The Christmas Murder Game: The must-read Christmas murder mystery

Product Information

But she is heading back after receiving a letter from her late Aunt Lilliana asking her to take part in the final Christmas Game. His voice is monotone, as flat as the pane of glass between him and the freezing fog that haunts the grounds. The characters either have one single defining personality trait (b***h, strong and silent, self-pitying trauma victim, or warm and friendly) or no personality at all (lesbians in love. Según van saliendo las pistas, que los protagonistas los resuelven en un min (esto me ha decepcionado un poco) la trama se va complicando. DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict for review.

They will be there, in every clue: the beginning and end of all that has haunted our family for so many years. However, it soon becomes clear that her cousins all have their own reasons for wanting to win the house – and not all of them are playing fair. It’s the kind of game that worsens already frayed relationships and incenses all those simmering resentments that build up when money and families are involved. At first, Lily finds the house and the memories it brings suffocating, but as she gets closer to discovering the truth of what happened to both her mother and her aunt, it’s as if the house changes and shifts with her, becoming less of a threat and more of an ally. She is a gifted dressmaker, rustling up copies of whatever her clients desire, living in a tiny place in London.In Lily, Benedict gives us an inspirational heroine to shout for – brave, determined and intensely human – as she sets her sights firmly on digging out the truth even as the bodies mount and her chances of surviving the twelve days of Christmas seem to recede by the hour. While this was a fun read, and I enjoyed the cryptic clues, I felt that the plot became a little repetitive and the identity of the villain didn't really come as any great surprise. After the death of Liliana Armitage, the last surviving member of her generation in the family, six cousins, two accompanied by partners, are invited to the family's Yorkshire mansion, Endgame House, for one last round of the traditional "Christmas Game". Interactions are depicted as containing "the restful quiet of two people who can be silent with each other settl[ing] over them like an extra duvet. On foreign soil, “officially and legally” they cannot gather evidence, question witnesses, or make arrests.

Thank you to Eleanor at Zaffre Books for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book. En este caso ya iba avisada por algunas amigas lectoras quela editorial había vendido una cosa que no era y es que publicitan que es un libro con acertijos para el lector.

Benedict weaves in clues for readers as well as her characters, feeding in twists designed to throw everyone off the scent, whilst the perpetrator lurks in the shadows, killing off their rivals in true And Then There Were None fashion. There’s just something undeniably eerie about a large country house with so much space for hiding things – be it bodies, clues, keys or secrets.

With thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. This all combined to completely enchant me and ensured that Alexandra Benedict is an author I will read anything, and most probably everything, from in the future. In summary, The Christmas Murder Game is an enjoyably macabre Christmas romp of a read, employing many familiar and beloved tropes of the genre.You know who's going to make it to the end because they're the only people with anything resembling a personality. Lily's prize differs however, as she is playing to discern which, amongst all those gathered, are keeping secrets about her mother's death. And when Lily and her cousins are stranded at the house by a snowstorm, things soon turn deadly, leaving Lily not only fighting for answers, but her life.