Having disliked the first in the series and then very much enjoyed the second, I'm glad to say this third book is again a step upwards! 

While the first clashed too much between gritty realism and comedy, the second smartly paired it's comedy with character caricature, the third finds balance between murdering real people with a light comedic touch. There's no clashing of gears here and the meta-ness of the detective being the author is at a comfortable level. Basically, Stevenson has got the tone just right.

It's shorter than usual, but the accelerated pace suits Stevenson (I'm a huge fan of his two novellas published together as "Fool Me Twice") and the mystery is still complex enough to be satisfying to explore.

There are many potential suspects, and Benjamin weaves motivations and opportunities interesting enough that all of the outcomes my mind was steered to conjure would have each made for a satisfying solution - but the final full revelation still came as a surprise. I successfully picked up on a key clue that revealed the murderer, but happily kicked myself that I hadn't propely seen the full picture at all.

Highly recommended as a fun read, and if you're looking for a stocking filler this has been very carefully crafted to fit the bill - and it's 24 chapter structure intends for you to buy it early and read a chapter a day as a literary advent calendar (if you can resist, which I couldn't).

Disclaimer: I obtained a free copy of the book as I'll be interviewing the author in a few weeks, but as I happily gave the first book in the series only 2 stars in the course of my research, I hope you can trust my solid 4 star rating for this book is genuine.