This is the third book by Benjamin Stevenson following the investigative prowess of his protagonist Earnest Cunningham. I absolutely loved the first book ‘Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone’ as it was completely unique and I enjoyed the second novel ‘Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect’ although not as much as the first and the theme persists as this third instalment of the genre is not as enjoyable as the first two. It seems to me like it’s just cashing in on the success of its predecessors.
Having said that I still found this an interesting and entertaining read, I just wonder how much further the author can take this character.

This is the 3rd in Benjamin Stevenson's Ernest Cunningham cosy festive mystery series, but it is my first, the author makes no bones of wanting to take full professional advantage of the lucrative holiday period, just like the classic golden age of crime writers did, following the expected rules of the genre. This is a fun, relatively short, entertaining and humorous read that turns out to be captivating, structured in the form of an advent calender, 24 chapters, each with clues allowing the reader the opportunity to turn amateur sleuth, along with Ernest Cunningham, who believes in being fair to the reader. The intricate mystery comes to a conclusion with the unveiling of whodunnit in the last chapter.

There is all that goes in the run up to Christmas, secrets, presents, and oh yes, not just one dramatic murder, but two! The setting is the Aussie Blue Mountains, and Earnest's ex-wife Erin has been arrested for murder in Katoomba. It has to be said Erin's first act on viewing the murder scene is to call Earnest, then the police, the victim is her well off boyfriend, Lyle Pearse, of the Pearse Foundation. Erin's odd story is a trifle on the weak side, leaving him certain that she is innocent. Ernest considers those working at and volunteers at the Foundation to be a suspect, of which there are six. There is a show being put on from the well known magician, Rylan Blaze, so matters are on the trickier side of life.

This is a wonderful Christmas treat of a witty mystery novel, smart, well paced and well plotted, with a marvellous central protagonist in Cunningham, where every suspect has a motive, with clues to try an pick up, and even if you may not succeed in identifying whodunnit, you are bound to enjoy the journey. This will make the perfect Christmas read and or gift. A recommended festive addition to the series. I am already looking forward to the next one! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Rating: 4.0/5

I missed out on the first book in this Ernest Cunningham series, but I loved the second one, "Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect". That being the case, I was certainly not going to let book three pass me by. Broadly speaking, the formula employed by author, Benjamin Stevenson is much the same. Lead protagonist, Ernest Cunningham once more finds himself at the heart of a murder mystery, where he becomes simultaneously the amateur investigator as well as the author writing a novel about the case.

Once again the mood of the story is deliberately comedic, but also has a solid, "Golden Age" style murder mystery structure at its core. As before, much of the humour comes from the fact that author-investigator, Ernest, regularly includes updates on the progress versus the plan - and even telegraphs significant plot developments well in advance to make sure that the reader has no excuse for missing them. This is all part of the "playing fair" principle of "Golden Age" mystery writing.

"Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret" is a little bit on the short side (though not quite short enough to be classified as a novella), but that is partly due to the fact that the author deliberately wants to restrict the number of chapters to the same number of days that appear on an Advent calendar, so that the reader can open one door/chapter per day in the lead up to Christmas, if they so choose. The mystery has again been cleverly constructed by Benjamin Stevenson and the clues are there - though I would defy most readers to spot them all without having to check back later! This is another engaging and enjoyable read, though not quite as impressive as "Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect".

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I’ll preface this review by stating that this is the 3rd book of the “Ernest Cunningham” series and this is the first of that series I have read. It does seem to contain spoilers to the other two books to a word to the wise if you’re jumping in headfirst with this one like me.

This is a story written by our hero, Ernest Cunningham after the crime has been solved. He is Dr. Watson to himself as Sherlock Holmes, having these books published and his cases making him well known.

This case begins on 21st Dec with a call from his ex-wife, Erin. She’s accused of stabbing her partner Lyle, having woken covered in blood and no knowledge of how it happened.

Lyle Pearse was a wealthy businessman who’s foundation helps recovering addicts. Whilst looking into the Pearse Foundations employees, Ernest is invited to a charity event, a performance by the renowned magician, Rylan Blaze. A great opportunity for him to begin his investigation.

