Day 2 of our annual holiday mystery celebrations, and we’re sticking with the novella format for just a little longer. Today’s read blends Christmas, murder mystery, and board games. Nicola Upson’s The Christmas Clue follows the creators of Clue as they set up a murder mystery game at Tudor Close—only to encounter a real murder in the process.
If you’re like me, you probably loved Clue growing up. It was the most accessible detective board game around, rewarding logic over pure chance. Mr. Boddy’s mansion remains iconic to this day, as do the colorful characters. That love has expanded well beyond the game itself: there’s the cult-classic film, a play adaptation, and more recently a series of escape room puzzles built around that country-house mystery setting. Which means any book inspired by it has to capture those iconic qualities—setting, characters, and tone. So how does The Christmas Clue deliver?
A mystery in miniature
The Christmas Clue is another novella, coming in at a slim 171 pages. It takes a focused approach for that length, honing in primarily on the mystery and secondarily on its Clue(do) references. That balance allows Upson to establish a cast of colorful suspects with plausibly shifty profiles. Nobody really knows anybody else, which means suspicion spreads evenly—and fairly—across the group.
This highlights a key success factor for holiday mystery novellas: focus. With limited page count, there’s little room for expansive worldbuilding or deeply layered character arcs. Doing holiday and mystery well is more effective here than jamming in too many ideas. Upson wisely opts for a suspect list composed entirely of travelers, strangers to one another. That makes their self-presentations unreliable and the mystery feel like fair play, as we uncover details alongside the protagonists.
The characters themselves lean a bit stock, but in a comforting, familiar way. There’s the reverend, the elderly couple, the loyal butler. They’re not surprising, but their dialogue is clean and effective. It’s the most pared-down version of a country-house mystery—by design.
A board full of references
What about the Clue references? The most significant—and most grounded in reality—is the choice of protagonists: Anthony and Elva Pratt. In real life, they were the couple who invented Cluedo. They based the manor map on Tudor Close, a real-life location where Anthony once performed music. Point scored.
Upson threads the needle between homage and story well, as long as you’re willing to play along. The characters are color-coded in pleasing ways, from Miss Silver and Mr. Browning to Reverend Teal and Mrs. Threadgold. The Pratts arrive at Tudor Close to set up a murder mystery party, neatly explaining why weapons are hidden all over the house. There’s even a logical deduction process involving suspect placement at the time of the murder—straight out of Clue (though, of course, the solution isn’t quite that simple).
Once the mystery is solved, the Pratts begin imagining a board game version of their experience—and thus, in Upson’s telling, Clue is born. The real history is less murder-filled, but Upson clearly did her research, weaving in real-world details and early versions of the game’s character list. The novella’s simplicity allows these references to shine, feeling intentional rather than overwhelming.
A short and sweet homage
Ultimately, reading The Christmas Clue feels exactly like playing a holiday-themed round of Clue—and that’s a compliment. If you’re looking for a deeply complex puzzle, this may not be the right fit. But if you’re curious about the origins of Clue, or just want a cozy seasonal mystery with a clever hook, this one’s well worth your time. (Unfortunately for U.S. readers, it’s currently a UK-only release—another one of those this year.)
Tomorrow we move from novellas to full-length novels, while sticking with the theme of Christmas traditions. And where better to start than a pantomime? See you back here for the next entry in this year’s Advent of Mystery. Until then—stay cozy, and stay curious.
