Edie O’Sullivan is the Pensioner Puzzler, known for her skills as a crossword setter. She is a jigsaw puzzle fan, devoted to her nephew Sean and holds a deep hatred of Christmas in her heart. But when she receives a box with pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and a message from a murderer calling themself Rest In Pieces, Edie is drawn into a bloody game of murder, and when Sean, Edie’s only remaining living relative, is threatened, she realises that she is up against a ruthless killer who has a personal reason for targeting Edie.
Edie is not a cosy, sweet old lady solving murders with charm and gentle persuasion. She is a deeply flawed character, too clever for her own good, far too proud and stubborn and too scarred by the loss of her family to truly allow herself to open up and surrender herself to love. As a result, she comes across as rude, uncaring and selfish, not only to strangers, but, even worse, to the people in her life who mean the most to her.
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders feels like a cross between a cozy mystery and a mystery/thriller. It isn’t filled with violence or sexual content, but it also doesn’t shy away from darker themes and features a cranky, old-lady main character that some readers will probably find too unsympathetic for their liking. But if you love puzzles and crosswords, Christmas-themed reads and stories with flawed characters and late-in-life second chances, you might want to give this one a go.
Cozy mystery – Mystery thriller – Contemporary
Mostly Murders 
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