The Christmas Murder Game – 12 Days, 12 Puzzles But Surviving Will Be The Hard Part

Last Updated on August 6, 2026

Have you ever found yourself buying or downloading so many books that sometimes you even forget what some of them are? That’s exactly what happened to me with The Christmas Murder Game.

I can occasionally get carried away shopping on my kindle, especially when I don’t really know what kind of book I’m in the mood for. Recently though, I decided to have a look through the ‘unread’ category when I realised I had purchased this book, by Alexandra Benedict, last year.

It was like I’d found a little Christmas present so I happily settled in to read the story of Lily Armitage and her return to Endgame House.

It’s the kind of story that reminds me of Agatha Christie insofar as there is only setting, a series of puzzles and crimes, a limited number of characters, and the culprit can only be one of them.

Throw in an unsolved crime from the past, and an inheritance and suddenly it’s all to play for.

Lily Armitage

Lily Armitage grew up at Endgame House with her mother, aunt and grandmother. That is, until when she was 12-years-old, her mother died, followed soon after by her grandmother.

As soon as she turned 18 she left, never to return, breaking her aunt’s heart in the process.

Now in her 30s and living in London, Lily receives an unexpected invitation to return to Endgame House, her family’s grand estate, for the annual Christmas Game.

The game, initiated by her aunt Liliana, is a family tradition but this year it comes with higher stakes with the winner inheriting the deed to Endgame House itself.

While Lily initially has no interest in claiming the property, a letter from her recently deceased aunt Liliana changes everything by promising to reveal the truth about her mother’s murder.

The game involves solving twelve intricate riddles over the twelve days of Christmas, each leading to a key. The more keys you have the greater your chance of having the one that opens the door to the house and if it does, you win.

The Game Players

Playing the game are Lily and her five cousins plus two of their partners. And they are:

Sara: Lily’s hostile cousin, and Liliana’s daughter who harbors long-standing resentment towards Lily.

Gray: Sara’s younger brother, who maintains a better relationship with Lily but who lives in Sara’s shadow.

Ronnie Armitage (and his wife Philippa), Tom Armitage and Rachel Armitage (with her wife Holly), all of whom are the children of the now deceased Uncle Edward.

With incredibly strict instructions, Isabelle Stirling is the family lawyer who initiates the game and sets out the terms before departing.

And running the house and providing the clues is Mrs. Castle.

As the participants gather, they find themselves cut off from the outside world by heavy snowfall, with no phone lines and no internet access.

So, now we have the eight players and with Endgame House on the line the game begins…

The Back Story

Twenty-one years ago, Lily’s mother Mariana died at Endgame House under mysterious circumstances. While initially believed to be a suicide, Aunt Liliana’s posthumous letter suggests otherwise.

This long-buried family secret has haunted Lily throughout her life, affecting her relationship with the entire family and causing her to stay away from Endgame House for over two decades.

While Lily has absolutely no interest in winning the game or inheriting Endgame House, she does want to know what happened to her mother, so agrees to stay and play the game.

As the Christmas Game begins, the stakes escalate dramatically when participants start dying, and with everyone trapped due to the heavy snowfall, the novel quickly turns into a classic locked-room mystery scenario.

The Game

The game at Endgame House follows an intricate structure designed by the late Aunt Liliana, transforming the twelve days of Christmas into a deadly treasure hunt.

Each morning, the players receive a new riddle, crafted with cunning complexity, that leads to one of twelve hidden keys scattered throughout the sprawling estate.

These aren’t simple puzzles – they incorporate elements of the house’s history, family secrets, and classical references that challenge even the most intellectual participants.

What starts as an elaborate competition for inheritance quickly descends into something far more sinister. The discovery of each key brings not just progress toward the ultimate prize – a hidden room containing the deed to Endgame House – but also increases the tension among the players.

As family members begin to die under suspicious circumstances, the remaining participants must question whether finding the next key is worth risking their lives.

The game also forces long-buried tensions to surface as each player has their own reasons for wanting to claim Endgame House.

Some seek financial security, others emotional closure, and at least one appears willing to kill for it.

A Solid Christmas Mystery?

To say that The Christmas Murder Game is compelling is an absolute understatement. With two puzzles to solve – the historic and present – the daily riddles and a killer living among them, it is quite a page turner.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I binged this book over two days and I would say that loved it about 85%. It’s not quite 4/5 but it’s close.

Any small issues I have with it stem from narrative rather than the execution of the of the plot or central mystery.

For example, it’s clear from the outset that Lily doesn’t want to be at Endgame House and that she has suffered a great deal since the death of her mother. The problem is that Alexandra Benedict never lets you forget it.

At every single opportunity we are told about Lily and her trauma – the entire way through the book. There were times when honestly, as soon as Lily began to retreat and rehash her misery, I skipped forward. It added nothing to the overall story.

The second issue is that with only eight players, once more than one or two get bumped off, and you know the killer isn’t Lily, the culprit becomes more obvious. Though I will say that there is a twist which is pretty good.

What I did particularly like was that Endgame House becomes a character in its own right. With its labyrinthine corridors and secret passages both concealing clues and providing opportunities for murder, the design plays a crucial role in the game.

Overall it was an excellent read and really cleverly put together. So if you’re in the mood for a holiday cozy crime mystery, you could do a lot worse than The Christmas Murder Game!

Are There Any Sequels?

The success of The Christmas Murder Game has established Benedict as a significant voice in the seasonal mystery genre, with the book being longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger.

That’s probably why she has written other Christmas-themed mysteries, including Murder on the Christmas Express (2022) and The Christmas Jigsaw Murders (2023).

These are stand alone books with no connection to each other so it doesn’t matter order you read them in.

Her upcoming work, Little Red Death, a speculative mixture of crime and fairy tales, is scheduled for publication in February 2025.