Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling 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 MagicianThe AssistantThe ExecutiveThe HypnotistThe TwinThe CounsellorThe StagehandMy 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?
