Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄
Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret is the 3rd-installment to the delightfully-meta Ernest Cunningham Mysteries series.
It’s also the perfect novella to kick off your holiday spirit!!
I binged the first 2-books in this series recently and was really excited for this holiday-focused mystery story. I definitely feel like Stevenson nailed the holiday vibes and I really enjoyed my time with it.
I rated it a little lower than the previous two stories merely because my enjoyment level wasn’t quite as high with this one as those other novels. I think it’s simply a case of there not being enough time to really feel fully immersed, or pulled, into this one.
It was still a fun mystery and I enjoyed the set-up involving Ernie’s ex. I also found the inclusion of the magician, and everyone one involved in his show, exciting and different.
As always, I loved the little nods to classic mystery stories; particularly those of Agatha Christie. My favorite part of this though was Ernie’s rules for Christmas Specials. That was so funny, and also, very true.
It sounds like there is another full-length novel in the works right now and I can’t wait for more information on it. No matter what it is about, I will be first in line.
I love this series so, so much, and definitely recommend the audiobooks for anyone looking to get into the series. The narration is perfect for this unique storytelling style.
Thank you to the publisher, Mariner Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
Overall, this is a cute, fun, quick Christmas Special following Ernie Cunningham doing what he does best:
solving murders!