Get in the spirit with these festive mysteries set during the holidays. ‘Tis the season for suspense and sleuthing!
The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night? The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages’ grand family home. This year’s prize is to die for-deeds to the house itself, but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn’t been back to Endgame since her mother died, twenty-one years ago, and she has no intention of claiming the house that haunts her dreams. Until, that is, she receives a letter from her aunt promising that the game’s riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to its darkest secrets, including the identity of her mother’s murderer.
Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah
In 1931, the world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot, finds his plans for a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday thwarted by a murder investigation and has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders while someone plans to wreak holiday havoc on his life.
The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani
Summoned to Scotland for a Christmas-themed masquerade party, former members of an exclusive mystery-solving group at university soon discover that in this game, murder is all too real, and to survive until Christmas morning, they must face the truth of what really happened one fateful night 12 years earlier.
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
When a dead body interrupts the rehearsals for their holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk, Fairway Players Femi and Charlotte page through letters, emails and police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before its curtains for their production—permanently.
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
When a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall for the holidays, Ashley Smith, an American art student in London, discovers this seemingly charming English village’s grim history when a local girl is brutally murdered and Emma’s brother is linked to the crime.
Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman
While spending a quiet Christmastime away from London with the family of her late husband, regency widow Lily Adler, when an unexpected snowstorm, stranding the neighborhood families together, leads to murder, must unmask a killer among the guests who is linked to her friend’s scandalous sister.
The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
When Big Leo, the owner of Fine Chao restaurant is found dead—presumed murdered—his three sons are reunited and fall under suspicion of the town and police, and must reckon with the legacy of their father’s outsized appetites and own future survival.
Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews
After forcing employees to work through the holidays in Wales, an inconsiderate boss turns up murdered with too many possible suspects, in the latest addition to the long-running series following Round Up the Usual Peacocks.
Amid the busy preparations for the Christmas season, Harry, Susan, and Fair investigate the suspicious deaths of three people found in Crozet with a deadly drug in their systems.
Murder Most Royal by S. J. Bennett
When the severed hand of a scion of the St Cyr family is found, Queen Elizabeth II is dragged into the matter and, with the help of her assistant private secretary, must separate fact from fiction surrounding this high-profile case when all clues point to someone in her close circle.
