The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor

by Simon Brett

This crime novel invites reader participation. Included are pictures of the evidence and an intricate series of puzzles, quizzes, crosswords and riddles which challenge the reader to outwit the hero of the novel and discover the murderer first.

Answers are included at the rear.

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Fiction, Holiday, British Literature, Mystery Thriller, Adult

185 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 1992

About the author

Simon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.

He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.

He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.

After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.

He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.

Reviews

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this lightweight tale. There are puzzles to tackle along the way to solving the main whodunnit. Not much in the way of characterisation but it is fun.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one clever but original homage to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, with the added bonus of cryptics, ciphers, and puzzles to help you solve the mystery along with the hero and heroine. And all set in a snowed in English country manor during a traditional English Christmas.

Jack Tarrant, at 35 retired from Scotland Yard and stuck in a wheelchair, is looking forward to a long holiday weekend with his girlfriend Maria. Jack is not only recovering from a bullet to his hip, he is trying to put behind him his failure to capture the serial killer who shot him. Barely have Jack and Maria arrived, when it becomes clear the murder is afoot and Jack has been lured there to be taunted and teased.

There are plenty of clues to solve the crimes in the story itself, so if like me you find yourself woefully unskilled at solving the many puzzles and ciphers included, you will still easily solve the mystery. Even the murderer's ultimate identity, which isn't actually told to you but requires solving a final puzzle, can be figured out quickly by a process of elimination, even if you fail abysmally at solving the puzzle....or did I. My answer did fit where it should, after all.

I do ding it for being a tad thin and shallow in some plotting, and leaving a few dangling points. But my copy is the original hardcover published in 1992 and it is just lovely. So that gives it another half star, making it 4.5 stars.

[Hannah Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited about 15 years to find this book again so I could figure out the last puzzle!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was so much fun! I enjoyed the characters and figuring out all the puzzles as well as the Christmas setting of this locked-door mystery. Who cares that there's very little point to the puzzles - they are fun to solve and I liked that they added to the suspense. The final puzzle at the end is fun because there's no solution given and you are left to figure it out all yourself. I think Trudy's brother was Colonel Honeycutt (all the words below the crossword can be fitted to spell it out) and he's one of the few men whose names fit. How clever this book was, and I enjoyed all the other characters too! Turns out that Trudy Bastable and her lover/brother were killing their victims (previous to their stay at the manor) because the women Trudy delivered food to in her previous job were rude and didn't say Thank you. She had fun creating the puzzles for Jack Tarrant, who had come close to catching her before and was why he was in a wheelchair.

The final solution reads: Dear Jack Tarrant, That was the first murder. It is time for the next murder. Who will be the next victim? Anders Altmidson. I am the Executive Exterminator. You don't know what my name is. Yours Murderously."

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

"You are cordially invited to a Christmas holiday at gorgeous Puzzel Manor ... all expenses paid. Except the real cost is a game of murder!

"So get ready for the plum pudding and a silent, most unholy night ... as a snowstorm cuts you off from the outside world and a mysterious Christmas contest of crime begins. The rules are dead simple. Solve the puzzles and a serial killer called The Executive Executioner is nabbed at last. The first clue is right at hand ... next to the shattered body of a corpse.

"Here's al you have to do:
* Sit back and enjoy a great Simon Brett mystery.
* Be alert for crossword puzzles, anagrams, scrambled words, riddles, and assorted brainteasers in each of the nineteen clues.
* Use your IQ to catch a killer PDQ before your Christmas goose is cooked ... in a Yuletide treat for all who know 'tis the season to deduce whodunit!"
~~back cover

I was SO disappointed in this book! Usually Simon Brett is a wonderful mystery write, but this one is a real dud. The writing seemed amateurish, and the puzzles were so difficult I couldn't solve them, & I'm a very competent crossword puzzle worker! I think the trouble is the clues are in the British style of clues, not American. I finally gave up, and although I finished the book, it held no charms for me at all.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need someone to give me the spoiler. Disappointing, lightweight, and my edition had the answers all out of order, so I have NO idea who the murderer was. Well, some idea, but not much. I finished it on Christmas Day, some gift.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jack Tarrant (recently injured &retired Scotland yard) & companion Maria are invited to Puzzle Manor of a Christmas get-away.

