Review by Booklist Review
The author's first two Ernie Cunningham meta-mysteries, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (2023) and Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (2024), were wonderful, with a narrator who speaks directly to the reader (and who discusses the rules of writing a mystery novel even as he's writing one), terrific plots, and lively supporting characters. Now, as protagonist/narrator Cunningham notes, it's time for the obligatory Christmas special. Like the previous two books, this one is deliciously meta; as Ernie relates the mystery, which involves Ernie's ex-wife, a murder, and plenty of suspicious goings-on, he explains how the story adheres to the rules of Christmas specials, and the dialogue has a lovely self-referential feel to it: "How dare you use me as a cliff-hanger," Ernie's ex-wife says to him at one point. Before he introduced us to Ernie Cunningham, Stevenson, whose roots are in stand-up comedy, had a handful of traditional thrillers under his belt. Combining humor and mystery was a natural progression, and the Cunningham meta-mysteries are absolutely delightful.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Though slimmer than its predecessors, Stevenson's third meta-whodunit featuring Australian golden age mystery expert Ernest Cunningham (after Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect) is every bit as ingenious. Shortly before Ernest's upcoming wedding, his ex-wife, Erin, is locked up for the murder of her philanthropist partner, Lyle Pearse, after he's found stabbed to death in their home in the Blue Mountains. Given Ernest's previous successes solving the murder of a famous writer and the crimes of a serial killer, Erin calls and begs him to help clear her name. After speaking to Erin and poking around Lyle's offices, Ernest identifies six main suspects, including magician Rylan Blaze; Lyle's old assistant, Flick; and a pair of teenage twins who attended the rehab program he directed. The clues are doled out in the form of an Advent calendar, with one fair-play puzzle piece revealed at the end of each chapter. As usual, Stevenson hits the sweet spot between self-awareness and sincerity, never allowing the regular fourth-wall breaks to curdle into snark, and the resolution is hugely gratifying. Stevenson's hot streak shows no signs of cooling. Agent: Pippa Masson, Curtis Brown U.K. (Oct.)
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