Week 43 Review: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

From Goodreads:

Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling, "deviously good fun" (Nita Prose), Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas 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 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 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?

My Review:
Oh, this was a fantastic read! I've really enjoyed this series, and having a Christmas special book, yeah, that was just a delight to read! The mystery was so good, and I really enjoyed following Ernest on solving this case!

This case is personal for him, that his ex-wife is the main suspect, and yeah, it looks pretty bad for her, she woke up with blood on her hands, so it was a difficult challenge to figure out what was going on. I really felt badly for Erin, that she looked so guilty.

The investigation, with the Christmas theme, and the clues with each chapter acting like the chocolates in those advent calenders was a lot of fun to read! With all these potential suspects, and with the magic show, just made things all the more complicated and so fantastic, to see all the various motives and opportunities! 

In this one, like Ernest says, the training wheels came off, so he didn't fully explain how he got to his conclusions until the big reveal, which was interesting, but I totally did not get it, so I was on the edge of my seat, and boy, was that ending shocking! I loved how all the pieces came together! 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait for more! 

Author: Benjamin Stevenson 
Series: Ernest Cunningham #3
Read: October 24th, 2024
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: Love his writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: October 22nd 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars