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!

Benjamin Stevenson’s first novel was a fun, tongue in cheek locked room mystery. This sequel just wasn’t as much fun for me. His irreverent tone and the set up felt over baked this time around.

An absolutely phenomenal sophomore book from Benjamin Stevenson! I adored his debut, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, and had the highest of expectations for the sequel. All of those expectations were met. All of them.

This was a thrilling, hilarious ride of twists and turns told by my favorite author/kind of detective/right place right time guy Ernest Cunningham. His voice is so refreshing, honest and humorous that I couldn't put this book down.

The mystery was excellent, with foreshadowing left and right; an eclectic cast of characters, each with depth and growth; and such a unique setting and insane circumstances that it's impossible not to get sucked in almost immediately.

An incredible piece of literature that I have already begun rereading. Benjamin Stevenson, you've done it again. I truly hope we see more of Ernest Cunningham's (mis)adventures in the future, and I look forward to checking out the rest of Stevenson's works.

A huge thank you to Mariner Books, NetGalley and Benjamin Stevenson for the ARC!

I’ve caught up with Rachel Hawkin’s writing, and I have to say I love all of her books. I have finished them all in the span of 24 hours, and The Heiress is no exception. This one might be my favorite of all.
This story was intense and intertwined. I felt like it was a thriller version of Evelyn Hugo, and it made me so happy. Hawkins is so good at creating complicated relationships and deep complex characters.
Ruby was stolen as a toddler, and luckily brought back to her family. The twists and turns from there are page burning, and you will love how it all ends tied up in a dysfunctional bow.
I will be recommending this book to everyone.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

After Ernest Cunningham's first book, he is looking for some inspiration. So when he is invited on the Australian Mystery Writers festival aboard a train through the Australian desert, he is preparing for some dedicated writing time to jump start book two. Surrounded by mystery writers should be good motivation. When one of the guests is murdered everyone on board is a suspect and also trying to solve the murder. There is no shortage of secrets and grudges among the travelers and unraveling who to trust is complex.

I loved the first book in this series and the writing style that breaks the wall between writer and reader. In book two we again get hints as to who the murderer will be all the way through. As a locked room mystery, this is done very well with lots of complex characters. As the book progresses, everyone's secrets begin to be exposed. Some are red herrings which keeps the reader guessing until the end of the story when we get the big reveal.

I am looking forward to more from author Benjamin Stevenson and hopefully this series continues.

I LOVED Stevenson's first book - Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone. It was such a delight to read, and so I couldn't wait to dive in to Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect. And this new story did not disappoint! I love that the "writer", Ernest, narrates the story, and he, himself is in the story. Such creativity! And such wit! I laughed out loud numerous times, as Ernest participates in this writers' event on the train.

The story moves along smoothly until about halfway through, I'd say, and then it begin to get a little complicated. I should have made a list of each character to refer to as I read the story, because I got confused several times. There's a lot of fun deviousness going on, as well as some murders, and I needed to reread parts of the book for it all to make sense. But so much fun it was!

Highly recommend!

I devoured this book! I could not put it down. I love the way Ernest talks to the reader through out the book. He seems so real and it’s easy to feel like you’re running through the train solving the crime with him. The book sets you up like you can easily solve it. I mean, he gives a lot of blatant clues, and yet I was still absolutely surprised in the end!!

I ADORED Stevenson's first book, and I was thrilled that he wrote a second one about our favorite bumbling accidental detective, Ernest Cunningham. This time it's a tale reminiscent of Murder On the Orient Express, except with much more drinking and much less glamour (in a good way). I don't know what it is with this guy, but murder (and subsequent novels) seem to follow him wherever he goes, and readers are all the more delighted for it. A worthy sequel to a nearly perfect first installment.

3.75

I just finished “Everyone on this Train is a Suspect” and I don’t even know what happened! I mean I know what happened, but it was such a whirlwind.

This is a sequel to “Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone”, which I didn’t remember as much as I thought so I had to go back and brush up on some of the details, difficult since only the audiobook was available from the library and I didn’t know where to start. After that side trip I was back.

Not only is this written in the same voice as Ernest Cunningham, but he tries to make you think that he’ll be delivering the solution to you so easily that you’ll know who did it ahead of time. You won’t. It doesn’t matter that he told you that he would use the killer’s name exactly 106 times (which he technically didn’t do, technically). It doesn’t even matter that he gives updates on the number of times names were used and addresses what he assumes are your assumptions.

I was back-and-forth on this book. I had a hard time getting into it even though a murder on a luxury train across Australia?! I mean, hello!

