Ernest Cummingham survived his first bloodbath (chronicled in the first book, Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone) and is has published a book about the experience. He is now on a train that is traveling across Australia, The Ghan, with other writers, going to a mystery writer's conference. He jokes that someone will have to die for him to be able to write another book, and what do you know, that starts happening. All the writers on the train have their own specialties (forensics, law, etc) so he gets them all to join together to solve the murder. All while on a moving train. This one is very comedic and jokes a lot about mystery and action tropes. The author was a standup comic before he wrote mysteries, and it shows.

I liked this book, especially the last quarter of it, but I again struggled with too many characters that were interchangeable. I had a lot of trouble staying with this, even though I know the conclusion would pay off. I liked the comedy and the playful tone, but after a while it did annoy me some. Thankful, it was reined back in. I liked this book, but I'm not sure I need more of this in the future. The train setting was a high point and I loved how it was a locked room mystery but then had a tilt to it. Clever book, but it knows it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Just as good as the first! Ernest Cunningham has such a unique, distinct voice. Love the breaking of the 4th wall!

Thoroughly entertaining. Witty, fun, sarcastic. If you liked Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, you will like this. The author writes this book about writing a book. It is a locked train mystery that ultimately has two murders and provides the fodder for the author to write the book. As in the previous book, the author breaks down the wall between himself and the reader to pull us along in his cat and mouse mystery using intellect, wit, and sarcasm. The narrator has a fun voice and you can't help but get caught up in the action. Overall, just a fun book. Highly recommend.

Really enjoyed this book.
I read the first one and it was good. But this one is so much better. It kept me reading. I didn't want to put it down. And I didnt know how it would end until it did.
Some nice twists and turns.

Well, one of my most anticipated books for 2024 did NOT disappoint and I didn’t even remotely figure it out. Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect was everything I hoped it would be. I loved loved loved Everyone in my Family Killed Someone and this sequel takes us to a literary festival on a train attended by our favorite criminal minds author, Ernest. The style of this book is the same where Ernest narrates the elements of a criminal thriller novel while also being in the middle of a murder scene on the train. This book was absolutely hilarious - such dry wit that had me cackling. It is beyond clever in how the story is told with Ernest’s narration and how it all unfolds with so many plot twists and red herrings and the quirkiest, most entertaining characters. I may even like this book more than the first.

After surviving his (literally) killer family reunion, Ernest Cunningham wrote a book about his experiences. A year later, he’s dating the owner of the resort where the reunion was held and recovering from some of his worst wounds. Ern also has a contract to write a mystery novel. The fiction part is stumping him so far, though.

When he is asked to participate in a crime writers’ festival on board a famous train, the Ghan, that runs north to south in Australia, Ern is kinda hoping for a new murder to happen to jump-start his writing. Well, not really. But hopefully he can get some inspiration surrounded by other murder mystery writers and fans.

The Ghan takes several days to make its way between Darwin and Adelaide and runs through a lot of desert. So when a murder does happen on the train, to a prolific and popular writer roundly hated by his fellow writers, the train essentially functions as a “locked room.” The suspect pool is small and there’s nowhere for anyone to go given the remote location.

This second book “written by Ern” is just as entertaining as the first, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. I thoroughly enjoyed the style of the writing, all the little asides Ern puts in about how murder mystery novels are supposed to be written. The mystery is good, too, though I read it probably more for the humor. I do think the mystery was more wide-ranging and complex in the first book, though. Doesn’t much matter because it’s still fun. I’ll keep reading as long as Ern keeps finding himself surrounded by murders.

Train travels are romantic. Sure, there are overcrowded trains people board through the open window, as there is no way to fight the crowds of passengers trying to enter using the doorway, and those can hardly be called "romantic." But there are other trains, seen in luxury travel ads, with people sipping champagne and contemplating the beautiful landscape.

Such a train is "The Ghan," the Australian train that passes through the desert wilderness, traveling four days to Adelaide and offering unforgettable views. However, in "Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect" by Benjamin Stevenson, passengers experience something they wish to never encounter – a murder.

Six writers are invited to participate in an unusual writers' conference on the train. Ernest Cunningham, who wrote just one book, "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone" (the first installment of the Ernest Cunningham series), has also been invited, or at least he thinks so, not suspecting other reasons for him being there. When the most obnoxious writer is murdered, other writers try to solve the puzzle before the train arrives at its destination. They all have good reasons and skills how to commit murder. Ernest turns out to be a great amateur detective, and, as the mystery is written as a personal narrative, we follow his adventures sprinkled with humorous commentaries and unexpected turns.

