Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas staples: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe.
My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.
So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.
THE MAGICIAN
THE ASSISTANT
THE EXECUTIVE
THE HYPNOTIST
THE IDENTICAL TWIN
THE COUNSELLOR
THE TECH
My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas.
If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it. After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?
Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret is a Christmas-themed whodunnit mystery novella and the third installment in the popular Ernest Cunningham series. The story follows Ernest Cunningham traveling to the Blue Mountains after his ex-wife calls, claiming she woke up covered in blood and found her partner, Lyle, stabbed to death. Ernest arrives just days before Christmas and enters a world of theater actors, magicians, and tricksters to solve the mystery. The book is much shorter than the previous full-length novels but still delivers a good amount of suspense and captivating storytelling. The story is fast-paced but doesn’t quite flow the same way as the previous books.
For such a short book, there are a lot of characters introduced, and it’s a struggle to keep up with them all. It’s a good idea to jot down each name and their relation to the victim when they’re introduced. Typical to the style of this series, the narrator speaks to the readers throughout, providing clues and rules to help solve the mystery. This novella takes on a unique format where each chapter represents the door of an advent calendar, behind each of which is another clue to unravelling the mystery. The murders in the story, at surface level, seem quite implausible, but Ernest uses his rules and ingenious deduction skills to solve it, making for an unpredictable and engrossing story. The Australian Blue Mountains is the perfect setting, almost as perplexing as each clue in the story, with a picturesque Christmas-like atmosphere but with balmy weather.
The first half of the story mostly introduces the many characters and includes a lot of dialogue—most of which is engaging and riddled with clues, so pay close attention. For a Christmas novella, there’s not much Christmas theming, aside from the advent calendar chapters and the time frame that the story takes place. The introduction of the “circus-style” magic show feels out of place for a Christmas story but still provides thrilling moments and intrigue to the story. The story escalates in suspense towards the end, culminating in a brilliant ending on a cable car, where, in true Ernest fashion, all the pieces of the complex puzzle come together. It’s certainly not an easy mystery to solve, but one you’ll have a lot of fun deducing!
In summary, this book is a clever and festive novella, perfect for Ernest Cunningham fans or anyone who enjoys Christmas-themed whodunnit stories. Narrator Barton Welch returns to deliver another engrossing performance full of charm, humor, and perfectly executed witty dialogue, making for an unstoppable listening experience. Although this book can be read as a standalone, it’s highly recommended to read the previous two books first to get familiar with the characters and unique murder mystery formula! All three books can be quickly devoured, and you’ll likely be eager for more Ernest Cunningham adventures afterwards!
