[Review] Alexandra Benedict: 'The Christmas Jigsaw Murders'

On 19^th of December, renowned puzzle setter, lonelyness expert, and Christmas hater 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, shortened, obviously, to RIP.

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.

At first glance, it seems a bit of a stretch to imagine an octogenarian embarking on a dangerous mission to solve strange clues that a murderer leaves on victims and even on her doorstep. Why, you might rightfully ask, does a murderer want to leave pieces of a puzzle that could eventually become his (or her) own downfall.

The idea of using pieces of a jigsaw to drop clues to the killer’s plan is very creative in itself, but it would have worked so much better if these pieces were depicted in the book. Now, we do not have a clue what they actually look like.

But this is a wicked mystery that Alexandra Benedict treats us with. Let's not dwell on some of the inconsistencies in the story and worry about the question: Can Edie solve the puzzle and find the killer first before more, and more personal murders are committed?

As always, Alexandra Benedicts' writing itself is a joy to read. The style often borders on poetic but is sensitive when she enters the darker territories of the story.

What bothered me just a tiny bit was that the real spirit of the days of Christmas was lacking. You would expect that it would have featured more in a book that was adorned with the title 'The Christmas Jigsaw Murders'.

In the end, I'm sorry to conclude that 'The Christmas Jigsaw Murders' is a just bit mediocre.