4.5 stars, enjoyed this more than the first book, maybe I was more prepared for the narrator's tongue-in-cheek tone.

ARC through NetGalley. I liked this one better than the first book. I felt as though some characters weren’t developed enough and at time it was hard to follow the motives of all the different characters since there are so many characters. All the twists and turns. I didn’t see the ending coming.

I absolutely loved this book. Dare I say that it is better than the first? The “locked door” atmosphere was exactly what I wanted on this snowy day. Full of twists and turns, this Ernest Cunningham whodunnit, is perfect for those that love a good twisty tale, with amazing characters!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

1 Sentence Summary: Ernest Cunningham has been invited to the Australian Mystery Writers’ 50th Anniversary Festival aboard the Ghan, a famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, and he is hoping for some inspiration to write his second mystery novel, but then somebody is murdered, and it’s looking like real life imitates fiction after all.

My Thoughts: Sequels are difficult, but I feel like mystery sequels are even more difficult. This book was fantastic, though, and definitely lived up to the first book! There were enough similarities to make it fun, but also enough differences to make it interesting and exciting.

I love Ernest’s fourth wall breaking voice. Like the first book, this one is written as if the narrator, Ernest, is actually the one writing the book. He frequently pauses to talk directly to the reader, which I really enjoyed!

This was veryyyy twisty. The ending was WILD and there were so many plot twists that I wasn’t expecting! Overall, I did like Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone better, but this was still such a fantastic and well written murder mystery.

Recommend to: murder mystery fans and ferroequinologists.

(Warnings: swearing; mentions of rape; death)

I really enjoyed Stevenson’s last book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, so I was so excited to be able to read this one before pub day! And I think I liked this one even better! I love the writing style and POV; it’s so unique to read a fiction novel that’s written as a memoir about murders! I also enjoyed the sarcasm of the main character/narrator and how he spoke directly to the readers. I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be, and I liked that we got the classic detective monologue at the end detailing every part of the case. And the epilogue? I did not see it coming AT ALL 😮‍💨

Many thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read before pub day on January 30th!

If you read and enjoyed Benjamin Stevenson’s first book, I highly recommend giving this one a read. Imagine being on a train with a bunch of mystery writers, when someone is killed. You’re trapped with a bunch of people who know how to get away with murder. But you’re also one of many who knows the clues to look for. This was fun from start to finish.

Stevenson is back with his beloved crime fiction narrator, Ernest Cunningham!

An absolute PERFECT whodunnit which picks up shortly after the events that concluded the first mystery “Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone.” If you have not read the first book, I highly recommend it, for additional background context as the narrator’s famous 4th-wall breaking style opening speaks to readers and frequently refers back to the murders in the first book.
The setting for this fantastic whodunnit is the famous Ghan train which whisks riders away on a once in a lifetime journey across the Australian outback. Making the journey even more fun, is that riders on this journey are attending as invitation only guests to an exclusive authors’ event including the industry’s most famous crime and mystery writers. There are publisher sponsored author panels, fancy dinners under the stars, author meet and greets, and plenty of opportunities for, you guessed it, MURDER. I adore books about books/authors, and the plot of this mystery centers on past slights, author competition, and publishers’ attempts to cash in on the next big manuscript. The unique locked-room train setting combined Ernest’s hilarious and brutally honest narration lead readers on quite the entertaining journey. I can 100% guarantee readers will NEVER predict some of the twists before amateur sleuth (now published author) Ernest brilliantly lays them out for local authorities and readers. This is the type of book that makes me want to give a standing ovation (or at least a high five to another reader) after its conclusion. FUN, twisty, SMART, and unique; mystery lovers should absolutely add this one to their 2024 TBR piles.

I’ll be highlighting this book on my socials on February 2nd!

I liked the first book. I loved this one. It was so much fun and the mystery appealed to me more.

I laughed out loud several times and constantly changed my mind about the killer's identity. Always a hallmark of a good mystery in my opinion.

The ending with all the twists and reveals went on a bit too long for me, but it was still entertaining. I really hope the series continues and look forward to seeing which trope Ernest stumbles upon next.

This book is an excellent follow up of the first! Every character has their own charm and is enjoyable to read. The book is keeps you engaged from start to finish. This is a perfect recommendation for anyone who loves light-hearted books with a touch of mystery.

As someone who devoured the author's previous book, I started this one with eagerness and excitement. I wasn't wrong to go in feeling that, but the narrator did put me in my place by continually referring to this book as a sequel and that sequels can sometimes disappoint. Although, I was not disappointed with this sequel, I was more disappointed with myself for still not picking up all the clues that the narrator laid out, despite the content warning at the beginning being a clue itself! If you don't mind your narrator speaking in first person, and reminding you that first person accounts are notoriously biased, then I believe you have found a book that is worth your time. Ernest Cunningham is both parts a fumbling new writer and an amateur detective with only one case to his name, but that doesn't stop him from looking at the world through the lenses of a true crime addict with survivor's guilt. He wants there to be a story unfolding before him because using his imagination is just not good enough for writing, but he also wants a chance to justify his survivor's guilt, to find a reason why he lived when so many others died months before. It is a combination that has you rooting for Ernest to succeed over Alan Royce, but tinged with empathy, as his snooping skills are a practice of self-care, in some form, as he continues to grapple with the emotional and psychological repercussions of seeing so many dead bodies.

Juliette makes an appearance, apparently that relationship flourished after Ernest's last adventure. I won't say in what capacity she appears in this book because that would be a spoiler, but her presence feels more like a side character than a side kick, unfortunately. Besides Juliette and someone else, don't expect any other familiar faces to make an appearance. Having too many familiar faces in the sequel really drives home that it is a sequel, and makes it appear that the previous case is connected to the current one Ernest is trying to solve, which it is not, thank goodness. The author delivers a new adventure, not a continuation, which, to me, is better than leaning on familiarity.

