4.25 stars

Ernest Cunningham, after the success of his first novel documenting the murders that took place at his family's reunion, has been invited to a writers festival aboard a train. Struggling to come up with an idea for a fictitious murder mystery, it's only too lucky that there should be one (or more!) murders aboard the train.

If you enjoyed the first Cunninghman novel, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone then you are sure to also love its sequel! Filled with the same fourth-wall-breaking narrator and meta murder mystery structure, it's just truly a delight to read.

100% loved this book. Sequels are hard, but I honestly felt like this one was even better than the first book.

What I liked about the first book was continued in this one, and the story got even better. Like the author said in the end, sometimes second chance makes it better. Because we get a chance to learn from the first. Sure he did! My indulgence in the story was higher this time. Even though most characters were writers, which I don't relate to, the characters were built very well.

The sharp sense of humor from Benjamin Stevenson has to be the highlight of the book. Even in the most morbid situations, he can bring humor. And not even dark humor, just regular, everyday humor. That's a skill, that's talent.

This book is amazing. Mystery/Thriller lovers who want a change of scenery from the dark, deathly stuff, must read this book!

These books are so good. I honestly thought I had this one figured out but obviously the joke was on me.

Such a fun read! A satirical view on mystery writers while also playing homage to old style Agatha Christie-like books. I giggled a lot and really enjoyed his style of writing. It’s a very entertaining, fast read.that keeps you guessing. I will be going back to read his other book.

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How does an author tell you exactly what happens before it happens, tell you who to suspect and why, and yet you still can't figure it out? Because he is a genius that's why. Twice now I've gotten the murderer wrong and I'm not even mad about it. I am in awe of the motives, red herrings, and twists throughout Stevenson's books.

Don't let the humor and cozy feel of this book fool you, everything is meticulously thought out down to the last little detail of a comma. The pacing, dialogue, characters, and setting are all a delight. I loved how the Aussie outback and accents were such a huge part of this novel, which easily transported me back there.

A sequel that is just as good as the first and now anything written by Benjamin Stevenson is an auto-buy for me!

My thanks to Netgalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy of this book.
Pub date: Jan 30, 2024

This was such a fun read. I think maybe after reading the first in the series, I was better prepared because I think I enjoyed this one better than the first one.
In this story we find that Earnest Cunningham has been invited to a writer’s retreat on a train. He is thrilled because he assumes it is because of the sale of his first book. His girlfriend from the first book joins him on a writer’s retreat on a train. It was a good nod to Christies Murder on the Orient Express but with humor.
When the bodies start piling up, the reader is left guessing who the killer is because there are so many possibilities.
The author’s humor is sometimes subtle and sometimes it hits you over the head, especially if you are familiar with the first book in the series. There are enough quirky characters and humorous situations that it kept me turning the pages.
I will look for more from this author in the future.
If you are looking for something that will make you laugh as well as give you a good mystery to solve, you need to read this novel.
I will be posting a more in-depth review on my blog at Virginia-Gruver.com

5 stars!

I really liked Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone and so had high expectations when it came to the sequel and was so happy that they were met. This might be my new favorite cozy mystery series just because I LOVE how it references the mystery genre and every single character - including the new ones - is just fun and intriguing and likeable. Overall, definitely one of my best reads of 2023!

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

Thank you NetGalley, Mariner Books, and Benjamin Stevenson for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

After LOVING Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, I was so excited to be back in Ernest’s world. I was not at all disappointed, as the sequel is just as good if not better! There is certainly no sophomore slump for Stevenson.

If you enjoyed the writing style of the first book, you will be delighted with this one as well. It is laugh-out-loud funny and the mystery is even better and more twisty than before.

There is no doubt this book will make my top 10 of 2024!

After the success of his true life tale in ‘Everyone in my family has killed someone’, Ernest Cunningham is trying to strike gold again. Only he’s not making any progress on his second book. “Fiction,” he says a couple of times, “Is hard.” So when he’s invited as to the Australian Mystery Writer’s Society festival aboard the famous Ghan train, he (and his girlfriend and agent) think it’ll be good, help get him out of his rut. Of course, history sort of repeats itself when one the most successful of the panelists dies after taking a swig from his flask. It’s murder, of course, but whodunnit? Seems like everyone has a motive - except our hero, Ernest.

I enjoyed the first book and likewise enjoyed the second. In both, Ernest constantly broke the 4th wall, pointing out to the reader how he was playing fair. For example, most first person point of view books are written more like a journal, while Ernest would point out that someone didn’t have anything to do with the crime, for example, so he just calls them ‘your grandparents’. He also states early on that he uses the killer’s name 106 times and frequently updates the counts throughout the book. But the killer’s revealed before the individual’s name is mentioned 106 times, so he is playing fair while still having lots of twists. I also liked how the author managed to create a locked room scenario by having the festival aboard the train where no one could have snuck off.

