The Christmas Murder Game

A pregnant woman wanders around her old family mansion in fruity outfits trying to come to terms with her homosexuality and impending motherhood, while simultaneously trying to solve some riddles that will supposedly enable her to inherit the house and simultaneously solve her own mother’s decades-old murder.

One of my biggest pet peeves is books that purport to be one thing when they are actually something else entirely. This is one of those books. All of the descriptions, blurbs and summaries of this book focus on it being a mystery…only it’s not really. Mysteries & puzzles serve as a kind of a backdrop, but it’s mostly a book about lesbian relationships. There are 11 principle characters in the narrative action of the show more book—more than half of whom are lesbians. And, with one notable exception, all of the villains and/or victims are the heterosexual characters. All of this against a backdrop of a protagonist who spends a good deal of her time reminiscing about her childhood, lesbian romance & talking to her unborn daughter wondering if she really wants to have her. So, the bulk of the book is essentially the protagonist’s internal evaluation of her life choices, as well as a generic ode to the beauty of lesbian relationships. That’s fine if that is the kind of book a reader is looking for, but it certainly isn’t what I signed up for. Why do the author and publisher feel the need to deceive their customers & deliberately go out of their way to conceal important descriptive facts from their potential readers?

Aside from the bait & switch nature of the book’s genre, there are a lot of reasons to hate The Christmas Murder Game. Here are just a few of the book’s many lowlights:

This self-proclaimed mystery has no real mystery to speak of. The author presents us with 3 ‘mysteries’ to solve:
1) Who will succeed in inheriting Endgame House?
2) Who was responsible for the mysterious deaths of Armitage family members decades ago?
3) Who is responsible for the more recent murders of Armitage family members?

Since this is really a book about Lily’s internal dialogue & mental problems, the author doesn’t really want the reader worrying about these ‘mysteries’ for too long so she tells the readers the answers pretty early on—almost from the beginning.

(Spoilers, but of the author’s own making.)

Who will inherit Endgame? Well, because of a loophole the attorney spells out on Day One, we learn that—no matter what happens—Lily will be inheriting Endgame House. That basically renders the entire inheritance game of riddle solving pointless.

Who committed the murders from decades ago? Well, thanks to flashbacks of Lily’s memories, we are explicitly given the answer to the question of who killed Lily’s mother. (Not that there were that many suspects from which to choose anyway.) The remaining two deaths are a moot point==there is only one character around who could have done it, so not much of a mystery there.

The final question of who is committing all the murders in the present day isn’t left to the imagination. Characters who are ‘in the know’ repeatedly tell Lily that she can’t & shouldn’t trust anyone...ANYONE. Yup. That pretty much tells the reader that the character Lily trusts implicitly is also going to prove to be the mastermind behind the killings—not a lot of suspense there, either. Boo, hiss.

The author is so focused on lesbian affairs, unwanted pregnancies, & Lily’s angst, that she doesn’t put a lot of effort into the mystery aspect of the book, much to the chagrin of avid mystery readers.

Another monumental problem that rears its ugly head in this novel on numerous occasions is the fact that none of the characters act like normal human beings. So many of their actions & responses fly out of the realm of believability…

A large group of people are required to spend the 12 Days of Christmas at an isolated country mansion & to hand over all of their electronic devices to prevent contact with the outside world. However, the people in charge of this whole debacle who are lurking on the periphery don’t keep their own phones? Even if those are the ‘official rules’ of the game…Seriously? Zero sense.

Lily doesn’t want the house. The last person in the world she wants to win the house is her cousin, Sara. There are several other likeable cousins who, arguably, need the house. Yet, when Lily wins one of the game keys, she gives it to…Sara??? Not one of the cousins she actually likes, who are eager to win the house? As I said…Zero sense. And Benedict’s lame attempts to explain these things away only succeed in making the book seem even dumber.

Not to mention the fact that, as more & more people are brutally murdered, no one seems to be all that concerned & the remaining survivors just continue to play the game to keep their minds occupied. What?! If a complete stranger were murdered in close proximity, most regular people would be distressed. If family members (whether or not they were liked) were being systematically knocked off one by one, everyone would be off the charts distraught (& scared). Not these people, though. (They’re not even fazed by a little incest. Oh, boy!) Alexandra Benedict really needs a course in human psychology; she doesn’t seem to have any clue how people would react in any given circumstance.

