Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Twenty-four advent calendar doors. Twenty-three clues. One killer…”

I think this was my first ever Christmas themed murder-mystery and it was utterly brilliant! I went into this really not knowing what to expect, but I was very quickly hooked. I loved Ernest and his humour, and the characters we meet had me constantly questioning their innocence. Can you crack the case before the end? I did not 😂 So happy to be sharing my review of Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret!

About the book

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?

The beginning

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly wasn’t this! Straight away, I was so intrigued by the very conversational tone, how the narrator, or Ernest, as we come to learn, addressed us and made us feel so involved with this whole mystery from the start. And it was very mysterious. Apparently, there are two different recommended ways to read this book. You can either read one chapter each day in the run up to Christmas (ending on Christmas eve) which I obviously didn’t do as I started reading this too late, OR, you can binge it all in one or two sessions. And I did the latter, of course. I loved how the book was set out similar to an advent calendar, with each chapter being a clue to unravelling a new case. Let’s get stuck in – Ernest gets a call from his ex-wife, Erin. She’s been arrested for murder. She woke up covered in blood, with no recollection of how it got there. In order to speak to her and start finding out what on earth happened to Erin’s boyfriend, Lyle, Ernest lies to his wife, telling her he’s off to watch magician, Rylan Blaze perform in Katoomba. Naughty boy!

“If you start on 1 December and take a chapter a day, you’ll have it all solved by Christmas Eve, but it’s not like I’m going to supervise. Many people like to eat all the chocolates in one go.”

Because I’ve not yet read the other books in this series, I felt as though I was missing out at times. Certain references went over my head, and even though these weren’t essential to understand what’s going on, I’ve still made a mental note to read these at some point to get up to speed. However, I loved the humour and I did many a nose exhale when something in particular tickled me. Ernest was such a great character (and storyteller) and even though he sometimes went off on a tangent about other murder mysteries, or films, I felt this just added to his brilliantly captured personality. We meet so many memorable characters along the way, and I couldn’t help but judge them a little too much (it’s a murder mystery, you can never be too careful, can you?!) Ernest does, in fact, plan to see Rylan Blaze perform, but his reasoning isn’t for pleasure. He believes he fits into this whole murder, somewhere. Ernest needs to prove Erin’s innocence and uncover the real murderer. The clues were piling up, piece by piece. But who was really responsible for Lyle’s murder? What really happened?

The middle

The detail in each chapter was so impressive. From every action a character fulfills, to the brilliant descriptions of people, places and even clues, it made it really difficult to put the book down. I always felt so engrossed in what I was reading, and many times I’d check the time and be shocked at how long I’d spent working out this mystery with Ernest. What I will say is make sure you read with no distractions; you really need to use your brain to work all this out! I’m usually horrific at working out mysteries before the end so I was curious to see whether I would in this book. Ernest begins to gently interrogate those who work with Rylan on his tour, then Rylan himself. And what a character he is! There was something about him that felt unnerving. Was he involved? Or would he be about to meet his demise? The suspense rocketed, things began to get more dangerous and time was ticking. I think this is one of the best things about shorter murder mysteries – there is always something happening and there is basically a time limit to crack a case. We have a murder to solve, chop chop!

“Everyone in my family has killed someone. If she had done this, why hadn’t she done a better job of getting away with it?”

As Lyle had an important job and was connected to many people, it seemed Ernest had his work cut out. Even more so when we’re faced with a second brutal murder. I really liked the magic show scene, how, even though a murder was imminent, the crowd were none the wiser, thinking all the commotion was a part of the act. It was a strange atmosphere, almost eerie and chilling. Ernest knows what will make us readers tick, of course he does. He even jokes with us about it! But even so, I loved how this mid-point murder, including the method and cause of the death, had me very curious. Someone close by was involved, I was sure of it. And these two murders had to be linked, didn’t they? Ernest just had to put it all together, to prove Erin couldn’t possibly be the murderer. Even at the half way point, where we get a recap of all the clues we’ve gathered so far, I still didn’t have any idea who could be behind everything. I plunged head first into the second half with my eyes wide and my brain basically open to any scenario.

The end

The clues were slowly slotting into place and it felt grand! The big reveal was so close I could almost taste it. The cliff hangers were just *chef’s kiss*, the Christmassy clues were so brilliant and perfectly placed. I thought I had my own ‘light bulb moment’ at the end of chapter 22, just before Ernest vocalises my exact theory. I felt proud of myself for a minute before I thought, “Surely there would be more to this than we think!” Then Ernest gets his light bulb moment after he receives information that quite clearly blows his mind. Care to tell us what you’re thinking, Ern?! I loved how unexpectedly complex the whole case was, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like an impossible case to solve. All the clues are there, we just had to put them into place. I wasn’t prepared for what was to come! The finale was brilliant – so memorable and it had me so desperate to read the author’s other books in the series. If this was what a Holiday Special was like, then I think I would love the others!

“Where to start? Six of the seven of you wanted to kill Rylan Blaze. Two of you tried. One of you succeeded.”

I loved the way Ernest tells everyone he’d met that he knows the truth, the way he theatrically deducts the innocent one by one, leaving only the guilty party standing, was so memorable. Of course, the truth was completely different to my light bulb moment (goddammit, will I ever solve a case before the detectives do?! Or in this case, a non-detective…) but I loved how Ernest takes us through every thought he has along the way, every clue he discovers, every scenario leading to the murders and beyond. It was beautifully executed (mind the pun), brilliantly clever and felt so bloody satisfying to read. This was my favourite part of the book by far, seeing how all the clues we’d found in our advent calendar linked to the case, the murders. Truly fabulous. I really don’t read as many murder mysteries as I should, but this book has really ignited something in me. I need more! Big recommendation from me – it’s only a short read at 200-ish words, so you can definitely fit it in before Christmas. If you do, let me know if you worked it all out in time (unlike me 😆)

Overall thoughts

Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret is a cleverly plotted and humourous murder mystery with such a satisfying ending. Ernest is probably one of my favourite characters of the year and I was completely engrossed in his approach to catching a killer. The Christmas theme was brilliantly done, each clue as intriguing as the next. It was so fun to think up my own theories of how things happened as each chapter passed, and by the end I was craving more from this author. It’s dark, it’s entertaining and it’s completely mind boggling which makes this book fiercely unique in my eyes. I loved it, hugely recommend!

Big thanks to the author, Benjamin Stevenson, and the brilliant team at Michael Joseph for my gifted copy! You can grab your own copy of Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret from Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author over on X/Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Looking for book reviews?

If you’re in need of reviews for your own book, do get in touch to get on my submissions list! All the information you need is on my book reviews page. If you enjoyed this review and would like to support my blog, you can buy me a coffee 😊