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

On 19^th of December, renowned puzzle setter, loneliness 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. And think of it this way: The Zodiac Killer left messages in code, simply to let himself feel better than the entire police force. The last of his messages was cracked only in 2025. Why would you harass a 80-year-old, even the reason lies possibly buried in the past? Just kill her.

But let's not dwell on some of the many 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?

What bothered me 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.