golden age

Benjamin Stevenson: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

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Ernest Cunningham #3

This amuse-bouche of a Christmas read features intrepid detective Ernest Cunningham.  In the first book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, murders piled up at a family reunion; in book two, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, Ernest is on a train trip through Australia featuring mystery authors, when – you guessed it – bodies pile up.  In the Christmas version Ernest is summoned by his ex who is sitting in jail, covered in blood, accused of killing her partner. read more

Colleen Cambridge: A Trace of Poison

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The second book in Cambridge’s delightful series about Agatha Christie’s housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, does not disappoint.  The first one was a take on The Body in the Library; this book takes place at a “Murder Fête,” an early version of a mystery book conference.  In this iteration, there are just a few authors, but they are Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and Anthony Berkley.  Pretty swoon-worthy.  There’s also a short story contest judged by the celeb authors, and the outcome is hotly anticipated by the local mystery writing group. The prize is publication. read more