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2000s: THIS CHRISTMAS IS TO DIE FOR . . . LET THE GAME BEGIN
The Christmas Murder Game
What you need to know before your trail
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.
Locations
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Where is Endgame House?
The house in the novel Endgame House is of course fictional but it’s a lovely game to guess where it might be. The novel is set in Yorkshire and the lovely countryside of the Yorkshire Dales so there’s plenty of nice stately homes to look at and imagine that you are at the house of mystery itself.
The maze at the house is central to the story as you could visit one of the mazes in the region such as The Great Ryedale Maze, York maze or The Forbidden Corner.
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Booktrailer Review
A classis murder mystery which although called a Christmas murder mystery, could be set at anytime. Perfect for a festive read infrront of a fire though! No phones to hand – do as the characters do in the novel and play the game!
Lily is the main character told to go to Endgame House which she is set to inherit. Her mum has just died and she is grieving. This was particularly poignant and overwhelming at times but read on as the mystery soon comes to the fore. With cousins and family gathered there, the inheritance depends on the potential beneficiaries taking part in one last version of a favourite family game. Stay here for twelve days. That’s it, that’s the game. Can’t be that hard surely?
The last one standing gets the house. A bit like And Then There were None with the last one remaining inheriting the island. This does have a golden age feel to it and Endgame house is dark and mysterious. Luckily in Yorkshire and not on a remote island!
“Follow the clues. Find the fortune. Solve the Mystery. This Christmas is to die for. Let the game begin . . .”
This was a good game which I really enjoyed. Some clues are easier than others but the lovely prose carries you along with all those similes and images created by the author building a world in your head. It’s like being inside a game of Cluedo!
I particularly liked this line:
“His voice is monotone, as flat as the pane of glass between him and the freezing fog that haunts the grounds.
The snow keeps falling and the bodies keep piling up….just what you need for a criminally good Christmas!
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Christmas Murder Game
Destination/location: England, Yorkshire Author/guide: Alexandra Benedict Departure Time: 2000s
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