As I mentioned, this is the second book in the series but this can be read as a stand alone. There are a few characters that carry over from the first book, so if you are hyper sensitive about spoilers, I’d recommend you read that one first. Also, if the main character breaking the 4th wall annoys you, I’d recommend picking up another book.

Altogether, another fun read from Benjamin Stevenson. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

I must admit that I did not read the previous book, but I felt like I knew the narrator of this story. It was a novel idea telling you his story about the murder with hints, that aren’t really helpful until the end….on purpose. Dry clever.

While a fun premise, this book just wasn't for me. The last fourth did pick up a bit though.
Seven writers are aboard a train in Australia for a writing convention. We know that they won't all leave alive. Ernest was an unlikeable narrator for me. I struggled to get into any of the characters and the writing style was too "telling" and not enough "showing." I was ready to be done with this one, but if you like classic "whodunnit" style books then it might be for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVED Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone , so of course I jumped at reading the next book in the series! Ernest is back, after having written a book about his murderous family and the incidents in the previous book. It won him instant fame, along with his now girlfriend (also from the previous book), who also wrote her own book. It seems like an amazing opportunity to take a trip on a VERY expensive elite train, and be able to meet an author he has always loved. but this isn't a regular train trip, Ernest has a propensity for finding bodies, and their are some very twisted people on board. Just when you think you have an idea who the suspect is, something else happens that changes your mind. Its a roller coaster read, and a great book for the hard to buy for mystery fan, as Ernest chronicles classic mystery formulas along the way!

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson is a detective story that plays by the rules.

This book was great! I thought it was funny and well written. I enjoyed the cast of characters (it would make an awesome movie). The plot keeps you guessing until the very end.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC>

Benjamin Stevenson does it again! He’s back with another witty clue-esque mystery that’s sure to become a best seller. I think his books are just pure fun!

This book was so much fun! The perspective of the narrator being the author writing the story was so unique. The name counts to try and guess the killer were also entertaining to try and figure out. This one had some hilarious moments and kept me hooked from the start.

“Seven writers board a train. At the end of the line, five will leave it alive. One will be in cuffs.”
wow this book truly blew me away. i was in a real game of clue reading this. i have to go back and read the authors first book.

A mystery on a train, well of course. This one was a strong tell. Benjamin did it once again with the strong storyline that has the expected (and above) twists and turns of any good mystery tale. There was good character development to allow the reader to begin to know them. I think this was better than his first "Ernest Cunningham" tale. Now I want to take a cross-country train ride - hopefully without the murder aspect!

I wondered how (and whether) a sequel to Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone would work, but I think this was even better than the first. I loved the train setting. The tone was pitch-perfect. The character list was a little tighter - or at least more differentiated. (I could not keep all the aunts and uncles and cousins straight in the first book.)

I did have one issue with the plot, which is that one of the big twists seemed blindingly obvious to me and I thought less of Ernest while reading for not getting it. Any good detective would! (He does, in hindsight, but not in the moment.)

Overall, though, this book was such a pure delight I want to go back to the beginning and start over.

This was not as entertaining or intriguing as the first book to me BUT I did still enjoy it. There was something about the first one that keep me wondering what was going to happen next- maybe it was the added element of all of the family drama? Either way this book is a classic whodunnit book with the setting being a train traveling through Australia. Ernest and his now girlfriend Juliette have been invited to attend a celebration for the train that includes a writer's panel. Ernest is feeling a little out of his element due to the success of book one and the added pressure to get book two (his first fiction book) completed, and to date he has no inspiration. He is surrounded by royalty in the mystery genre including Henry McTavish who has just released his latest detective novel. Things change dramatically when none other than McTavish is found dead in his train room and foul play is suspected. Ernest does what he thinks he does best, which is detective, and tries to find the culprit. During the process someone else is found dead adding to the body count. Who would kill a world-renowned writer who just came out with his latest book? What are we missing on the backend that will help solve the case?

I just didn't have the drive to want to finish this one as much as the first book. I think I was also a little more connected to the characters in book one to want to know what happened. I will say that once again I did not see the twist of the killer in this one. I did still enjoy the way that the book was written- as Ernest is explaining the "rules of mystery." It reminded me of Scream when they discuss the rules of slasher films.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

After being a little meh on Stevenson's last book, I decided to give this one a try to see, and I am so glad I did! Set on a cross-country train ride through Australia, this meta mystery novel follows some of the same conventional as Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, with the added constant references to that "memoir" of the main character's, plus meta references to writing the current story.

Perhaps the main reason this worked better for me (apart from the great setting), was reading in print rather than audio. There are so many characters and nuances and references that this book should really only be read on the page.

I enjoyed the constant guessing in the mystery, and found the humor charming and the plot page-turning.