Ernest Cunningham prides himself in applying the rules of Golden Age mysteries to his books.

Ronald Knox’s ten commandments of detective fiction.

1. The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow.
2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.
5. No racist Chinese person must figure in the story.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
7. The detective must not himself commit the crime.
8. The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader.
9. The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.
10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.
As Ernest himself states at the beginning of this story, “If Murder Mysteries have rules, so too do Holiday Specials”. Which I thought was a lovely touch

So, what did I think to this book? I really enjoyed how he followed the rules of Golden Age mysteries, it gave the story an sense of honesty and an innocent quality to it. I believed that nothing was being hidden by the author and we were investigating along side him.

The plot was cleverly thought out and there were plenty of clues which should lead you to the murderer or murderers. I did get this right quite early but there is enough to keep you second guessing.

The book has a good sense of humour, tastefully delivered considering the setting. I thought the interactions between Ernest and his arch-enemy, journalist Josh Felman, was a particular highlight to watch out for throughout.

What I didn’t like was the Ernest writing the story after the fact and jumping in as the Narrator, ‘breaking the 4th wall.’ I found very difficult to follow and really distracting early in the book. The humour it introduced to the book wasn’t worth the disruption. It worked beautifully in the prologue and epilogue and I wish it had been reserved specifically for them.

A thoroughly enjoyable novel, very cleverly crafted that got me into the Christmas spirit, even if it is only September!

I would like to convey my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel. All opinions are my own

A fabulously written story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

I can't say I fully understand the trend of getting popular mystery writers to produce Christmas special novella (even when they've published a full-length novel that same year) where they manage to get out a good whodunnit, but with less of the bells and whistles. 'Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret' once again takes us to a remote location and sets it mystery in a theatre, where two deaths, seemingly unconnected, must be knotted together. Ernest Cunningham returns with a suitably festive story - though, it's an Australian Christmas, so I didn't feel quite as bad about reading it in September.

The mystery was interesting. I felt the explanation went on for a far too long - there was literally an entire page of just Ernest explaining the mystery, which whilst was necessary because of the situation, you're literally the writer, you can fix that way quicker - but I enjoyed the reading process. I do think a mystery like this needs the expanse of a full novel to be really enjoyable, but it'll be a nice addition to this growing sub-genre, especially for fans of the author.

Ernest Cunningham is back with another great detective story.
This time he wants to help his ex to clear her name after she woke to find herself covered in blood, and her partner dead downstairs.
She is the obvious suspect, but Ernest knows that she doesn't have it in her nature to do such an awful act.

I love the way this series of books is written, and I find the style of writing flows well.
I look forward to Ernest's next adventure!

I didn’t realise this was part of a series when I started reading it. I didn’t let it put me off though…
A clever, atmospheric quick and quirky read. It would have been nice to have had some of the backstory first (my own fault for not doing my research after being invited to read it!) but it was enjoyable and clever. I will be reading the others in the series now!

Unfortunately whilst I knew this author had written other books I didn't realise this was actually the third in the series. Therefore it did have quite a few plot points and spoilers linking to the previous book. Whilst I still understood the jist of most of them they did make it feel like this couldn't really be read as a standalone.

For a Christmas "holiday special" it felt very light on the festive elements, although the formatting with the advent calendar doors did help a little with that.

Having not read the previous two installments I wasn't sure how I felt about the main character breaking the 4th wall. At times it came across as a bit smug and childish.

I did however enjoy the bare bones of the plot. I liked the involvement of one of the characters being a magician and how some of the mysteries were solved and tied up. I also found some points very creative and fresh.

Overall this was a short and sweet mystery that had a great plot. I just wasn't a fan of the character work or writing style and am unsure if this "holiday special" has spurred me on to read other works by this author.

Another fun book from Benjamin Stevenson with all the usual fourth wall breaking we've come to expect. A good quick read which will make a great Christmas present.

This time there is magic in the air - well, conjuring tricks anyway - and naturally enough things don't go smoothly.. Ernest has a personal interest in this one as his ex-wife is involved. Is she innocent? Can he prove she's innocent? He can certainly find out whodunnit.

Excellent.