When they get there they immediately find the body of the local vicar crushed under the estate's huge metal crest.

As the holiday moves on, it is apparent that Tarrant is still up against his nemesis who left him in the wheelchair....

The clues to the murders come along as puzzles.....

The writing style was not my cup of tea. Tarrant is macho (stiff upper lip & all that rot), Maria is rather mushily supportive... and the other characters, meh!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a lot of fun because there are puzzles and clues for the reader to solve. I just wish I was smart enough to get even one right. I will make the excuse that I am left-brained and puzzles and codes are for right-brained people. Even though I was in my right mind the puzzles had to be left for the next reader.

[Tina M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally enjoy Simon Brett's books but this one seems flat. The characters were boring and underdeveloped, the puzzles were convoluted for at least me, non-British, and the ending identity of one of the murderers relies on a puzzle with no given solution (so if you didn't understand the previous puzzles..how?). Good premise but poorly executed.

[Cece · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh.

[Khanson919 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending wasn't very good, and the puzzles were very difficult to solve especially if you aren't British.

[Jazz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t understand the low ratings for this mystery. I loved it! And if you love puzzles of all kinds, you’ll get caught up in it, too. The reader is invited to join the lead detective in solving printed puzzles provided at the end of every chapter. At the end of the following chapter, we get the detective’s solution but it only leads him one step closer to the criminal who’s playing this game of cat and mouse with him. Lunatic or Mastermind? The puzzles aren’t easy to solve but each is unique and fun. (The backgammon board clue went way over my head, even though I used to play the game.)

What’s not to like with a country manor house and snowbound suspects, the reader knowing at least one is a murderer? A pleasantly romantic couple as lead detectives with a supporting cast of eccentric characters. Though the reader is given the solution to all the other clues, the very last page contains a blank puzzle left for the reader to solve alone. It took me a while, but I was very pleased with myself when its solution revealed the name of the murderer. This one is worth rereading in some Christmas to Come.

[J. Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a campy element to this snowed-in-at-the-manor/lodge/hotel/retreat trope story; feels a bit like Tim Curry might arrive and start running around babbling about the cook in the kitchen with the candlestick. Yes. The power is out. Phone is dead. Trapped. All that.
Though it isn't exactly Christmasy though it takes place on Christmas, there is plenty of snow and a snowman.
And puzzles. The deranged killer loves to leave puzzles.
When I first decided to tackle writing a mystery, it was advised to give your character a flaw or some physical issue to overcome. In this case, our detective was shot in the hip and had to retire from Scotland Yard. He's on vacation with his girlfriend who is a spunky hottie. He, confined to a wheelchair, is annoyed that literally isn't in a position to do a proper investigation. Nice touch.
What else to say? It's a short read that ought to keep a reader guessing with breaks to work out the clues. I enjoyed it. Just not quite sure about the conclusion. Didn't quite work for me, but it was a fun read to ease into the holiday season a smidge early.
This was my first Simon Brett. I'd read another.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read. The story reminded me of a TV show, and if this has been made into one I would not be surprised. There was word puzzle clues, gruesome murdered victims; and, a Detective who was wounded and in a wheelchair trying desperately to solve this case, especially as the Executive Executioner was the one who injured him- and bam E.E. is at it again. There's schmaltz, humor, cliches everywhere! A fun quick read, and if you are a fan of word puzzles THIS IS FOR YOU!

Very much a Christmas time mystery as this takes place right over the holiday and involves a group of "strangers" getting snowed in at Puzzel Manor.

[Linda Gardiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise and I like the idea that the protagonist has to solve puzzles from the antagonist. However the puzzles were hard to solve except for the last one which gives the killer's identity, whom I had already guessed. The reasons why the crime was done and why (except the insanely psychopathic reason), was anticlimactic and some things like "did the man trip and fall into the snowbank or was he really shot and if so, by whom?" were left unanswered.

