I have been eagerly awaiting Everyone on This Train is a Suspect since last year's Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. It was, hands down, my favorite mystery novel of 2023. It was highly satisfactory, a clever and inventive take on the tropes inherent in "Golden Age" mystery fiction, with a fair amount of violence mixed in for a more modern audience. Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance reading copy.

This time, our "hero," Ernest Cunningham, has been invited aboard The Ghan, a legendary and lavish train traveling through the Australian Outback from Adelaide to Darwin. It's a very different setting from the previous book, the snowy mountains of New South Wales, but just as dangerous in an Australian high summer. The reason for the trip is the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Australian Mystery Writers Society. Ern's actual crime book about his family has done very well, and Elizabeth (his girlfriend we met in the prior book) is along. Elizabeth, too, wrote a book about their experiences.

The train is full of mystery fiction luminaries, primarily the Scots writer Henry McTavish, whose next book is the end of a long-running and very lucrative series. The rest of the train comprises a motley crew of lesser writers, agents, rabid fans, warring publishers, and one very "literary" writer who is above it all. The connections between these disparate characters run deep and are only sometimes cordial. The first murder comes as no real surprise, but as others pile on, Ern sets out in his own fashion despite the danger.

There are a lot of characters in this book, and I found them easy to lose track of. They did not seem quite as well drawn as Ern's family. Still, I recommend this book highly because of Ern's distinctive and snarky voice. He needs to have more regard for his personal safety, or he will not be around for long. There is quite a twist at the end, related by Elizabeth, that I did not see coming!

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.


I absolutely loved this book! Benjamin Stevenson has a way of mixing thriller and humor all in the same book. This is my second from this author (I highly recommend Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone) and again, he did not disappoint. There are a lot of characters to keep up with, but it reminded me of Agatha Christie's mysteries. A true who-dun-it. He had me guessing the whole way through and looking back, the clues were there, I just missed them. I can't wait to see what this author does next.

A fun, creative mystery that pays homage to Agatha Christie, but goes beyond with even more fun and adventure. A group of writers who represent many types of genres, is on a train together enroute to a crime writing festival. There is a murder, and everyone has their own idea about how to solve it. Meanwhile, of course, the danger closes in! Great title I look forward to recommending.

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson is an oddly put together book and I just couldn't get interested in the story due to the style of writing. I had to quit about one third of the way through. Can't recommend.

🚂 + 🔪 + 📝 + 🕵️

This is the second book in the Ernest Cunningham mystery series. The story takes readers on a thrilling ride aboard the iconic Ghan train in Australia, where a gathering of crime writers turns deadly. Full of suspense and intrigue, truly a fun read.

Funny, unusual, with lots of twists. Didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first one but that is a very high bar to clear. I will recommend to others.

It has a very unique concept in the narrator is actively writing the book as we’re experiencing it, and he talks directly to the reader throughout. I’m not sure I loved that. While I did love the story and did want to know who the killer was (and I was totally shocked when it was revealed!); I was distracted by all the commentary to the reader. I felt like it took away from the actual whodunit mystery. So, while I didn’t love this book; It wasn’t a bad read at all – it’s just middle of the road for me. (A lot of reviewers really loved the book so you should definitely give it a go and see for yourself!)

I was super excited for this book because I thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of the first one. However, this second book just didn't grab me. There were a huge number of characters to keep track of and they weren't developed particularly well. I appreciated the humor to a point, but sometimes the jokes fell flat, and it became more annoying than funny. And really--who would answer their cell phone while standing on the hood of a speeding vehicle preparing to jump onto a moving train?! Choosing that particular moment to make a tenuous connection between two cases felt too contrived and utterly ridiculous.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the eARC and thank you to Mariner Books for the physical ARC of Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, the follow up to one of my favorite reads of 2023: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone.

Once again, Benjamin Stevenson has written an incredibly clever, meta, and entertaining mystery! This book is just as good as the first one! I love the humor, the plotting, the reveals, it all makes sense and he still manages to surprise you! This was brilliant and Stevenson has solidified himself as one of the great mystery writers of our time. I absolutely loved this and highly recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery.

I enjoyed this book! The first one was great and this follow up delivered as well. It had that same signature wit and strong setting, and seemed to move a little faster than the first one. The mystery felt a little less complex, which in a way wasn’t bad because I found the first book’s reveal to be a bit confusing and convoluted. It seemed like the character development wasn’t quite as rich as in the first book, but it still kept me interested and turning the pages. Ernest is a fun character to come back to and I’ll look forward to seeing what comes next from this author!

