THE CHRISTMAS JIGSAW MURDERS

Murder strikes again and again without leaving a single emotional trace in this game-heavy seasonal bonbon.

Readers who think the story is the main event here will be briskly redirected by the author's opening announcement that the book contains three different word puzzles—involving Dickens novels, Fleetwood Mac numbers, and a Christmas song—before the killer gets down to business by sending a taunting message signed "Rest in Pieces" to Edie O’Sullivan, the Pensioner Puzzler renowned among fans for the ingenious crosswords she creates. Edie is a high-maintenance octogenarian who begins by recalling her breakup with a lover, Sky, 20 years ago and then proceeds to quarrel with her son, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, his husband, Liam Brand-O’Sullivan, and her 90-year-old next-door neighbor, Riga Novack, at every opportunity. She’s the kind of person who thinks reflexively in anagrams, and the target audience for this brainy confection will be kindred spirits. Four locals will die in the week before Christmas, each corpse found with a corner piece of a jigsaw puzzle, each victim otherwise utterly disposable (three of them are introduced shortly before their demise). The murderer, once identified, is equally forgettable. What readers in Benedict’s sharply limited niche will remember long after they’ve forgotten the plot is the abundance of games played by and on the characters throughout the story. Even the closing acknowledgments take the form of three anagrammatic crossword puzzles, though the appended recipes are written in plain English.

Put on your thinking cap, and check your empathy at the door.