I'm a big fan of such mysteries. Ernest's character is young, a bit goofy, but very observant and intelligent. Like other amateur detectives, he has a knack for getting into trouble. I wish the rest of the characters were better developed. Still, perhaps there needed to be more time to go into the secondary characters' depth: as I mentioned, there are six writers, a literary agent, a fan, and Ernest's girlfriend. Lots of characters! The novel is primarily action-driven, but eventually, we get the taste of psychological twists when we gradually learn more about the characters. The author references – often in a humorous way – the rules of a good mystery, especially the cozy kind, and we see how it was influenced by other "train mysteries," especially Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express." I hope it will be made into a movie, with all the visual advantages of pictures. It's a great ride!

Pub Day Review🚂
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Thank you @harperbooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy! This was such a fun murder of the oriental express inspired book! Overall I really enjoyed the characters and following the return of Ernest from the first book! This was such a fun, quirky, character driven read that you will just devour!
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QOTD- what is the setting of your current read?
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Summary; When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.
The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:
the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer
But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.
Of course, we should also know how to commit one.
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#everyoneonthistrainisasuspect #benjaminstevenson #bookreview #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #bookish #booklover #bookaddict #bookaesthetic #bookobsessed #booknerd #bookworm #bookwormsunite #readersgonnaread #readmorebooks #readersofig

I loved the perspective of this book! I really enjoyed how we would get just enough information but that the fourth wall would also occasionally be broken so that we were talked directly to. I also appreciated that there was just enough information related to the first book so that you knew it was a sequel but not so much that it couldn't also stand alone just fine.

We read a lot of books about murder. After so many, the darkness can become a bit much. It's nice to have a change of pace every now and again. And that's why we've enjoyed both books in this series by Benjamin Stevenson, particularly Everyone on this Train is a Suspect. It is a fresh voice on a locked room mystery, a voice that is fun, witty, yet still a little dark. The mystery is interesting, and keeps you guessing, and there certainly are enough murders (they are even listed for you at the beginning of the book!). But the narrative voice adds more to the tone and shape of the book than many other books we've read recently. We're already looking forward to the next one!

"If one of the six of us was to die right now, you'd have five suspects who all know how to get away with murder."

Ernest is on a train traveling through Australia, taking part in a writer's panel, which turns into a cat fight, which turns into - SURPRISE! - a murder mystery.

This one was not as much fun as the first book in the series, mainly because not everyone has killed someone, AND you can't beat family reunions for drama (and dramatics). The mystery itself rates three stars, but the great quips about authors, writing, book reviews, and, yes, even Goodreads, raise it one star.
Enjoyable.

And, in the end . . .

"Watching them wrestle with the body, I realized that it doesn't matter how many names on how many spines of how many books you have, sometimes your legacy boils down to meat in a black plastic bag."

Amen.

Stevenson has done it again - and better this time, IMO! What a clever, enjoyable mystery. This was a cool setting, in that, while it’s been done a million times before, it felt very fresh. The writing was spectacular - I adored all the references about writing and writers, and every joke about how sequels never live up to the original made me snort. And the plot was so intricately woven that, while it was possible to figure it out, it was challenging, which made me want to keep trying (there are so many twists on twists that I figured out a few but still got to enjoy being surprised right up until the end!)

A big part of the charm of these books is the MC is just so personable, and he continues to be incredibly relatable in this story. His guidance makes the experience of trying to solve the mystery just very fun. Apologies to Ernest that I want people around him to keep dying, but I do - I want a hundred more of these book so I can keep playing detective!

Thank you to Mariner Books and Netgalley for the ARC of one of my first five star reads of 2024. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is out today!

"𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯."


Benjamin Stevenson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. ❤️

This Ernest Cunningham series is just so, so unique because it's written entirely in first person, like the author/narrator is speaking directly to you. You're inside their mind and it's like you're watching everything happen through their eyes.

And I LOVE that I never truly know how it's going to end. I literally spent the last 2 hours of this book with my mouth just hanging open 😅

Seriously, BRAVO! 👏🏻 1,000 stars!

