Lily Armitage receives a letter from her aunt Liliana, who died a few months ago.
Liliana adopted Lily when her mother, Mariana, died when she was just fourteen. That event traumatized Lily, and she swore she would never return to the family home, Endsgame. However, now her aunt explains that this Christmas there will be a game to compete with her other cousins and the winner will inherit the house, which is now a hotel. Lily is not interested in the house, but in the letter Mariana says that if she goes to Endgame, the clues of the game will make her discover who murdered her mother. Lily has always thought that her mother committed suicide, and now this is something that upsets her, but she decides to go to the house.
Lily is welcome by Isabelle, who used to be her friend as a child, and who was the daughter of the family's lawyer, and now she is a lawyer herself. Isabelle tells her that she knows about what Liliana intended to discover, and she also thinks that Liliana was also murdered.
Lily's cousins start arriving. The first to arrive are Sara and Gray, Liliaana's children. Sara is really nasty to everybody as she feels it is not right that her mother had to make her go through this pantomime. Sara has always been jealous of Lily because her mother was very fond of her. Her brother, Gray, is nicer but his sister bosses him around. Ronnie and his wife Philipa come next. Ronnie is someone Lily is very fond of, but his wife seems to be jealous of Lily. Ronnie is a chef but he used to work in a bank. His sister Rachel and her wife Holly come next. Lily remembers Rachel as someone aloof and reserved, so she has no relationship with her. And the last one to arrive is Tom, who is also very fond of Lily.
Isabelle sets the rules of the game. They need to play the game during the twelve days of Christmas, and by solving the clues they will get keys, and the last key will get them to a private room. The won't be able to have access to the Internet, so they need to use their brains. Isabelle them leaves, announcing that she will return on January 5th.
From the first dinner it is clear that these cousins are not getting on. Sara is the worst, who makes the atmosphere tense. One thing that Sara has kept secret is that she is pregnant, but we don't know who the father is.
The first clue comes in a cryptic poem that they find in their stockings at breakfast. It seems that the clue points at the forest, and they all rush to the forest, but Lily remains behind with Tom. She thinks that they are wrong, and the clue is something else, and she discovers that the place to go to is Mariana's room.
I am enjoying the book, and I am dying to discover the clues and who killed Lily's mum.
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