I wasn't sure about the writing style to start with. Once the first chapter was down though, I soon found the groove.

It is an excellent thriller. The novel maps out the 'whodunnit' clues against the countdown to Christmas. Often very funny, the writer paints a picture without overwhelming the storyline with excessive descriptions.

I would recommend this book to anyone at any time. A murder mystery is not just for Christmas.

A fun Christmas addition to this series of murder mysteries.

I really like the style of narration and Ernest as a detective/writer. The mix of poking fun at the genre whilst also adhering to it is really clever.

Absolutely loved the first in this series. Just think this genre isn’t really for me as a whole.

For people who love crime novels and murder mysteries I think these are great books. I just get a little bored with the similar format. It’s just not a genre I connect with, so I probably won’t read anymore of this series (if there are more). However, they’re definitely books I’d recommend to those who love this type of story!

Benjamin Stevenson strikes again with a witty Cluedo obsessed writing style. I love how old school the mystery aspect is with the “who done it” and I loved the theme around Christmas and magicians! I can’t say too much about this book but if you enjoyed the first 2 you will absolutely love this.
I wonder how it would be for people who haven’t read any of Ernest’s escapades so far?

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

I'll be honest. If Benjamin Stevenson wrote Ernest Cunningham's shopping list, I would read it.

I love the way this is structured, so if you were someone who had self-control (not me), you could read a chapter a day like an advent calendar.

This is a fairly short but twisty and fast-paced festive interlude. If you loved the first two books, you will definitely enjoy this.

This is the 3rd in a series of novels featuring Ernest Cunningham, a narrator who is aware of his audience. In this episode, Ern must find the culprit after his ex=wife is falsely accused of killing her boyfriend. ,It was the first Ern story I have read but I quickly got into the style of writing and enjoyed the well=plotted storyline which culminated in a thrilling denouement in a cable car amidst the Blue Mountains - very Christmassy! The story unfold like an advent calendar with each of 24 chapters containing a clue which makes it ideal Christmas reading, shorter than the previous two books but the lack of length was made up for by the quality of the writing.

I loved this book. I loved the way it was written. Although it has Christmas in the title it wasn’t Christmassy, it just happened at Christmas. It had the right amount of humour and has left me wanting to read more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Brilliant, was such a good book. Really liked the characters and the storyline. This is the third in a series by Benjamin Stevenson, a one off festive special however it is not in your face christmas so it is perfect to read at anytime of the year.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

My name is Ernest Cunningham.

I’m not a detective. I just happen to have a knack for what makes mysteries – and murderers – tick. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any killers out there might be willing to take a break for the holidays.

I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the Christmas show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. From the magician’s assistant to the hypnotist, my suspects are all professional tricksters. Masters in the art of misdirection.

My clues are even more of a mystery:

A suspect covered in blood, with no 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.

Solving the murder is the only gift I want this year. But can I catch a killer, and make it home for Christmas alive?

I did enjoy reading this Christmas special, although reading it in August was a bit offputting. A good strong twisty storyline with a satisfying ending. Reading the real book would be much better than the e version as the format would be better.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love a Christmas special and I think this was my favourite Ernest Cunningham book so far.

Unfortunately for me Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret had two of my pet irritations. Firstly a book about Christmas which barely mentions it and secondly, a humourous writing style when I wasn't expecting that. In fairness, I did get invited to read a galley of this book and I should have done more due diligence when I would have realised that the author is also a stand up comedian and a Christmas book set in the Blue Mountains of Australia is never going to be heavy on scenes with masses of snow and mulled wine.

The book is short and the third in the series by author Benjamin Stevenson about his wannabe detective, Ernest Cunningham. Ernest has been texted by his ex, Erin, who is in police custody for the apparent murder of her new man. Her hands are covered in blood but she has no recollection of why. Ernest was able to know this as Erin texted him before calling the police or checking if the deceased was actually dead or not. This was just one of many parts where I had to suspend belief as to the sanity of the characters within.

The character, Ernest, breaks the fourth wall by addressing the reader directly on many occasions. Another pet hate of mine as it removes me from the work of fiction and brings me back to reality. This really wasn’t a book for me but I can appreciate that it will appeal to a lot of people.With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.