This is a fun mystery. It is a bit repetitive in places. The house was very atmospheric. The characters were well developed and some were more likeable than others. A good Christmas book

I had high hopes but this Christmas thriller just wasn't it. The characters were very flat and I found myself guessing the plot easily. The writing was not great and overall I hoped for much more.

An interesting take on the old 'snowed-in at a big old house' murder mystery. I read this twice as my book group decided to select it a year after I first read it but I still found enough to surprise me on the second read. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre in exchange for an honest review.

I could not be more in love with this book if I tried.

The Christmas Murder Game is the story of Lily, a girl whose aunt has just died but has left behind one last puzzle. The owner of a large manor house, her aunt was responsible for designing cryptic Christmas games for them to play as children. Now she has designed one last game for her relatives to play. The prize? Inheriting the entire estate. Lily herself isn't interested until she is told that solving the game will also help give her additional information about her own mother's death many years prior.

This book is an absolute blast to read. It's perfect for fans of old school murder mysteries and there are plenty of staples of the genre to be found here (large house, bickering relatives, cryptic riddles). There is also plenty to keep it fresh and interesting. I think a book like this can live or die by its characters, and every single one of these felt like real and interesting people. This really helps the book be a nod to classic murder mysteries without feeling tired or cliché.

Another delightful bonus is the puzzles woven throughout the text for the reader to spot. The framing of the novel is the 12 days of Christmas, and fittingly there are anagrams of each of the lines of the song hidden throughout. There are also the names of murder mystery novels set in old houses hidden throughout as well. I did find these interfered somewhat with my immersion, but ultimately it was a very fun idea and I did get a delightful sense of smugness whenever I managed to spot one.

Overall, if you like the idea of this book then you will not be disappointed. It is rare to find a modern murder mystery which captures the atmosphere and intrigue of a classic one, and especially for a seasonal thriller I haven't read anything which comes close. It's an absolute must read for fans of the genre.

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

This was in intense locked room mystery. With some edge of your seat moments throughout.
While I failed to correctly guess the reveals I still enjoyed trying to work them out. I do feel looking back I should have guessed one as they were painted as hateful and overall just the most unlikeable of the group.
I do feel Lily's grief and memories felt a little repetitive by the end. But I understand why they were brought up so often.

This is a fantastic premise for a murder mystery – the main character is isolated with her family for the festive season and has to solve a riddle every day while they are picked off one-by-one. I love the idea of the in-story and ex-story puzzles throughout, and all of the word games – so clever! And yet, the book just didn’t work for me, unfortunately.

Firstly, the language felt far too overwritten. This was obviously to fit in said word games and puzzles, plus an insistence into hammering Christmas references into every metaphor, simile or descriptive passage. It was fun at first, but quickly became exhausting and intrusive to the reading experience.

Then there were the characters. Main character Lily is mainly presented through flashbacks to her childhood trauma, so it is understandable that her present self is a little flat in affect, but the other characters also lack depth. The best and most obvious example of this is that family members are being murdered all around them, and yet they continue to make jokes and solve puzzles as the bodies pile up and it becomes clear there is a murderer among them. There is just no real emotional reaction to make the stakes feel real or the danger feel present.

And, to this reader at least, the whole motive felt unconvincing, as it wasn’t obvious why anyone would want the house particularly. But even if they desperately do, Lily makes it clear on arrival that she doesn’t (at least, until provoked, anyway), so why not just let her have it and then quietly hand it over to whoever want it more, and save all the fuss and bloodshed?!

I’m quite sad, because I really wanted to love this book, and did enjoy some aspects of it, but found it just got too much with the jarring, crow-barred imagery and strangely emotionless characters. I think this is a brilliant concept which must have been incredibly difficult to execute, and unfortunately, that difficulty carries through to the reading of it as well.