If you can believe it, the absolute worst part of the book was the protagonist’s fashion choices. On Day One Lily is described as wearing a costume that makes her look like a giant poinsettia. She is subsequently described as dressing like: a chocolate truffle, a blackbird, & a champagne flute. I kept having visions of a massive fruitcake wandering around acting like…well, a massive fruitcake. Not only did it not contribute anything to the story, it actually detracted from it. Lily was really detestable and needed to be put away rather than inflicted on an unsuspecting reading public.

After this abysmal fiasco, I’ll be avoiding further titles from Alexandra Benedict & from Poisoned Pen Press. show less

The Christmas Murder Game is an inventive and clever story of family rivalries. The Armitage cousins return to Endgame House, the large country house in Yorkshire where they spent much of their childhood. Lily feels the most attachment to it as she spent more time there than the others and it's where her beloved mother died. The game itself, set by Lily's aunt, takes place over the twelve days of Christmas and centres around solving cryptic clues and finding keys. The victor wins Endgame House.

This is a book that sounds like it ought to be cosy crime set in the past but it's most definitely contemporary and a serious crime thriller. There are clues throughout the book that were way too clever for me to solve but which I enjoyed show more watching the characters try to work out. The author plotted the story perfectly and to great effect and is obviously a master clue-solver herself!

Lily is a great heroine, very intelligent, quite introverted, and very likeable. There are a couple of other characters I really liked but there were also some thoroughly unpleasant ones too. There were some unexpected events at Endgame House and not everybody is what they seem. I'm left feeling very glad I'm not a part of the Armitage family.

The Christmas Murder Game puts a new spin on the country house whodunnit, an atmospheric locked room style mystery with a frantic dash to collect the keys and win the game. It felt a bit like being in a game of Cluedo and I thought it made a nice change to the usual Christmas reading fare. show less

What a great Christmasy, old-fashioned “whodunnit”! It’s written similarly to Clue or an Agatha Christie book with a lot of twists and turns, mistrust of nearly everyone, alliances, secrets, and even a few humorous moments. And don’t forget - murders!

If you are looking for a thriller, this is NOT your book. However, if you want an easy page-turner that keeps you guessing, this fits the bill. Lily Armitage and her cousins will entertain you while making you shake your head at their distrust, pettiness, traumas, and dramas. The lengths some will go to in order to inherit the family home . . .

Lily Armitage isn't surprised her grandmother finally passes away, but she isn't sure how she feels about returning to the family estate, Endgame House and playing one last Christmas Game with her cousins for the deed to the house. Lily's mother died there, so puzzles abound, both in the past and in the present day of the game. Of course, they are snowed in almost immediately and the game takes dark turns as people struggle to learn who to trust.

This is a contemporary country house murder mystery, done in the style of Christie's "And Then There Were None". It's got a twisty plot with a complex backstory that doesn't get fully explained. The characters are there to support the narrator's role as a victim, but never seem to take on a life of their own. The setting of the family home, converted into a convention centre, suits the plot although it never seems to come into its own to support the story. The storytelling is complicated with riddles and word puzzles, which requires real engagement on the part of the reader. Some may like the challenge of solving them. It's not an easy read, although the author has put plenty of thought and creativity into her work and deserves credit show more for that. show less

The Christmas Murder Game is Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" meets the board game Clue, and I am totally here for it!

Lily grew up at Endgame House but left after her mother committed suicide inside the garden maze, and she never looked back. Now, her Aunt Liliana has died and requested Lily's presence at Endgame for one last Christmas game with her cousins, and at the end Lily will find out what really happened to her mother and possibly be the new owner of Endgame House. She doesn't want the house, but her curiosity surrounding the death of her mother gets the better of her and she finds herself in a place she never thought she'd be...and the ghosts of Endgame House are coming out to play. Who will survive and win the show more Christmas Game?

