The Family Game

The Family Game (2002) is a thriller novel written by author and actress Catherine Steadman. Steadman is the New York Times best-selling author of three other thriller novels and a Laurence Olivier Award-nominated actress. The novel weaves a tale of moral quandaries, inherited power, the influence of wealth, the power of family, and the secrets we try to hide from others.

This guide uses the Penguin Random House (2022) edition of The Family Game.

Content Warning: This guide contains summaries and analyses of abuse, psychological terror, and substance use disorder.

Plot Summary

Harriet Reed is a British author amidst a wave of great life changes. She’s moved to New York City to be with her boyfriend, the wealthy and kind Edward Holbeck, and her novel has become a bestseller. When Edward proposes marriage to her and Harriet discovers that she’s pregnant, she and Edward must ameliorate themselves with Edward’s family, from whom he is estranged. There are many rumors about the Holbeck family because they are wealthy and powerful, but Harriet resolves to make things right with Edward’s family. Harriet’s own parents died when she was 11 years old.

Harriet first meets Edward’s sister Matilda for tea. Matilda is warm and interesting, and she invites Harriet and Edward to a Thanksgiving family dinner. Edward is unsure if he’s ready to introduce Harriet to his family because they are notoriously difficult and suspicious of outsiders, but their impending marriage and future baby create a need for good relations with his family.

At Thanksgiving dinner, Harriet meets Edward’s two younger brothers, Oliver and Stuart, Stuart’s wife, Lila, and Oliver’s wife, Fiona. Everyone is inviting and open to Harriet, but Harriet is shaken up when she meets Edward’s father Robert. He is intoxicatingly handsome, charming, and wields powerful influence. Robert takes Harriet aside to speak in private. He tells her he enjoyed her book and is a fan of her genre, thriller fiction. He says he has an idea for a thriller book and gives her an old cassette tape-recording to listen to. Harriet also learns about Bobby, Edward’s older brother who died from an accidental drug overdose when he was 20 years old. Surprised that Edward never told her about this brother, Harriet realizes that the Holbeck family is full of secrets.

Harriet has secrets of her own. She is on a major deadline for work. Her new manuscript is due in two weeks, and she hasn’t written anything. The night after Thanksgiving dinner, Harriet is inspired by the intriguing drama that surrounds the Holbeck family and starts avidly writing a new thriller novel loosely based on their family. When she goes out of the apartment to buy a machine to listen to Robert’s tape-recording, she notices that a mysterious man is following her.

The first part of Richard’s tape-recording is shocking. He insinuates that he killed a young blonde woman who knew too much about Bobby’s death. Harriet wonders if what Richard is telling her is a memoir, fiction, or a mixture of both. However, she is so focused on her new novel that she must put away the recording.

The next invitation from the Holbeck family is to an annual family event called Krampusnacht, which is based on an old German tradition in which a monstrous demon named Krampus visits naughty children and beats them on behalf of St. Nicholas. The Holbeck family Krampusnacht is a party based around a game that is designed to test the family’s sense of teamwork. An actor dressed up in a realistic Krampus costume chases the children and some of the adults around the house. The way to win and end the game is to find the hidden Evergreen stick and figure out the code word that will stop Krampus. Though the Holbecks warn Harriet that the game is weird, she doesn’t expect it to be as terrifying as it is. The Holbeck children help Harriet figure out how to crack the code. As the oldest playing member, the code is an anagram of Harriet Reed’s name. She quickly discerns the code, crawls through hatches to find the Evergreen stick, and defeats Krampus. She wins a diamond bracelet and some of the family’s respect, but she’s outraged at the strangeness and horror of the game.

Harriet figures that the young blonde woman Robert confesses to killing is Edward’s former nanny, Samantha Benson. Harriet is determined to figure Robert out, so she finds Samantha Benson online and is relieved to discover that she is alive. She meets with Samantha Benson, who insists that she hadn’t been there the day Bobby died by suicide, jumping out of the top floor of his apartment. She also warns Harriet against getting involved with the Holbeck family. Harriet returns to her research and discovers that the young blonde woman is actually a woman named Lucy, who had been Bobby’s girlfriend at the time of his death and has been missing since.