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Well, our Christmas hasn't quite gone to plan thus far, with out festivities having been scuppered by COVID not once, but twice. So it's just been me and the boyfriend, which has been lovely, but to me Christmas is all about spending time with lots of family and friends, so it hasn't quite been the celebration we've envisaged. However, we've made the most of it – indulging in far too much food and cheesy movies and lots of time for reading. We've barely moved from the sofa, to be fair! However, being honest, we both needed some chill time anyway, so perhaps it wasn't the Christmas we wanted but the Christmas we needed.

One of the titles I've been getting stuck into over the past few days has been @a.k.benedict's THE CHRISTMAS MURDER GAME, a country-house murder mystery with twists at every turn, and a cast of characters to evoke every emotion. I enjoyed the book, especially working out the clues laid for the characters as well as the additional ones that the author has slipped in for the reader (although, I must admit my brain missed most of them!), and I think this a fun, albeit, quite dark read for the festive holidays.

If you like murder mysteries with a difference, this is a fun title to while away the hours this betwixtmas!
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Unfortunately I was unable to read this because I couldn't download the app on my ancient ipad. I have since bought a Kindle but this title has been archived.

This is an isolated setting murder mystery, at Christmastime, in the Yorkshire Dales,with an inheritance as the main prize - except people keep dying and also you aren't allowed to leave. A very good, although not new and largely unbelievable, premise. Oh also, the author has places some puzzles for you to do throughout the book.

Had a good time reading this, bit slow in places, and nothing too exciting happened, but it was a nice Christmassy read. Would recommend it as a generic thriller. Oh and everyone's gay. Which is nice 😌

Big thanks to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK, and the author for the e-ARC. Available to buy now.

Four star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed The Christmas Murder Game. It is suspenseful, full of twists and surprises, and so well-written that I found it difficult to put it down. I liked the setting of a big remote house, with its many rooms and also a maze, where it become very easy to get rid of someone.

The characters are intriguing and suspicious. Everyone has its own motive to take part in the game, inheritance aside, and, at one time or other, I suspected everyone and I didn’t see the truth coming.

Unfortunately this book failed to hold my interest.

The characters did not hold my interest, I didn’t feel very motivated to look into the mystery and the house setting didn’t capture my imagination.

I tried to stay alert to look for the word clues but I kept finding my mind wandering.

It reminded me a bit of Scarlett Thomas which I also found to be style over feeling. I’m afraid I just didn’t connect here so won’t be sharing my review on my blog.

fun and light, sorry for the late review. a tacit recommend to others who like christmas and crimes.

An enjoyable book from Alexandra Benedict. As an English teacher I loved the many references to Christina Rossetti and thought the sonnets were cleverly constructed to reveal the locations of the keys. A cracking Yuletide read.

I enjoyed the book and the back story of the characters and the setting of End Game House. I really liked the narrator. I guessed who the murderer was quite early on and I like to be surprised so that is why it gets 4 stars instead of 5. It was a good story with plenty of action and suspense. A gripping story about families, lies and secrets.
You will enjoy if you like a dysfunctional family trapped in a snowy house with no escape !
4 stars ****

A locked room, or in this case, a locked house murder mystery, the book had the potential to be beaucoup exciting. This was my first book by author Alexandra Benedict. The clues written in the entire book caught my eye, I loved trying to solve them. It was like a scavenger hunt.

Lily’s aunt had left her a house in will with conditions where she and the rest of her cousins had to solve the clues to get all the keys, including the key to the hidden room. Whoever would get to the secret first would win the house. That sounded so exciting as I started reading the book. The clues written in were terrific, not that I could solve any. The author’s research into the subplots of the story was obvious.

Lily was interesting. Having lost her mother in the maze of this book, she had to find her courage to get to the bottom of it. Her mind was like a trap that never forgot anything taught by her elders. I liked that. Then the murders started occurring one by one. I could guess the killer right in the first few chapters. I spent the rest of my time getting to how Lily solved it.