This was definitely a slow burn and took a bit to get into the main story, but once there I didn't even realize how interested I was in the mystery. I've seen some reviews that say this isn't a "Christmas book" and I don't really know what they're talking about. Do they mean this isn't a feel-good happy ending book? Because I feel like the word MURDER in the title gives away that there is mystery and suspense, not nice cozy romance happy ending. Yes, this is set at a country manor at Christmas with tons of snow falling, but that doesn't mean you can only read it at Christmastime.

Lily is a likeable protagonist, and you want her to win, even though she's sabotaging her chances. She's always had the ability to solve Liliana's puzzles, but even when they were kids she'd let the others win. Now, she needs to solve not just the daily puzzles, but the long-ago murder of her mother...and Tom is going to help her. The cousin she's always felt the closest to, he's determined to help Lily win and when people start dying, he's willing to do anything to keep her alive. No one can stop Sara's crusade to be the winner and finally have the deed to Endgame House, and Gray will do whatever he can to help her. Rachel and Holly are just happy to be there and be with family. Philippa has a plan for her and Ronnie to run Endgame after Lily wins it, but someone puts a stop to that plan. Most of them think that Lily will win, but Sara is doing her hardest to keep that from happening. Who will end up the heir to Endgame House?

All in all, a great mystery read. With so many people trapped inside this manor house, there are a lot of suspects, but who would be willing to commit the ultimate crime to win the Christmas Game? If you enjoy novels with riddles, puzzles, and lots of clues, then you'll enjoy this book. Keep your eyes out for who the killer is! show less

A last minute Instagram recommendation - the Christmas theme pulled me in! I'm not generally a reader of Agatha Christie and her ilk and most of the hidden and not so hidden nods to the golden age of detective fiction in this novel went over my head, but I enjoyed the clues in sonnet form. The characters not so much. Also the author's devotion to similes and metaphors drove me to distraction in the first few chapters - 'She tuts like a pissed-off clock'? What?

After the sudden death of her aunt, Lily Armitage reluctantly gives up her self-contained existence in London to return to the family home, Endgame, in Yorkshire. In a last letter, Aunt Liliana has promised that the truth behind the alleged suicide of her mother, Mariana, in the show more maze at Endgame some twenty years earlier will be revealed - but first Lily has to play the Christmas game, a family tradition which used to promise extra presents after a cryptic treasure hunt but will now decide who inherits the house. Lily wants nothing to do with the family estate and is only seeking answers and closure at a significant time in her life. Her cousins - Liliana's children Sara and Gray, her uncle Edward's sons Tom and Ronnie, along with Ronnie's wife Philippa - are serious about the game, however. Deadly serious. When the housekeeper, Mrs Castle, begins to set the clues, following the instructions in Liliana's will, dark secrets are threatened with exposure and someone will go to any lengths to claim their inheritance, even killing the competition.

I'm sure this is a classic detective trope - And Then There Were None springs to mind - but the plot reminded me more of a Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) episode titled 'It's Supposed to be Thicker Than Water', where distant cousins are invited to a country pile and then nobbled one by one because they stand to inherit a fortune already earmarked by a faithful retainer. Of course, that made me suspect the wrong people in this story! I'm never very good at picking out the killer and rarely try to anticipate the unravelling of the story but I had two suspects and both were wrong - like Lily, I suppose I'm just a terrible judge of character!

Apart from suffering from a near fatal case of 'final girl' syndrome, constantly walking into danger and confiding in the wrong people, I didn't wholly object to Lily like some reviewers. The author's writing style and woke asides - a random Twittering about how she finds 'A Fairytale of New York' and 'Baby It's Cold Outside' objectionable is shoehorned in - can make Lily's introspective nature seem rather overbearing but she's a worthy protagonist in the end, quiz smart if not always street smart. Could have done without the 'dark blue eyes shot through with skeins of green', though. This is not a romance novel. (Guess what colour cousin Gray's eyes are?)

The themes are a little heavy-handed - Endgame House? Mrs Castle the housekeeper? - and I doubt anyone would be as cavalier about violent death outside of a murder mystery novel with fancy clues driving the plot, but I was entertained and intrigued enough to keep reading. show less