The Christmas Murder Game

It took me a little while to get into the book. It was pretty good I enjoyed trying to figure out the puzzle. I would check out some of her other books as well.

It was a game within a game within a game. So many ways to play and an excellent read for fans of all types of puzzles! Also just a wonderful manor mystery.

Sent to kindle. Arrived on time. Easy to use.

Really disliked the story - left a very bad taste in my mouth. Certainly made a mockery of being a Christmas mystery or tale!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alexandra Benedict for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Christmas Murder Game coming out October 4, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.Lily Armitage returns to Endgame House after receiving a mysterious letter from her aunt. Her aunt wants her to take part in the annual tradition called the Christmas Game. She never intended to return to the grand family home. Her mother died there twenty-one Christmases ago.All Lily has to do is solve 12 clues to find 12 keys. They can’t leave the house or use their phones to solve the clues. The prize is the deed to the manor house. She doesn’t want the house, but the clues will also reveal who really killed Lily’s mother. Lily just has to outsmart her estranged cousins who have their own reasons for desiring the house. It soon becomes apparent that not everyone is playing fairly.Trapped in the house during a snowstorm, the game turns deadly when cousins end up dead. Can Lily survive and claim the inheritance or will she be next in the deadly Christmas Game?Overall, I really loved this story! It felt like the movie Knives Out. It was really fun. I think the murder mystery aspect set during the 12 days of Christmas was fun. I really enjoyed the games within the game. I think that makes it more fun for the readers. I think things got a little muddled towards the end. It had felt like a slow burn and then things progressed a lot quicker, so it felt slightly rushed. I did really like the ending, but there were a couple things that didn’t make sense to me. It felt a little wrapped up too nicely. But I will definitely check out more books by this author.I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys family drama murder mysteries!I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The best thing about this book is the cover--it's truly a perfect cover, the shiniest example of "truth in advertising" you can ask for.As for the story itself: I am not a fan of first person narrative, and I particularly dislike third person present tense; it feels too much like reading stage directions (Lily walks, eats, drinks, speaks, thinks), and keeps the reader at a distance from the character.It works in this case, because it creates a feeling of claustrophobia that, together with the setting, serves the plot. Which is to say, despite disliking the narrative voice, I still read this in one sitting.Here I disclose that the word puzzles were wasted on me; I can see that writing them into the story must have taken considerable work, but they do nothing for readers like me. The good news is that the mystery works well regardless.The characters, Lily included, felt flat and more like a collection of traits, there to serve specific functions, than people, and there were too many murders, but, as I said above, the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading. I don't know that I would read another book by the author, especially not one as gimmicky as this one.I can absolutely see the appeal for people who enjoy word puzzles at least as much as they enjoy mysteries, and who won't quibble about the absurdity of the premise, which is why I'm giving it the full four stars (8 out of 10)

I loved this story about relatives solving puzzles 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.

This book was so much fun and I read it in one sitting! If you’re looking for a cozy mystery, this is NOT it though. Full of murder and deceit, this locked-room mystery is a nod to Agatha Christie’s 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦.What makes it different is the inclusion of games for the reader! Two games are listed in the beginning to work on (if you want) while reading and the acknowledgements include a word search.The story itself is packed with riddles for the estranged cousins to solve in order to find twelve keys, one on each of the twelve days of Christmas. The amount of thought that went into the clues alone made the read so much more fun.Grief, acceptance, and suicide are some of the tough topics many of the characters work through during their twelve day lock-in. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt the last few days of the game were more rushed than the first few. I wanted more which is a good thing! I loved this book and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Agatha Christie and, more recently, Alice Feeney’s 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳.I received an advanced copy and all thoughts are my own.

Rating: 3.2/5Firstly, I would like to point out that although this is entitled "The Christmas Murder Game" it could equally well be read at any time of year and I hope people do not dismiss is as purely a seasonal read. In this respect it shares something in common with Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party".This is an enjoyable murder mystery with some fun elements that has its roots firmly in the "Golden Age" tradition, but with something of a modern day makeover. Following the death of her Aunt Liliana, Lily attends Endgame House, the manor house that will form the central part of the estate to be inherited. She is joined there by her cousins and their significant others. Under the terms of the will the potential beneficiaries must participate in one final version of the annual Christmas Game that Aunt Liliana loved to arrange when she was alive. It is a pre-condition of winning the ultimate prize that the participants must remain in the house for the full twelve days of Christmas - but will they all live that long?There is more than a hint of Christie's classic "And Then There Were None" to the format - though that observation could be made about any number of latter day locked room style murder mysteries. Alexandra Benedict has generally succeeded in transposing the action to a modern day setting, while still retaining the feel and atmosphere that is associated with a story from the "Golden Age". The cast of characters are generally engaging, if not always likeable. The author has also tried to introduce an element of uniqueness by setting the reader some puzzles of their own to solve along the way, in addition to the usual "whodunnit?" question.On the whole, I found this to be an enjoyable read that is well-paced and holds the attention. Stylistically it is a little awkward at times and comes across as a bit clunky on occasion, though this is a result - at least in part - of incorporating the reader's challenge into the narrative.Nonetheless, this is an interesting variation on an established theme and should provide fans of the genre with a worthwhile and entertaining read.

