused-murder mystery!
I'm a fan of Benedict's previous novels, The Christmas murder Game and Murder On The Christmas Express which combine a classic 'whodunnit' with enough puzzles to keep even the great Sherlock Holmes occupied.
Now, I consider there are two approaches to reading this novel:
- you can read and enjoy the novel as a murder mystery. There is a wonderful sense of the 'golden age' of mysteries in this book, filled with twists and puzzles.
- or the added entertainment from attempting to solve some of the numerous puzzles hidden within the pages of the novel from anagrams to hidden Fleetwood Mac songs and finally a puzzle that could earn a prize from the author!
Either way, you are in for a fun and suspenseful read.

The story is set over the Christmas holidays, running from December 19th straight through Christmas.
Our protagonist is the uber-cool Edie - a woman in her 80s who defies convention at every turn and is considered to be a renowned puzzle setter. Sadly, Edie is not a fan of the Christmas season and is eager for the holiday to be over, a decision that is impacting negatively on her relationship with her nephew (and surrogate son) who has always loved the season. The novel opens with Edie receiving a mysterious parcel containing jigsaw pieces of a crime scene and with a note to tell Edie that she is responsible for solving the puzzle and preventing further deaths! Edie has to work with her nephew to solve the mystery but as the body count rises and Edie discovers that she hatred of Christmas may be an impediment, the pressure is on!
With every turn of the page, memories of Agatha Christie come to mind - and cannot think of a better recommendation. This is a wonderfully original and intriguing tale with the added bonus on a 'game' for the reader to play. Also, despite the title and Christmassy setting, this book can be read at any time of the year so don't miss out.

I like the IDEA of this boom but--ugh-- the writing! The use of "they" for a single/unknown individual bugged me right from the start, but I was intrigued enough by the concept of the story that I carried on.
Thankfully it was a quick read. I suppose there's a cute, good story in here somewhere, but (like many reviewers here have already noted), the plot is meandering, disjointed and hard to follow.
I did love the "games " described at beginning of the book. Sadly, those games were the best part of the whole.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict is a charming puzzle within a puzzle, complete with clues and anagram.

Feisty octogenarian Edie O'Sullivan isn't fond of Christmas. But she is a whiz at crossword puzzles and her moniker Pension Puzzler fits. When a wrapped present appears on her doorstep, she is perplexed, especially at the contents. Her detective nephew Sean Brand O'Sullivan teams up with her to fit the puzzle pieces together.

Though Edie is a force, her character didn't engage me. The mystery itself is not very mysterious. Sometimes I don't mind that if there are other redeeming aspects which provide vim and vigor. I just didn't feel that. Nevertheless, this was a toasty read on a chilly evening with a steaming mug of tea.

My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this comfy novel.

A clever Christmas mystery built around puzzles. Edie is an 80 year old who is most surprised to have a mystery arrive on her doorstep and she commits to solve it. I got so involved in trying to solve the puzzles that I periodically lost track of the actual story as well as of Edie's character. That said no spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a complimentary copy of this novel!
Edie O’ Sullivan is an 80-year-old loner and a whiz at making crossword puzzles and also solving puzzles. So when she receives a present on her doorstep that is revealed to be a real puzzle, she is tasked by someone calling themselves “Rest In Pieces” to try to put the pieces together before bodies start dropping.
Edie reaches out to her nephew Sean, who is a DI, to help her. However, she does not reveal all the pieces to him. As Edie continues to receive presents left on her doorstep, she attempts to solve the puzzle herself, but bodies begin to drop and with each body a new puzzle piece is also revealed. Will Edie be able to figure it out before the next victim may hit closer to home than she’d like?
This was a cozy mystery read set around the Christmas Holiday time! I really enjoyed it and look forward to more novels from Alexandra Benedict!
AVAILABLE October 8, 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very intriguing to me due to the puzzle aspect but unfortunately I could not get into it. It was all too confusing to me. While I enjoyed the puzzle piece I was confused the entire book.

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but the puzzles took away from the overall story! I love having puzzles to solve, so having to "choose" between the puzzles or enjoying the story...it was just too much for my brain to handle sometimes. However, it's fun and different, and close to something we all need on our bookshelves.

While I loved the Christmas themes and some of the puzzles, the way it was organized and written left me feeling very confused. I don’t mind when things come together clearly but this one was a bit too much for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This book is definitely out of the box and unexpected, especially for a cozy Christmas mystery. The puzzles were a fun addition but I had to force myself to just read the story and not focus so much on the puzzles themselves because I started to get lost. It was a fun read overall!

Loved the synopsis but the book is written in such a scattered way that I couldn’t help but continually think I had missed something. Not for me.

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders was a thoroughly entertaining christmas murder mystery (a christmas murder mystery wasn’t a genre I knew I needed in my life before this but you can bet I’m going to be looking into more of them!)

The pace starts off a little slow (but I personally really like that as it gives us as the reader a chance to get the lay of the land a little) but the pace steadily climbs throughout until I was rapidly turning the pages to find the culprit!

I loved Edie’s personality and for me that was really the star of the book. She’s no nonsense, unapologetic, a complete Christmas Grinch (for pretty valid reasons honestly), and I completely adored her as our MC. I also absolutely loved how Edie’s mind works in both deciphering and creating puzzles - her unfaltering logic was honestly really interesting to see unfold. Riga is also another delightful character whose personality was a welcome addition. Honestly, I really loved some of the more unconventional characters here and I’m hoping there might be more to come from Edie in the future!

There was an added twist of there being puzzles interwoven that the writer could complete. I’m not entirely sure these brought anything to the table for me but I do think it’s a fun edition that I’m sure will appeal to a lot of readers.

The only weaknesses here for me was that the mystery itself wasn’t hugely compelling for me - it was the wonderful character voices that kept me hooked.

Overall this was a really fun christmas read - nothing too serious but absolutely perfect to dive into over the festive season!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

Thank you NetGalley! This was a different type of book than others I’ve read. I loved all the puzzles that it included. The protagonist was very funny

I had a hard time getting into this at first but I think it was because I was so focused on the "games" the author gives us in the beginning. Once I stopped focusing on those and jist read the story...wow, it's so good. It's such a good murder mystery/thriller. I flew through the pages and throughly enjoyed every minute of it!