Title- The Christmas Murder Game
Author- Alexandra Benedict
Series- N/A
Published- 2021
Page Count- 353 pages
Publishing House- Bonnier Books
Genre- murder mystery, Christmas
Rating- 3/5 stars
About the Author
A K Benedict read English at Cambridge and Creative Writing at the University of Sussex. She writes in a room filled with mannequins, clowns and teapots.
Her debut novel, The Beauty of Murder (Orion), was shortlisted for an eDunnit award and is in development for an 8-part TV series. Her second novel, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts (Orion), was published in February 2016 and The Stone House, a tie-in novel for Doctor Who spin-off Class, was published by BBC Books in October.
Taken from Alexandra's website.
Plot
Follow the clues. Find the fortune. Solve the Mystery. This Christmas is to die for. Let the game begin...
'Endgame has kept our secrets for half a century, now it's time for it, and its secrets, to have a new owner.'
When Lily returns home to her aunt's manor house, she discovers that in order to inherit, she and her estranged cousins must stay together over the Christmas week and take part in a family tradition: the annual treasure hunt. But as they are drawn deeper into the game, the clues seem to point not to the deeds to the manor house, but to the key to a twenty-year-old mystery: what really happened to Lily's mother?
As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, it becomes apparent that the game has turned deadly and that Lily is fighting for more than just an inheritance: she is now fighting for her life. Does she have what it takes to survive? 12 clues, 12 keys and 12 days of Christmas for the heirs of Endgame House to find their inheritance, but how many will die before Twelfth Night?
'Endgame has kept our secrets for half a century, now it's time for it, and its secrets, to have a new owner.'
When Lily returns home to her aunt's manor house, she discovers that in order to inherit, she and her estranged cousins must stay together over the Christmas week and take part in a family tradition: the annual treasure hunt. But as they are drawn deeper into the game, the clues seem to point not to the deeds to the manor house, but to the key to a twenty-year-old mystery: what really happened to Lily's mother?
As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, it becomes apparent that the game has turned deadly and that Lily is fighting for more than just an inheritance: she is now fighting for her life. Does she have what it takes to survive? 12 clues, 12 keys and 12 days of Christmas for the heirs of Endgame House to find their inheritance, but how many will die before Twelfth Night?
Taken from Goodreads
Opinions
I bought this on a whim at work because I wanted something festive to read as I really wasn't feeling festive. I had seen this on the shelf and thought it looked interesting. With hindsight, I wish I had read more reviews of it as I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise.
I think the best way of summarising how I feel about this book is that I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I enjoyed it. It was easy and fun to read. I read it in a few days when I wasn't feeling well and was having to commute for work, so it was nice to have something to take my mind off everything. There were also some great descriptions, such as "she tutted like a pissed off clock", which really made me chuckle. I thought that was a great description. Without looking too closely at the plot or the writing, this was actually an okay book. I originally gave it 3.5/5 stars, but after some consideration I decided to deduct the half star as it didn't feel right.
Now let's get to the other hand. Let's start with the quality of the writing. It wasn't that good. The author seemed very fond of odd similes that didn't quite work. It was good that they were thinking out of the box with their description, but the similes were really odd and ended up detracting from the point. The plot was also kinda predictable. I figured out quite early on that Tom was the murderer because it's always someone close to the main character. He was just a bit too nice and obsessed with Lily. Then there was the incest between cousins (which I think is a thing), that didn't sit well with me. Lily was also kinda a dull protagonist. She just kept on doing stupid things that put her in danger.
This book did have good LGBT+ rep, with gay and bisexual rep. It also called out biphobic people, which you don't often see. Overall, while this was a fun and easy read, I had a lot of problems with it and I wanted to write a quick review about it.
This is my last blog post of 2021, which is crazy to think. But to whoever is reading this, thank you for reading my little blog. I've had a lot of fun creating content this year and can't wait to see what I create in 2022!
What did you think of the Christmas Murder Game??