The book says: ‘do you have what it takes to survive?’ I ask: ‘do you have what it takes to read this?’ It is appalling badly written. Take the opening two lines. ‘Snow is falling. Because it is’. And from then on we have to read more of the same. Where did the author dig up the metaphors - ‘time treacles’, ‘snow landing on the tongue like peppermint feathers’. Snow landing on her coat ‘turning it into steampunk chain mail’. It is an endless dribble of badly constructed sentences sprinkled with non sequiturs and woeful metaphors. After a few pages I gave up and returned the book. Don’t bother. As for the clues: nothing subtle here. Anagrams of a Christmas song. Buy something else. And if it’s a present, definitely buy something else! In fact, this book qualifies as the very worst read ever. It wouldn’t pass a GCSE in English. I had some great books for Christmas including best sellers in Spanish. Life is too short for such excruciating writing. Buy ‘The Appeal’ by Janice Hallett for a murder mystery. Rave reviews. ST best seller. Totally engaging, brilliantly written and a unique approach to a mystery. You need your wits about you. That can’t be said of the reviewed book.

I had really high hopes for this but the characters were annoying and not easy to like wasn't rooting for any of them ,the premise of this book is very Agatha Christie but without the great plot twists and exciting elements added it was flat, boring and predictable but passed on an few hours

Lily Armitage is not pleased when she receives an invite to take part in a traditional Christmas game from her Aunt, which is taking place at Endgame House, a place she hasn’t visited in the 21 years since her Mother’s death.The invite states that the game will need her to solve 12 clues, and to find 12 keys. The reward if she does? The deeds to Endgame House. But Lily doesn’t really have an interest or desire to win the home where her Mother died, she does however want to know what really happened to her Mother, and perhaps the game will shed more light on this.Lily isn’t the sole player of the game, her cousins are also competing against her to claim the house for themselves. 12 days of Christmas, 12 clues, 12 keys, 12 days at Endgame House. Can she trust anyone there, and will her cousins play fair? With a snowstorm cutting them off from the rest of the world, Lily could be playing for her life too.I enjoyed this book, especially because you could play along with the game whilst reading. I admit I didn’t work out any of the puzzles, anagrams or sonnets myself, but thought that they were cleverly written when the answers were revealed. The book is fast paced and cuts straight to the action which made it really easy to read.I didn’t find myself connecting to any of the characters in the story, but the book does keep you guessing the true motives of each character and how trustworthy they are.Festive, and fun. A perfect Christmas/Winter read.

I saw this book recommended all over the place and decided to give it a go as a good Christmas read and a good distraction from visiting family!The plot was interesting, the whole family returns to their family pad to work through several games set by their recently deceased Auntie, whoever wins will own the house and can do as they wish with it. There are allegiances formed, past relationships and issues come into play, dislikes and likes from their childhoods and they all work towards finding each of the twelve keys to win the game. Alongside there are several murders but who could be doing them in this snowed in and deserted area?The plot builds well, there are many funny moments as well as the focus of the game, the clues are well developed and interesting. You can try to solve the clues yourself in this Cluedo style mystery, not that I’m any good at that! The plot is well-paced and holds your attention well.The characters are varied and not all likeable. Lily, the main character, spends a long time agonising over life, the universe and where she is headed which can be a little tedious, the only thing she is sure about is that she doesn’t want to win the house, just to find out who killed her mother, if indeed anyone did. We spend a lot of time with lily memories which in some cases are wonderful and heart-warming, in others are a little boring. The other characters varied from the sarcastic and unlikeable to the truly loveable, but all are not who they seem to be at first glance (which is quite predictable) and there are a few twists I didn’t see coming.I was confused as to why Lily was hiding her pregnancy and what real relevance it had to the story. The murders are a little unbelievable, but I didn’t feel that it necessarily had to be believable, it was a nice escape from reality for a couple of hours and despite being set at Christmas it could be read at any time.