Harriet continues listening to Robert’s tape. He confesses to another murder of a young woman named Gianna, who had gone to MIT with Edward. Robert also reveals that he knows Harriet’s secret: Harriet was in the car with her parents at age 11 when another car swerved into them and killed her parents. Harriet was able to get out of the car, and she had seen that the man who killed her parents was still alive, trapped in his car. Harriet set fire to his car and watched the man die. Robert assures Harriet that he can’t blame her for what she did, especially because it’s the same thing he would have done. He makes a connection between the murders he’s committed and the one Harriet committed. Harriet is frightened that her darkest secret is known, but she also feels relieved that someone else knows her secret. Robert also confesses to the murders of other women, all young. Robert tells Harriet through the tape-recording that he needs her to do something for him, which Harriet understands is a threat. If Harriet doesn’t do what Robert asks, he’ll expose her secret, and she’ll lose Edward.

Harriet and Edward attend the Holbeck family’s Christmas on their estate, The Hydes, in upstate New York. They announce Harriet’s pregnancy to the family. Harriet is unable to have a private conversation with Robert before the Christmas Eve game begins. In this game, family members compete to be the first to figure out a treasure hunt designed for each individual member. Whoever wins gets a major prize, while the others have their prizes revealed but not necessarily gifted. Typically, these prizes are life-changing and personal. Harriet is worried that if she doesn’t win the game, Robert will reveal her secret. She knows that if she does win the game, he’ll ensure that nobody else will ever find out.

The first clue Harriet gets for her treasure hunt brings her to the childhood bedrooms preserved in The Hydes. She sees what she believes to be Edward’s old childhood room because the décor reminds her of Edward’s interests, but she discovers that it’s actually Bobby’s old room. This is chilling to Harriet because she now notes the many similarities between Edward and Bobby. In Edward’s childhood room, Harriet sees no sign of the man Edward is today. She wonders if Edward and Bobby had always been similar, or if Edward had adopted some of Bobby’s personality and interests after Bobby’s death.

The second clue sends Harriet outside in the cold to the water wells on the estate. She is forced to climb down into the well, where a third clue informs her that her last clue will be found on the corpse of one of Robert’s victims. The corpse is in the well with Harriet. She finds a diamond star necklace around the corpse’s neck, which is Harriet’s last clue. One her way back to the house, Harriet sees Fiona’s belongings scattered near the maze. Worried for Fiona, Harriet follows the maze and discovers Fiona dead in a shallow grave. Harriet calls Edward, who confirms that strange things are also going on inside the house. As Harriet thinks more deeply about Edward’s tone of voice and all of the clues Robert has given, she comes to the shocking realization that the tape-recording is not Robert’s story—it is Edward’s. Edward was the one who killed the women, and Edward is the one who knows about Harriet’s secret.

Harriet returns to the house. She finds the maids, Edward’s mother, and Matilda drugged. She wakes up Matilda and instructs her to take her mother to the hunter’s hiding place outside of the house. Harriet then finds Stuart bloodied but alive; he’s locked himself behind a security door to avoid Edward. Harriet continues her search for Edward. Oliver, certain that Harriet is the one who has been trying to kill them all, hits Harriet over the head with a fire poker. When she comes to, she sees that Oliver is dead.

Harriet finally finds Edward, who has a gun pointed at Robert’s head. Edward confesses to the murders and tells Harriet that in her, he saw a kindred spirit who could accept him for his murders. Edward plans to kill off his family and stage an accident so that he and Harriet can inherit the entirety of the Holbeck wealth. Harriet figures out her last clue for the treasure game. The diamond star is a hint to look under the star on top of the Christmas tree, where Harriet finds a mini canister of lighting fluid. When Robert attacks Edward to get the gun away from him, Harriet pours the lighting fluid on Edward and pushes him toward the fire in the fireplace. Edward is set on fire, and the fire spreads throughout the house. Harriet shoots Edward so he won’t die painfully from the fire. She helps Robert escape the house and then returns for the two maids. Stuart has already found his way out.

Months later, Harriet gives birth to a baby girl named Iris. Iris will be the inheritor of the Holbeck family's wealth. Harriet’s prize for winning the Christmas Eve game and saving the family is that Robert will always ensure that Iris and Harriet are looked after.