Twelve clues.
Twelve keys.
Twelve days of Christmas.
But who will survive until Twelfth Night?
Lily Armitage never intended to return to Endgame House - the grand family home where her mother died twenty-one Christmases ago. Until she receives a letter from her aunt, asking her to return to take part in an annual tradition: the Christmas Game. The challenge? Solve twelve clues, to find twelve keys. The prize? The deeds to the manor house.
Lily has no desire to win the house. But her aunt makes one more promise: The clues will also reveal who really killed Lily's mother all those years ago.
So, for the twelve days of Christmas, Lily must stay at Endgame House with her estranged cousins and unravel the riddles that hold the key not just to the family home, but to its darkest secrets. 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.
As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, the game turns deadly. Soon Lily realises that she is no longer fighting for an inheritance, but for her life.
This Christmas is to die for . . . Let the game begin
It's the final First Monday Crime of 2021 this evening; join the December panel - Emma Haughton (The Dark), Sarah Hilary (Fragile), Alexandra Benedict (The Christmas Murder Game) and Martin Walker (Bruno's Challenge and Other Dordogne Tales ) in conversation with Jake Kerridge live on the First Monday Facebook page at 7:30pm. Many thanks to Joy Kluver for inviting me to review for First Monday and to Zaffre Books for my copy of The Christmas Murder Game, received through Netgalley.
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.
The Christmas Murder Game is published by Zaffre Books and can be purchased from bookshop.org, Hive, Waterstones and Amazon or from your favourite independent bookshop.
About the Author
soundtracks, as well as performing as a musician before becoming a full-time writer in 2012. As A. K. Benedict, she published the critically acclaimed The Beauty of Murder and The Evidence of Ghosts.
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