We consider spin-chain-star systems characterized by N-wise many-body interactions between the spins in each chain and the central one. We show that such systems can be exactly mapped into standard spin-star systems through unitary transformations. Such an approach allows the solution of the dynamic problem of an (Formula presented.) spin-chain-star model and transparently shows the emergence of quantum correlations in the system, based on the idea of entanglement between chains. o̧pyright 2022 The Authors. Fortschritte der Physik published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.