The Advent of Death

The ingenious new Christmas crime novel from Alexandra Benedict, the 'queen of cosy Christmas crime' (James Lovegrove, Financial Times) Edie O'Sullivan has no time for murder. With her wedding to Riga fast approaching, she is determined to ignore the desperate call from Anne, a former pupil, begging her to come to Rye. Anne - now the town crier - has received a strange gift: a handcrafted wooden advent calendar shaped like the town itself. At first, it seems like a charming curiosity. Then the doors begin to open. 1 December: a break-in at 1 High Street. 2 December: a burglary at 2 East Street. 3 December: ABH at 3 Eagle Street. Each door opened. Each crime escalating. Then a body is discovered. Edie can no longer dismiss Anne's fears. Leaving Riga and the wedding preparations behind, she heads to Rye - where the festive streets hide a deadly design.  As Christmas approaches and the body count rises, Edie must decipher the calendar's murderous pattern before the final door is opened.

Alexandra (A. K.) Benedict is a bestselling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. Educated at Cambridge, Sussex and Clown School, Alexandra has been an indie-rock singer, an actor, an RLF Fellow and a composer for film and TV, as well as teaching and running the prestigious MA in Crime Thrillers at City University. She is now a full-time writer and creative coach.   As A. K. Benedict she writes acclaimed short stories, high-concept novels and award-winning audio drama for Big Finish, Audible UK, Audible US and BBC Sounds, among others. She won the Scribe Award for her Doctor Who radio drama The Calendar Man, and was shortlisted for the eDunnit Novel Award for The Beauty of Murder and the BBC Audio Drama Podcast Award for Children of the Stones. As Alexandra Benedict she writes puzzle-filled Christmas mysteries, of which The Christmas Murder Game and Murder on the Christmas Express were both bestsellers and The Christmas Murder Game was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. Her first festive thriller to feature Edie O'Sullivan, The Christmas Jigsaw Murders, was published in 2023. She lives on the south coast of England with writer Guy Adams, their daughter Verity, and dog Dame Margaret Rutherford. Follow her on X @ak_benedict and Instagram @a.k.benedict