The prose had a lot of simile and comparisons that made it not so thrilling to read. It was clunky, and some parts were a struggle to read. Only the concept compelled me to continue reading. Overall, a good locked room mystery.

Who does not like a Christmas thriller set within a traditional country house murder scenario? I think most of us do, and this book was a cut above many of them.

It undoubtedly contained all the usual tropes one would expect to find in a story of this kind but what elevates this above the average is the wonderful writing. It has a lyricism in the narrative that made it a pleasure to read. Ms Benedict's use of simile and metaphor was inspired.

Puzzle lovers will particularly enjoy this as it is possible to play along with solving the clues but from the safety of your own armchair. For the characters in the book, no such safety exists and the body count soon mounts up.

There was much of this novel that was predictable to anyone familiar with the genre but that did not make it any less entertaining or enjoyable to read.

This is my favourite Christmas themed book that I have read in a while and I hope that you enjoy it every bit as much as I did.

I had high(ish) hopes for this Christmas murder mystery. Sadly, this just not my cup of tea. It felt a little flat and bland and, at the same time, far too complex and complicated.

Some readers will devour this, but just not for me.

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!!!

If you are thinking of gifting a book to someone this festive period and you know they are a fan of classic crime, locked room mysteries or love a story with some puzzles to work on as the story unfolds then AK Benedict’s The Christmas Murder Game is the book you should be wrapping for that person. If you are also a fan of those things then I would recommend getting a second copy for yourself. This one is FUN.

Okay maybe it isn’t fun for the victims in the story, all members of the same family who have been called to the family home, Endgame House, after the death of the family matriach. In years gone by all the children in the family would take part in the Christmas Game where clues were provided and had to be solved with presents at stake. Lily loved the games and knew Endgame House so well that she could easily solve the clues, however, she didn’t enjoy the tempers from some of the family members who fared less well so she shrunk into the background and let others claim the prizes.

Years earlier Lily vowed never to return to Endgame House after her mother died, leaving Lily to fend for herself at far too young an age. But it was her aunt’s dying wish that all the family (Lily included) return to Endgame House to pay the Christmas Game one last time as her death meant someone had to win the Game to win Endgame House. With a huge ancestral home going to the winner the former hotel is filled with squabbling kin who all want to best the other.

There will be daily clues and the chance to win keys. The correct key will open the door to a secret room hidden within Endgame House and for the winner the whole house. Lawyers have been consulted and the competition will be legally binding but only the family and a housekeeper will be resident during the twelve days of Christmas while the game plays out. The fact the guests all arrive as a heavy blizzard descends means they will all be trapped within Endgame House irrespective of how the rules were devised. Nobody can get in, nobody can get out so when one of their number is found dead there is only one possible truth – there is a killer in their midst who will stop at nothing to win the Christmas Game and take ownership of Endgame House.

AK Benedict has worked wonders with this story. It’s a Christie-esk murder tale. It’s Doctor Who’s Robots of Death (without the robots) and it’s a puzzle fan’s dream as there are anagram challenges and christmas books to identify which the author has peppered through each “day of Christmas”. I will confess to doing badly at those challenges but I had lots of fun trying (stress trying) to do well!

Lily shines through this story and she drives the narration. There are unexplained and unusual incidents, creepy noises from empty parts of the house and a murderer in their midst but Lily also has to contend with a return to the place of her mother’s death and that is hitting much harder than she had expected. Lily is beautifully written and I got much more invested into her plight than I ever did with the procession of characters Dame Agatha tripped out in her English Country Manor tales.

The Christmas Murder Game has the feel of a classic crime thriller but is very much a modern tale – when a Playstation was mentioned at one point it made me realise this wasn’t a book written in the Golden Age of crime fiction though I had that sepia tinted impression a number of times.

This is the perfect time of year to be picking up this book but don’t take too long and risk spoilers, the fun really is in not knowing where this story will take you. Charming with some nasty murders – great fun!

