The Christmas Murder Mystery Advent Calendar: Murder on the Yuletide Express — A Cozy Interactive Whodunit with 24 Daily Clues and Puzzles

by AST PUBLISHING

Genres: Mystery

162 pages, Paperback

Published October 27, 2025

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so hopeful that this would be a fun advent activity. NOT. On Day 3, I struggled with the puzzle, so I went to the back of the book, thinking that there would be clues or hints. What I found, however, was a QR code to a Google Drive file where HALF of the puzzles had corrections. 12 out of the 24 puzzles had huge errors in the book, and not only that, but there were errors in the corrections as well!! I would never have even known that there were errors in the book if I hadn’t gone looking for hints. Not only that, but the story itself was poorly written. It was so obvious who the killer was… I knew from the first moment they were mentioned in the story.

[Sierra Renz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just straight rubbish. I'm actually pretty sure this entire book was written by an AI that no one bothered to proofread. The entire book is plagued by spelling errors. There are three different Alistairs which is insane - surely there are other names in existence...
I got to day 3, could not make heads or tails of the riddle, decided to look it up just to find out that TWELVE of the riddles/ciphers were completely wrong and thus, unable to be solved. I do not understand how this made it to production when it appears not one single human being bothered to proofread it or test the daily riddle/cipher.

If you're reading this, go ahead and skip this trash or start the process to return it to the morons that produced it.

[Missy Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter gave me this book as an early Christmas Gift. The basic story held my interest so I give three stars. There are errors in the clues and you don’t figure this out until you go to the at code for a hint. It tells you what days there were errors and the correct way to solve the puzzle.

Fun book to read even if the clues were dumb and some unsolvable.

[Em Keeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The publisher admitted there are mistakes which explains why quite a few of the puzzles were impossible. I enjoyed the story though, and didn't guess the ending.

[Kevin Donato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set aboard a snowbound luxury train during the holidays, Murder on the Yuletide Express unfolds over twenty-four short chapters designed to be read one day at a time. Each chapter pushes the story forward while inviting the reader to solve a small puzzle or riddle, slowly revealing clues about the death of a wealthy passenger. At the center is Clara Whitmore, a mystery writer who unexpectedly finds herself playing detective as tensions rise among a group of suspects, each carrying secrets, grudges, and possible motives. The story blends classic cozy mystery vibes with an interactive advent-calendar format meant to turn December into a month-long whodunit.

This book was… okay. I really liked the idea of it — a Christmas mystery you solve day by day with puzzles sounded right up my alley and felt like it had so much potential. The festive train setting was cozy, and the interactive aspect made it feel different from a standard mystery, which I appreciated. That said, it didn’t fully live up to my expectations. I wanted more detail, more tension, and honestly, more fun. The chapters felt a little too short, and the mystery itself stayed pretty surface-level. I never felt deeply invested in the characters or truly challenged by the puzzles, which was disappointing given the concept's promise of greater complexity. It’s not bad by any means — it’s a pleasant, low-effort holiday read — but I was expecting something richer and more immersive. In the end, it was fine, just not as clever or engaging as I'd hoped. -3 Stars!

[Julianne O'Brien · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh. I had high hopes for this one. As others have said, there were numerous errors that really took away from the experience. Even one of the "corrections" was still riddled with errors and unsolvable as written. It was often unclear on how the puzzles should have been solved. The clues also didn't really have much to do with solving the main story, which I had figured out fairly early. I gave up around day 18 and just skimmed ahead to confirm that my assumption was correct. There where a lot of holes and names were unnecessarily similar. Everyone was assigned a character during the initial train mystery but then those characters were never mentioned again.

[Ashley Chabrecek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book, but it was full of errors. Many of the puzzles at the end of each daily reading were incorrectly written. I wouldn’t have discovered this if I wouldn’t have gone to the back of the book after failing to solve the puzzle on day 2 or 3. The QR code at the back sends you to a Google Drive folder with the updated puzzles. With all the flaws, I still enjoyed the story and the concept of reading a chapter of each day of December. I really enjoyed it. There is so much potential if it is done well.

[Lindsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I give 1 stars as a DNF. This one I did finish, but it doesn’t deserve anything higher than a 1, if I’m being honest. This reads as if it was written by AI. The puzzles…half are wrong, and you wouldn’t even know that if you didn’t go to the back of the book and scan the QR code. Then, on top of that, some of the “corrected” puzzles are wrong! I pushed through because my best friend gifted this to me, but that was literally the only reason. Very disappointing.

[Jenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written. On the surface level the story was obvious. The characters’ names were similar which didn’t help create mystery within the story line. As you dig into the puzzles 1/2 of them have errors. I read the story but didn’t finish the puzzles. I agree with others who say this is AI generated slop.

[Alondra · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a beginner, the riddles assume that you know a lot to begin with & that paired with the tons of mistakes and corrections made it not fun at all. I finished the story without the riddles and that proved the fact that the riddles don’t even really offer much to the story line. Not what I expected and didn’t live up to the hype.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

So my friend and I read this together as a cute like book club advent calendar thing and this was fun in theory but it lacked in keeping me on my toes. I was invested enough to read each day but there really was no incentive to read this bc there wasn’t any drive or clues to make me guess or wonder what was going to happen next. Cute and fun idea, bad execution.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible! Not even sold anymore. Half of the clues are wrong. I found out because I scanned the last page and found that they had a whole document about inaccurate clues! The story is ok but the clues make zero sense. Waste of money. Should have come with a warning to not buy!

[Michele Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to start reading it on December 1st. I was sadly very disappointed to find there were so many mistakes made in the puzzles and riddles it was hard to follow the clues. I did enjoy the plot of the story.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible, pretty sure it was written by AI, there are so many discrepancies. I gave up after chapter 2! And why are there 3 Alistairs? Dumb.

[Heidi Blomquist · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the advent book concept but this story was not that spectacular. It advertised daily clues and puzzles but they were not in the kindle edition. just meh.

[Mike Corgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fun idea, but half of the puzzles had mistakes that made solving impossible. The updated puzzles were available on line, but there were still issues with some.

[Marla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason this book gets 2 stars is because I liked the idea of an advent book with reading a chapter a night. It was highly predictable and I had issues getting past naming 3 characters similar names. There were daily puzzles for you to solve, but even in the Kindle version the puzzles had mistakes. I would read an advent book again, but check the reviews before I choose one.