by Alex Pine
- hriller
- Murder Mystery
- Christmas
This book is the first in a series, all of which are set around winter and Christmas. From the cover alone, it’s heavily marketed as “The 12 Days of Christmas – 12 Murders”, so naturally I was excited to dive in.
It’s difficult to talk about this novel without spoilers, so consider this a warning: I’ll be discussing key plot points, including the identity of the murderer.
The story follows DI James Walker, who has recently left his role in London after the dangers of the job began to affect his family. He relocates to a quiet Lake District village—his wife’s hometown—in search of a calmer life. That calm doesn’t last long. A mysterious parcel arrives at his door, wrapped in festive paper and containing a dead partridge, along with a chilling promise: twelve murders over twelve days.
The killings begin quickly, but this is where the book starts to lose momentum. Despite the heavy emphasis on twelve murders, only two murders occur for over 80% of the book, with just three in total before the killer is revealed. This feels disappointing and misleading given the way the novel is advertised. The murders also occur sporadically, with inconsistent gaps between days, which further weakens the central premise.
One element I did find interesting was the narrative shift during the murders themselves. At the moment of each killing, the perspective changes from third person to first person, placing the reader inside the victim’s mind. It’s an effective and unsettling technique—but unfortunately, it only happens three times.
Overall, the book feels like it really gets going near the end, only to rush through the final chapters to reach a conclusion. I also found the murderer fairly obvious, as there were strong clues pointing to them early on.
Some plot elements didn’t quite make sense to me. For example, the criminal storyline introduced at the start doesn’t seem to tie in clearly with the rest of the novel. There’s also a grave-side card referencing a woman’s death, yet no character appears to have any real connection to her. Additionally, while the murders are said to have been planned for some time, several key characters had only recently moved to the village, which made parts of the motivation feel inconsistent.
That said, it is a nice, easy read, and I did enjoy it overall. It follows the familiar rules of the thriller and murder mystery genre very closely—perhaps a little too closely. Sometimes an easy, predictable read is exactly what you want, especially over the Christmas period, but I wouldn’t say this book is particularly well written or memorable.
Overall, The Christmas Killer is a straightforward Christmas thriller that works well if you’re looking for something light and undemanding during the holidays. However, I’m not especially tempted to continue with the rest of the series.
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