When a Christmas show takes a dark turn after a magician’s guillotine trick goes awry, who should be in the front row? After solving the cases of his murderous family and an ill-fated train trip filled with crime writers, Ernest Cunningham finds himself slipping back into the shoes of detective to unravel not one but two tricksy crimes.

With a suspect covered in blood and no memory of how it got there, a victim impossibly decapitated by a piece of paper, and a cast of characters who are all masters of illusion, this is not panning out to be the Merry Christmas Ernest had hoped for.

Someone’s head must roll but as Ernest becomes embroiled in the case, he finds, in an ingenious sleight of hand, this is not a matter of who wanted the victim dead, but who got there first…

Everybody Loves a Christmas Spin-Off and this perfectly giftable novella is the star atop the tree. Following the success of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone and Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, and their joyful interpretation of The Golden Age Mystery, Benjamin has again turned the genre on its head with this standalone Christmas special. Where we would normally find footprints in the snow and blood on the holly, our detective is instead placed in the Blue Mountains during a scorching December with many a Yuletide clue, from the presents to the advent calendar.

In classic Stevenson style we have suspense and devious puzzles, fun and humour, all tied together with a neat bow. When he isn’t writing mysteries, he’s an award-winning comedian who has sold out live shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.