The Ashford Advent — Printable Mystery Advent Calendar

The Ashford Advent is a printable mystery advent calendar: 24 doors, one letter every morning from 1 December, and one liar at the table by Christmas Eve. For 1–6 players, ages 10 and up, about 10–15 minutes a day.

Peek Inside: Door 1

YOUR LADYSHIP.
BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE I SHALL NAME THE LIAR AT YOUR TABLE.
UNTIL THEN, ONE TRUTH EACH MORNING.

Every morning from 1 December, another letter like this one arrives at Ashford Manor. Who is writing them?

How It Works

• Print the PDF single-sided before 1 December and make up your 24 doors.
• Open one door each morning. Read the letter and Mr Thornton’s papers, note the secret in your Ledger and answer the day’s question.
• Accuse on Christmas Eve: who wrote the letters, how they knew, and why.
• Open the Christmas morning file and score your case out of 100.

Buying early? Your download link has no expiry, so you can buy now and print in December.

The Case

December 1925, Ashford Manor, on the Yorkshire moors. Every morning the post brings Lady Ashford an unsigned letter in block capitals. Each one tells a secret from her household, and each one promises to name “the liar at your table” before Christmas Eve.

Lady Ashford engages you, an enquiry agent in York, to find the writer first. Her butler, Mr Thornton, sends you everything he can: each morning’s letter, pages from his day book, and whatever else the post brings. Who knows so much about Ashford Manor, and why are they writing now?

It is a prequel to The Snowbound Manor Mystery, set two Christmases earlier. You don’t need to have played it.

What’s Inside

• 24 doors, one for each morning from 1 to 24 December. Each holds that day’s letter, the papers that came with it and one question.
• Sunday checkpoints: there is no post on a Sunday, so doors 6, 13 and 20 hold a quiz on the week instead.
• Christmas Eve: door 24 holds your final accusation, then you open the sealed Christmas morning file with the answers and the full story.
• A start pack: how to play, who’s who, a map of the village and the manor road, your advent calendar, and the Detective’s Ledger for your notes.
• One hint for every door, printed upside down at the back. Each costs a point.
• Scored out of 100, with yesterday’s answer at the top of each door so you can mark your score as you go.
• A 93-page PDF in US Letter, with an illustrated cover and scenes.

Two Ways to Make Your Advent

• Fold and seal: every door has a wrapper sheet with its number and date. Fold it around that door’s pages and close it with a sticker or a little tape. No scissors, no glue.
• Envelopes: print the label sheet on 30-up address labels (Avery 5160 layout) or on plain paper, and put each door in its own envelope.

Good value: boxed mystery advent calendars usually cost $60–110. The Ashford Advent prints at home, downloads up to five times and never expires. If a file won’t print right, we fix it or refund it.

Who It’s For

Ages 10 and up, and family-friendly: secrets and an anonymous letter-writer, with no murder and no violence. Play alone with your morning coffee, as a couple, or as a family of up to six. Missed a day? Open two doors together; the letters will wait.