You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
benmsmith 's review for:
Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret
by Benjamin Stevenson
Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC of this title.
It feels like the hot new trend with today's mystery/thriller authors is having them get their gang back together for a special novella set around the holidays - Janice Hallett did it for The Appeal, Nita Prose just did one for her Maid series, and now Benjamin Stevenson's done it for the Ernest Cunningham series.
I can't be that mad about it (get that bag!), but so far, they always seem to have the same feeling as a quickly-tossed-off Christmas album from your favorite pop star. It's a stopgap cashgrab, and even when the stopgap is delightfully meta about understanding it's a stopgap cashgrab, like this does, it doesn't fully paper over the feeling that the author would rather be writing something they didn't have to squeeze a kiss under the mistletoe into.
This was...fine. I started with book 2 of this series, liked its arch meta thing, and then couldn't get through the original book that started things off. It's a breezy read (I basically read it in a sitting despite its potential to be an advent calendar sort of a thing), and hits the notes you want from this series. I just wish the song didn't feel so contractually obligated.
It feels like the hot new trend with today's mystery/thriller authors is having them get their gang back together for a special novella set around the holidays - Janice Hallett did it for The Appeal, Nita Prose just did one for her Maid series, and now Benjamin Stevenson's done it for the Ernest Cunningham series.
I can't be that mad about it (get that bag!), but so far, they always seem to have the same feeling as a quickly-tossed-off Christmas album from your favorite pop star. It's a stopgap cashgrab, and even when the stopgap is delightfully meta about understanding it's a stopgap cashgrab, like this does, it doesn't fully paper over the feeling that the author would rather be writing something they didn't have to squeeze a kiss under the mistletoe into.
This was...fine. I started with book 2 of this series, liked its arch meta thing, and then couldn't get through the original book that started things off. It's a breezy read (I basically read it in a sitting despite its potential to be an advent calendar sort of a thing), and hits the notes you want from this series. I just wish the song didn't feel so contractually obligated.