Finally, I was getting into it, though what was that with the Range Rover and the mines and the Mission Impossible catch up onto the smoking deck? The time passed alone made that impossible. It probably could have been left out. This isn’t really a spoiler because you won’t know what I’m talking about until you get there and it’s not really gonna give you the answer anyway. If anything, it’s a red herring and you know how he feels about red herrings!

My feelings are mixed a little. I was a little slow to the uptake, but I do love a good false narrator á la Anthony Horowitz. This isn’t quite as gruesome thriller like as the first book. Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely death, but not so much fear and having a hard time going to sleep after reading. It’s definitely worth a read and I mean, Australia! That’s a bit of a niche and it’s nice to have a change of pace, though I don’t know that I cared for all of the effort spent telling us how he’s having a hard time writing the novel and how real life is turning in to a book and how lucky he is. We already know you’re not writing a novel.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

I don’t really know why this was kind of a miss for me. I had a hard time keeping up with all the characters and their motives while also following our main character’s own inner dialogue. It was still a fun ride (pun not completely intended) but I don’t think it lived up to the first book. But my opinion, thus far, seems to be in the minority so pick this baby up JANUARY 30!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy

Metafiction. Definition: “Fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques.” (Oxford Languages)

Stevenson writes in the first person as Ernest Cunningham, a guy who keeps getting involved in murderous situations. In the first book in the series, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, it’s killings at a snowed-in ski resort where his family is having a (less than amicable) reunion. Ernest’s book about that experience was published and he’s now on an author book tour by train from Darwin, at the top of Australia, through the vast desert to Adelaide.

Ern’s been paid a sizable advance for a second book, but he hasn’t got much of an idea of what to write, except that he expects it to be a novel. Even though he used to write tracts about how to write mystery novels, actually writing one is another thing. He makes notes about what he sees on the book tour; a lot of sniping among the writers, agents and publishers, and some sketchy behavior from some of the book tourists. Then a murder occurs and he’s relieved that he can write another true crime book—if he’s not killed or charged with murder himself.

I’ve read some metafiction before, but none more meta as this one. Ernest constantly talks to the reader about the rules of crime fiction and how they apply to the case at hand, gives hints about how this will all turn out and provides sort-of scorecards about suspects as we go along. At the same time, as a mystery it’s full of action, interesting characters, and neck-snapping twists and turns. It’s a hoot.

The good news if you’ve read the first book in the series is that this one is even better. I’m not wild about the schtick of Ernest constantly being insulted by everyone else in the book business, but otherwise this is a terrifically entertaining spoof of all those Golden Age mysteries set on trains.

As someone who loves donning my detective cap, I appreciate the way that these books are written out to entice the reader into participation in solving a murder - it is a fun and unique way of reading! That said, I enjoyed this locked room mystery, set on a train, with a kooky cast of characters, all authors, who’ve spent their careers writing about murder. My favorite scenes were when they came together to try and solve the various murders - talk about too many cooks in the kitchen! It was amusing to read, but I do wish there was a little more depth in the characters themselves, particularly Ern. Fast paced, witty and entertaining!

What a fun read, a nice follow up to last year's Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone. I love how Stevenson takes the mystery genre, tropes and themes and all, and somehow both honors them, gently pokes at them, and makes them fun and fresh (at least for me). Trains, a group of eccentric mystery writers, Ernest's breaking of the fourth wall and winking nudges at the audience and his foreshadowing ... all come together for a fun mystery that holds up and leads for a strong conclusion.
A note to readers... this style might take a minute to get used to, the pacing at the beginning felt a smidge slow, but get into it, it's a fun read and great for mystery fans!
Thank you to Mariner books for the review copy, a definite recommend for fans of the author's previous book, Agatha Christie fans, and for readers looking for something fun, a little different, and pretty fast paced. Great for a snowy weekend or weekend get away and of course I would love to see people on trains reading this and having fun with it.

Once I got all the characters straight in my head, I attempted to guess who did it. I thought I was close a few times and then a twist did me in. Benjamin Stevenson wrote an interesting story of writers and their relationships with others. I never saw the ending coming. Thank you, net galley and Edelweiss and Mariner for this ARC.

Strong 4 stars, wavering between 4.25 and 4.5.

This was, like the first book, an absolute delight. I am not typically a mystery reader—that said, I love the quirky voice of Ernest, the nature of the FairPlay mystery, and the continual winks to form. While I think this dragged slightly in the middle and suffers from being decidedly improved by knowledge of the first book, the ending is worth five stars.

Highly recommended for fans of Richard Osman. I can’t wait to read book three.