Wow! This was a very interesting story from the get-go. A mystery writer's festival through Australia on a train when murders occur, and everyone is a suspect! The moment I started reading this book, i knew it was going to be unlike a lot of the other mystery/thriller books that I have read lately. I enjoyed the first person point of view and felt like I could understand the story a lot better, mainly because I knew what the narrator was thinking and how/what he thought through the whole book, including the crimes and suspects.

I also felt like because with there being so many characters having the story told in first person point of view made it less confusing and the story flowed easily. This book was a great read and I enjoyed how all of the characters linked together from the past to the present with some good plot twists! I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Benjamin Stevenson, and Mariner Books for allowing me to review this ARC!

If you enjoyed Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, the sequel will be a winner for you too! This feels like Murder on the Orient Express and is such a fun locked room mystery! I love the narration style with Ernest speaking directly to the reader and often breaking the fourth wall. I loved this cast of amateur detectives, each thinking they have a critical role to find the killer. I loved this writing style, how we get all the clues and how Ernest allows you to solve the mystery along with him as it unfolds. The ending how this all unfolded and did not figure out the killer on my own! This was a lot of fun and I cannot wait to see if there is more to come from Ernest but will read whatever the author writes next! 

Recommend if you enjoy:
A reliable narrator
Murder on the Orient Express
Locked room mysteries
Goodreads one star reviews 
1st person narration / breaking the 4th wall
Books about authors and the publishing world

Couldn’t get into it. Too many characters to remember with too many similar names. I didn’t care enough about the victim to care who did it. I DNF at 52%.

Couldn’t get into it. Too many characters to remember with too many similar names. I didn’t care enough about the victim to care who did it. I DNF at 52%.

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect Review:

Benjamin Stevenson’s done it again! His writing style is one of which I will never tire of reading. It’s captivating, it’s humorous, it’s blunt, it’s fun, and he really knows how to throw in mind boggling twists right when you think you’ve started fitting the pieces together. He is quickly becoming one of my most liked authors and I look forward to reading what he writes next!

I gave his previous book, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, 4.5⭐️ and it was easily one of my top favorite reads of 2023. It was nothing short of brilliant. I was a bit worried that this sequel, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, would fall short but it did NOT 👏🏼 I rate it a very solid 4 stars. It was unique and a wild ride. While this book feels much less action packed compared to the first, there were still some jaw dropping, gasp inducing moments- thanks to Stevenson’s signature, blunt writing that I love so much.

I didn’t LOVE the desert setting, I thought it was a bit boring and limiting, but then again, the only events that truly mattered were the ones occurring inside the train.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins (publisher) for the ARC of this book! I can’t wait to read what Benjamin comes out with next!!

I loved Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone and this book. As a sequel, lived up to all my expectations! I love how this seems like a journal. It’s interesting to be in Ernest’s mind the whole book and I love the rules! There were many twists and turns I could figure out with the clues dropped but there were some I missed too. Definitely one of my favorites!

I do wish there would have been some review of what happened in the last book because I forgot a lot, but I also understand the reasoning to leave it out as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ok, wow. I have to stop and ground myself after that roller coaster ride. I’m still a little bit dizzy. This book was a ton of fun and a super wild ride! I absolutely devoured it. So many twists and turns that it’s literally impossible for you to figure out the ending. And I love that in a book! I truly enjoyed the autho’r’s writing style. Very witty. Very true to the first book, “Everyone in my family has killed someone.” You definitely have to be super keyed in and pay really close attention to the details in this book to follow the ending. And while it’s not necessary to read the first book, I’d recommend it. Really lovely book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the digital advance reader's copy.

I've enjoyed both books in this series now, and I'll be looking forward to the third.

This time around, Ernest is now a published writer (book #1, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is his), and he's been invited to be a speaker at a special mystery writer's festival taking place on a cross-continental train trip in Australia.

Murders ensue, and Ernest once again does his best to solve them.

My favorite part of these books are the unusual clues Stevenson provides: the number of the times the killer's name will be mentioned in the book, the word puzzles (I managed to solve one and completely missed the others), the hints to what could be important (commas! I love a grammar clue.).

These make the book a fun read for me.

I enjoyed the train mystery trope, and the characters were entertaining, as well as occasionally poignant.

I thought Stevenson was fair with all of this clues, and I think an observant reader could have solved the case before Ernest. I didn't. I managed parts, but not the whole.

All in all, a definite recommended read for any mystery fan.

*occasional language, adult situations, some brief violence

I really couldn't get into his first book. The style put me off and there was too much jumping around. I think this one kept my attention more easily because it was more focused and I was in a better mindset for it. I did not guess all the final solutions by the end, but there are plenty of clues to pick up along the way to help you. I think this cast of characters are easier to relate to than the last book, though you mostly hate them all by the end for various reasons.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

This was an utter delight!

So, Ernest (our narrator) has exhibited a penchant for breaking the fourth wall throughout the story. See, he has a hangup for what the classic mystery should bring to bear. Seriously. He's got the numbers to back it.

While in book one ("...everyone in my family...") it comes off as a bit over-the-top, Stevenson delivers it pitch perfect this time, adding to the whimsy, humor and buy-in (no Oxford comma) to the phenominal story.

I did find this easier to solve... but he's LITERALLY rooting for you to do so! The clues come hot and heavy and, ultimately, they conclude in a cathartic denouement because you feel like you were there with him on the train.

Or on top of the train.

Or jumping onto the train.

You get the picture.

Read the book!

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!