[Denise Martis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man the puzzles were hard! I think I got maybe 2. Some of the story was so unbelievable. Well hidden puzzles that Jack would be able find with no reason to be looking there for it. And it ends so fast with no repercussions for anything that happened throughout the story! But I will say I definitely did not guess the mastermind behind the murders.

[Andrea Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just great fun all around! The puzzles were challenging (I didn't solve many of them) and I absolutely loved the chance to try and solve the clues alongside the detectives. Can't wait to read more of Brett's works!

[Mgb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to read books with a Christmas setting at Christmastime. I enjoyed the puzzles(I solved more than half of them), the mysteries, and the ending, and I learned the ‘traditional’ way to pull crackers at Christmastime.

[Bill Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good mystery, and a very British book! Lots of references to Brittan norms. A group of people enjoy a traditional English Christmas, but murder keeps getting in the way. Each chapter has a puzzle to solve, and I only got 2 of the 15 without the help of the book's explanation.

[Julie Eastlick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little Christmas mystery. Sone of the puzzles were a little difficult for me to solve personally because they were references to things I just don’t know but they were all fun nonetheless. Definitely a nod to older mysteries. I enjoyed the book.

[Lbtreco · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little book! In the end they don’t tell you the killer. You have to solve a puzzle to get the name, which was fun. I had a pretty good idea who so that helped. But the killer wasn’t obvious at all throughout the book so a bit of a surprise at the end. Not the best writing but a fun concept. Puzzles to solve throughout for the clues but they give you the answers to those so you can follow the story even if you can’t solve the puzzle.

[Autumn Senk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Book was a slow beginning and some parts were hard to get through, but the way the puzzles tied together and the end out come was such a surprise that it made up for it.

[Megan Lanier · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. To be fair I skimmed this one as it was taking forever and I'm no good at solving obscure puzzles 😜

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

With ten pages to go, I couldn't help but feel at least partially responsible for the surprising outcome, due to my utter and complete lack of facility solving puzzles of any kind, let alone the ones used to drive the plot of The Christmas Crimes. Imagine my relief eight pages later when the guilt of my ineptitude was relieved! No more plot from me, for I don't want to spoil a delicious double-twist.

Thoroughly engaging, witty and well developed, this work may not fill you with Christmas cheer, but Simon Brett presents a tidy little mystery, wrapped up nicely - if you'll pardon the pun - in a speedy and satisfying manner.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy this book, although I read it to the end. It took me a while to realize that the answer to the puzzle piece was on the backside of the new clue. I will say that the story is well thought-out and planned.
A Christmas holiday party is planned at Puzzel Manor, but, alas, someone has been murdered! Solve the puzzles and a serial killer called The Executive Executioner is nabbed at last. Clues are given in the forms of crossword puzzles, anagrams, scrambled words, riddles, and assorted brain teasers. Can you solve them?

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book. It was a mystery with puzzles to solve at the end of each chapter (that would eventually lead to a message about the mystery). Unfortunately, many of the puzzles required some sort of specialized knowledge that made them impossible to solve. It's not necessary to solve them, as the solutions are in the next chapter, but it would have been more fun to be able to solve them.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read but an enjoyable Christmas country manor mystery. Some of the puzzles were overly head but none the less the solutions were provided. Although it mentions Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians in the jacket cover, this is really not like that book. Lol. I am going through my mystery Christmas cozy type phase. Will need to read some hard edged books soon.

[Annette Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this just about every Christmas. Challenging puzzles, gruesome murders, snowed in, creepiness. What more could one ask? I don’t have the patience to figure out the puzzles, but the answers are provided, and you don’t need to figure them out to enjoy the book. I have not read any other books by Simon Brett, but this one is a gem!

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery involving a serial killer at a Christmas gathering at a rural manor. Involves a newly retired Scotland Yard investigator who retired because of a bullet wound by the killer at the manor. The story involves a series of puzzle clues left by the killer for the investigator to solve.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always find it fun to read seasonally and I would love to be stranded in a English country manor house in a blizzard at Christmastime with a mystery to solve!

So, I loved the concept and details, but I found the puzzles difficult to understand and I did not like the ending either.