Small Murders at Endgame

A deadly locked-room mystery as Christmas approaches.

"Dearest Lily, I am well aware that you have no desire to set foot in Endgame again. I know you're not interested in inheriting the manor, but I implore you to participate.

It's high time you learned the truth, and it will be revealed to you through the Christmas treasure hunt."

Upon receiving this letter from her aunt, Lily Armitage doesn't hesitate for long. Twenty years have passed since her mother's death haunted her, and now is the chance to find out who the killer is.

Heading to Endgame – her greedy cousins, its labyrinth of clues, and its hyper-realistic Christmas Cluedo...

📖 Review from Librairie du Grimoire Ancien

By our editorial committee & librarian

Alexandra Benedict, with Petits meurtres à Endgame, translated by Laura Bourgeois and published by Pocket, delivers a Christmas cozy mystery that brilliantly reinterprets the codes of the classic puzzle novel. This deadly locked-room mystery set in an English manor as Christmas approaches evokes Agatha Christie while offering an addictive contemporary plot.

What makes this novel charming is its playful mise en abyme: a "hyper-realistic Christmas Cluedo" where the treasure hunt organized by Lily's aunt is supposed to reveal the truth about her mother's death twenty years earlier. Endgame Manor, with its greedy cousins and labyrinth of clues, becomes the stage for an investigation where past and present intertwine.

Benedict excels at creating a Christmas atmosphere that is both magical and unsettling, where every clue, every family secret, every tension between heirs contributes to a cleverly paced suspense. The treasure hunt format allows the reader to play detective alongside Lily, in the grand tradition of the whodunit.

We recommend this novel to cozy mystery enthusiasts, Agatha Christie fans, and anyone who enjoys Christmas mysteries set in English manors. A perfect read for winter evenings, blending suspense with a festive atmosphere.

Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — An addictive Christmas cozy mystery that brilliantly reinterprets the codes of the classic puzzle novel.