The perennial popularity of festive murder mysteries, particularly Agatha Christie means The Christmas Murder Game should find its way onto scores of Christmas lists this year. With it's sinister, rather Gothic setting and an interactive element to really engage the sleuthing prowess of its readers, it's a wonderfully engaging combination of And Then There Were None and Cluedo.
Lily Armitage is lured back to the childhood home she has avoided for years by a posthumous letter from her aunt, promising to let her know the truth about what really happened to her mother. Lily's memories of Endgame House and Christmas itself are tainted by her Mariana's apparent suicide on Boxing Day when she was eleven. In the past, Lily and her cousins used to be challenged to play the Christmas Game, solving the cryptic clues and riddles which led them to their presents and an extra gift for the person who figured out the final clue.
The stakes are much higher here because the winner will receive the deeds to Endgame House but all Lily wants is to learn who killed her mum. Lily is first to arrive but soon joined by the cousins she grew up with and it immediately becomes apparent that this isn't going to be a warm and joyful family reunion. The Christmas Murder Game simmers with the sort of bitter tension that only comes from families teeming with bitter resentments and jealousies. As they bicker and reminisce, it's ominously obvious that some will stop at nothing to win Endgame House and as they puzzle, cheat and usurp their through the clues, readers have their own challenge - something I failed miserably at!
Throughout the book, Alexandra Benedict has cleverly hidden twelve anagrams and being a Christmas story where the characters have to solve twelve puzzles, to find twelve keys until the winner is declared on Twelfth Night, it probably won't come as a surprise to learn that each anagram is one of the twelve gifts of Christmas. They are craftily embedded into the narrative and I cheerfully admit that I was hopeless at spotting them! A second game invites readers to spot the titles of twelve country house mysteries set at Christmas which are scattered throughout the book and I had a little more success here although still didn't really cover myself in glory...
However, as the body count rises at Endgame House I was better at figuring out whodunnit - or at least I thought I was. Heavy snowfall, an oppressively grand house of secrets and memories and Aunt Liliana's strict rules of the game turn this into a locked room mystery where the description chilling proves to be apt in more ways than one. The cousins and their spouses are trapped together but although their rooms are comfortable and they are kept supplied with a seemingly endless supply of festive fare, any half-hearted celebrations are swiftly curtailed by the first shocking murder and those that follow. There's only a small cast of characters present and with one likely to be a murderer, Lily has to confront her heartbreaking memories and decide who she can trust.
The characterisation is excellent throughout; Lily's reliance on the reproduction corsets she makes symbolise her need to keep her secrets close to her and her emotions buttoned up but as the novel progresses and she loosens the stays, she begins to discover what it is she really needs and wants from her return to the house which still haunts her. Meanwhile, her complicated relationship with her cousin, Sara forms one of the most interesting parts of the plot. Sara is acerbically sarcastic but it's impossible not to feel some pity for her as it becomes evident that her mother, Liliana was a complex person who nourished and belittled in almost equal measure - except while Lily perhaps benefitted most from her more generous nature, Sara was never quite good enough.
Her constant sniping and stone-cold responses to the tragedies raise a guilty smile at times, she is undoubtedly awful but such a fantastic character; the very epitome of somebody you love to hate. Thankfully there are more supportive family members for Lily to turn to but she is warned that confiding in others is a risk and the tension rises inexorably as Twelfth Night draws nearer. The superbly atmospheric sense of place becomes almost unbearably claustrophobic as the book reaches its pulse-raising conclusion but there's hope as well as intrigue in this contemporary twist on a much-loved theme.
While Alexandra Benedict pays homage to other country house murder mysteries, it's a more poignant story and is a beautifully written exploration of family dynamics, grief and healing as well as a compelling whodunnit. Poetic, immersive and imbued with heart as well as an icy bite, The Christmas Murder Game is the perfect read to snuggle up with in the bleak midwinter! Highly recommended.