Published 25th September 2025 by Faber and Faber.
From the cover of the book:
Christmas Eve, 1943. Anthony and Elva Pratt arrive in a snowy English village to run a murder mystery game - and instead discover a real murder.The Pratts had planned for festive cheer, despite the wartime shortages: with Elva's map of the hotel and Anthony's prop weapons to use as clues, the guests in their parlour game would move through the rooms to figure out whodunnit.
But when Anthony discovers the cook's sister Miss Silver beaten to death, they instead find themselves investigating a shockingly real crime. The hotel manager Mr Browning is trying to keep the peace but the guests are agitated, Colonel Colman is about to take over the hotel for the war effort - and the mysterious Mrs Threadgold hasn't been seen at all.
In games, there's only one victim - but this is real life. Can the Pratts puzzle out this Christmas mystery before it's too late?
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I have always been a fan of Cluedo, having played it many times with my family when I was a nipper, especially at Christmas time. As it happens, Nicola Upson also has a lot of fond childhood memories of playing the game, and this novella is a beautifully evocative love letter to the couple who created it, Elva and Anthony Pratt.
The story begins at Christmas in 1949, with the couple unwrapping the new game they have produced in partnership with Waddingtons (created by the couple in 1943). They are nervous about how the game will be received by the public, as it unashamedly revolves around the dirty business of murder - but with hindsight, we know they really had nothing to worry about!
The action then moves to Christmas 1943, when Anthony and Elva arrive in snowy Rottingdean, on their way to recreate the murder mystery weekends they loved producing before the war. Festive cheer is in short supply, but they aim to do their best for the guests gathering at the Tudor Close Hotel. Before making their way to the hotel, they visit the village shop and discover the shopkeeper, Mrs Silver, has been bludgeoned to death.
Shaken, they travel on to the hotel, where the murdered woman's sister works as a cook. As they set about putting together a murder mystery game, for the motley collection of guests - some of whom seem to have questionable reasons for being there - they also find themselves investigating the very real murder... with shocking results. Subsequently, the shenanigans at Tudor Court inspire the couple to come up with their own board game, and Cluedo is born.
Although the story is fictional, the mystery that unfolds is a lovely premise for the inspiration behind the game, which was originally called Murder at Tudor Close. The country house at Christmas setting is pure classic crime fodder, with a cast of characters to match, and Upson works magic with the vibes of time and place, as always. You really find yourself getting behind the plucky couple, and the twists and turns are nicely managed - right down to the excellent reckoning scene.
For game that elicits feelings of warm nostalgia, the motives and machinations behind the crime in the story are deeply sinister, which makes this an authentically chilling story. But who does not love a bit dark and gritty crime at Christmas, alongside their cute and cosy reads? I know I do!
The Christmas Clue is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Faber Books for sending me a copy of this novella in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. Her debut, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels to feature Josephine Tey – one of Britain’s finest Golden Age crime writers - and was dramatised for BBC Radio 4. Several of Nicola's novels have been listed for the CWA Gold and Historical Daggers, and Sorry for the Dead was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She is a member of the Detection Club, and in 2024 curated the acclaimed Murder by the Book: a celebration of twentieth century British crime fiction at Cambridge University Library.
She is also the author of Stanley and Elsie, a novel about the painter Stanley Spencer, and lives with her partner in Cambridge and Cornwall.
Nicola's latest novel is The Christmas Clue, a festive mystery starring the real-life couple who invented Cluedo.
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