Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret (The Ernest Cunningham Mysteries Book 3)

 

In this short Christmas novella, which is the third book in the series, Ern once again finds himself on the case of a murder - this time the current partner of his ex-wife Erin. If you’ve read the series opener, you know that the title of that one is Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. Does the Cunningham family history extend to exes now? Ern doesn’t think so, but first he has to prove it.

This was interesting because the plot, even with a second murder that was one of the more creative, unique ones I’ve read, still felt a little more grounded in reality than the prior two books. I could believe the motivations for this particular suspect pool. Stevenson also made them unusually sympathetic, so I can’t really say I wanted any of them to be the murderer! 

Another thing I particularly enjoyed was the format of using an Advent calendar and Secret Santa theme to reveal the events of each chapter.  It was a fun holiday touch! Ern still follows the Golden Age of Mystery “fair play” rules, so the clues are all there for the reader to put together. I had a great time trying, even if I didn’t solve it.

I waited for the audio to listen along with my ARC, because narrator Barton Welch is Ern as far as I’m concerned after listening to the two prior books. His voice puts me right there in the story, and because the story breaks the fourth wall so much, it’s fun hearing him actually talking to me as the reader, as opposed to trying to imagine it.

Overall this was not only a funny, clever holiday read, but also a nice boost to my excitement for the next book!