Thank you so much to @marinerbooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!
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The follow-up to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone finds Ernest Cunningham promoting his book at an Australian writer’s festival. He can’t help but think that writing true crime is easier than fiction and hopes to find inspiration for his next book on this trip. When one of the writer’s dies, Ernest is determined to find the killer. Is it murder or just his overactive imagination and desire for a book plot? Surely, writers who excel at writing murder mysteries can solve one? But could they also get away with murder? These books are so fun in how the narrator breaks the fourth wall. At the beginning of the book he tells you the killer’s name will be mentioned 106 times (but this includes aliases). Periodically he stops and tallies names that have been mentioned to keep you hooked and looking for the twist. I love these little plot breaks and hope that Ernest has many more adventures!

Another amazing well written and page turning mystery written by Benjamin Stevenson. Love that it was set on a train and the individual plot lines for each character. Splendid!

This is it. This is my favorite book of 2024. How Benjamin Stevenson was able to one up his first book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, I truly will never know, but this is proof that second books can in fact be just as phenomenal. Sophomore slump?? We don’t know her.

The pacing, the characters, the snarky semi-fourth wall breaking “let me let you inside my head and prep you for what’s down the line while also not telling you a damn thing” uniqueness that is Stevenson’s writing is brilliant. I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn he is a comedian because this has stage performance written all over the page in the absolutely best of ways.

This book won’t be for everyone. It’s like a reluctant Poirot meets the Scooby Doo Gang meets a Wes Anderson film. If you liked Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series I think this one is for you!

This one was a fun time. I went into this with no expectations, I didn't even fully read the synopsis just because it sounded like a book that was so up my alley, and I wanted to go in blind. As a fun who-done-it, I think this book really did well. The mystery and plot were properly convoluted and whacky, just like I'd hoped. I don't mind the meta-ness of it all, I thought that was a fun tongue-in-cheek method of going about the whole novel.

The only thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth is how the women were treated in this book. I know there was a running theme between Juliette and Ernest about him only ever including her as part of "his" story, but that was pretty much the case for most of these women.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Lisa, who was *assaulted* but pretty much spent her time being called a floozy for reasons against her control; Brooke who was an just a superfan until it suited the plot for her to be different; Juliette, who, despite her protests otherwise, is only ever Ernest's support in the book; Simone, who is rude and kind of awful (but it's okay because feminism); and Harriet who, threw her life away in defense of a man. And all while Ernest pats himself on the back throughout the novel about being a stand up guy by doing the bare minimum and just not being awful.

SPOLIERS END


If you're willing to go into this one just trying to enjoy a locked-door mystery, I think this can still be really fun. However, a lot of what was revealed in the last 20% to keep the plot moving and the reveals coming just could have been done a bit better. I think I will still read books by this author in the future.

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect is an interesting take on the Murder on the Orient Express and although it is a fun ride, it has it downfalls.

The first issue I had with this book was the writing style. I was a bit fearful because it was essentially Ernest explaining how a murder mystery novel works, and I feared that it was going to feel like a lecture through the entire book. Luckily, I ended up not completely hating the writing style and liked how it added a bit of intrigue because Ernest would give you breadcrumbs of what is to come thus you had to continue reading to understand the comment made.

Besides the writing style, I felt like the amount of characters was a little hard to keep track of and that the plot felt lackluster until a bit over halfway through the book. With that being said, when Ernest begins to fully understand the murders and begins putting all the pieces together, the novel gets really good and becomes unputdownable,

I did have a few issues with some of the tropes that were presented throughout as one pertains to a rape. This trope felt unnecessary and just felt like it was thrown in for shock value.

Overall, I think this is a fun journey that offers a more innovative way of telling a murder mystery. It might take some getting used to at first, but if you are willing to stick through the dry portions of this novel, you will find that you ended up reading a really fun murder mystery inspired by Agatha Christie.

Thank you NetGalley!

I just can’t get behind the writing style of this book. It doesn’t work for me, I like stories to paint a photo by describing the scene not talk at me and tell me what to see. I also don’t like the 4th wall breaks, it doesn’t work for me in book form.

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect is a locked-room (train) mystery from Benjamin Stevenson.

"The Australian Mystery Writer's Society is holding their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan - the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide. When one of them is murdered, the others turn into detectives - because surely crime-writers can solve a crime.
But they can also get away with one..."

This is a murder mystery but Stevenson puts so much humor into every situation. The characters are over-the-top, but in a good way. There are lots of writer stereotypes - this fels like a book that writers would get a kick out of.
I like how Stevenson uses the motion of the train to move the story along. There are a lot of characters so you have to pay attention.
The final reveal is a wild scene (longer than you would think) There are several twists and turns including a surprise appearance by the killer.
Another book to add to your Spring/Summer reading list.