The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict was published by Simon & Schuster UK on 13 November 2023.
THIS CHRISTMAS, A KILLER TAKES FAMILY GAMES TO A MURDEROUS NEW LEVEL.
On 19th of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.
Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation. As the body count rises, however, Edie knows that only she has the knowledge to put together the killer’s murderous puzzle.
Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer – and finally lay her past to rest.
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Fantastic for a festive mystery read, I really enjoyed The Christmas Jigsaw Murders. Despite protagonist Edie’s dislike of the season, and despite the subject matter, there still manages to be a fun Christmassy feel to the book. There’s puzzles to solve throughout and a couple of seasonal recipes as a bonus at the end.
Alexandra Benedict has created a great character in cantankerous Christmasphobe Edie. She’d probably be a nightmare to know in real life but is perfect in fiction with her bluntness, determination and fierce loyalty. When you realise why she hates Christmas, she becomes an even more sympathetic character. Her relationship with nephew and police officer Sean is warm but complex and I loved her bond with best friend Riga.
The story had a chilling edge, with brutal murders and chapters from the POV of the killer. The mystery is well plotted and it was fun to try to solve the puzzles along with Edie and Sean. I did not work out whodunit and the ending was a good surprise, both the culprit and their reasons for targeting Edie. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a modern Christmas murder mystery. Thank you to the publisher for my copy of the book.
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