EVERYONE THIS CHRISTMAS HAS A SECRET

Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling “deviously good fun” (Nita Prose) 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 TECHMy 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?