The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

Wow! This was an absolute roller coaster of craziness and I enjoyed it. Thanks to the publisher kindly granting my wish for this book I had it in my TBR pile for months before it was published, but am glad I finally read it this month since it takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Harriet is a novelist who is pregnant and marrying into a wealthy family with a lot of secrets, one of which may or may not include the fact that one of them has killed several women. It sounds bad, but Harriet has her own horrible secret that's she's been keeping for decades, so she's not quite sure how awful these folks really are in comparison to her. The snotty rich people like to play family games, hence the title, that include a bizarre Krampus-themed tradition that scares the crap out of their kids and Harriet. But Krampusnacht shenanigans are nothing compared with their Christmas game, and that's where all hell breaks loose. I've read previous books by Steadman and this one was fast-paced like those, which I like, but it also had a few too many family members who didn't add much to the story. Overall, highly recommended as a fun, Christmas-y thriller. Thanks to Netgalley, and especially the publisher, who saw my wish for this book and granted it. Published October 18, 2022.