Wow, where to begin. I finally read Everyone in my Family has killed someone and loved it. I read this and you know how some sequels aren't as good as the original. I feel this book topped the first. Absolutely loved it!!! The way the book is narrated is great. It's like you are on the train with the author in real time.

If you enjoyed knives out movie you will enjoy this author!

This book was just as good as the first one! The narration and writing style is so fun and unique, and it holds your attention all the way through, even in what might be considered slower parts of the plot in traditional mysteries or thrillers. I do not want the Ernest Cunningham universe to ever end!

I enjoyed Everyone on This Train as a Suspect more than Everyone In My Family Has Killed Somebody!

Both books have a comic tone and a very strong narrative voice that breaks the fourth wall. Sometimes it was a lot, but there were some very funny digs and jokes that crime fiction fans will pick up on.

I think the locked room mystery aspect of Everyone on This Train is a Suspect was my favorite part, as well as the fact that most of the characters were crime writers or semi writer-adjacent (agents, fans, entourage, organizers).

Finally, I have traveled around Australia, and the Ghan is as famous there is the Orient Express was in Agatha Christie's time. I could have used ever more train atmosphere, but it was still a lot of fun.

Recommend for fans of comic mysteries and self-referential narrators.

First thank you to mariner books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Ernest is back as an author trying to write his sophomore book when offered a chance to join a literary festival on a train crossing Australia. However when a murder happens on a train full of mystery writers. Everyone becomes a suspect.

What I liked: Ernest is one of my favorite characters of all time. His dark humor and wittiness are so perfect. I love how he gets himself into situations and then gets himself out in great fashion. These books have such layers with the mystery but other personal dimensions occurring at the same time. I think this was even better than the first book as I love the other writers and Ernest reaction to them. Of course he did have some interactions with his family and his former book. He does write a great locked room mystery

Everything I loved about Benjamin Stevenson's previous novel, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, is why I found this one hard to read. It is Just.Too.Similar to the earlier one. The self-conscious narrator is annoying. The revealing of which pages the murders occur, while clever in one novel, seems a bit twee in this one. I am fairly certain that I'm in the minority here, and the book will sell quite well. But for me, the whole repetition doesn't work.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is a clever and oddly funny book. As I was reading it I felt like it would translate well to a series on Netflix or Apple+. Having said that, it wasnt a page turner I HAD to get through and couldnt put down. I read it in bits and pieces over a couple of weeks. I couldnt dive all the way in and embrace the story like I could with the author's last book - Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone! I love the fact that the main character, Ernest Cunningham, who earned his fame through publishing the account of the murders in Everyone in my Family...., is on his way to the Australian Mystery Writers' Festival when writers start to turn up dead. This poor guy (kind of). Death definitely follows him! Ernest's account and play-by-play is funny, but I also found myself getting bored by Ernest towards the end. Overall I liked the book, but didnt love it like I did Stevenson's previous story. Perhaps that was the problem. I may have been expecting too much.

I absoultely loved this book! I enjoyed this one more than the first one and I hope that we get more Ernest Cunningham books! I loved how meta this book was and how the narrator invites the audience to be part of the story.

If you are a fan of Knives Out and Clue then this book is for you! It was a little heard to keep track of all the players but still really well done!

Thank you to Netgallery for giving me an early release copy of Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson, this book will be available for purchase on January 30th of 2024.

Everyone on This Train is A Suspect has lot of characters for us to learn about, while I was grateful for the time to be properly introduced to all of them I thought the start of the book was rather slow. I wasn’t a fan of any of the characters but still enjoyed the way that they were being written.

The story doesn’t really pick up for me until the first murder. The first murder method was rather anticlimactic,I thought the character reactions to someone literally dropping dead were poor. At the trains next stop, they literally just relaxed and drank, I think I expecting some of the characters to act just a little shaken up at the event that transpired. It doesn’t help that Ernst does something with the love interest (can’t state for spoilers) during this time that just makes the reactions seem even more unnatural.

The second murder was more interesting to read, the investigation was attention grabbing as the clues came together and the murderer was revealed. The ending was satisfying but the story just felt like it was trying to do too much, the constant forth wall breaking was annoying as I just wanted to follow the story,( it made it less immersive) the romance while sweet was unnecessary, and the writing was complicated to follow at time with how many clues/motives were involved.

I haven’t read the first book in this series but this book can be read as a standalone, there are brief mentions of the first book in here, I think Ernst mentions a body count of eight for the first book but there’s little to no mentions traumas following the evens of the book.

Benjamin Stevenson’s fast-paced and funny mystery Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect takes readers on a deadly ride aboard a luxury train.

After the success of his memoir about escaping a murderer in his own family, Ernest Cunningham is excited to appear as a panelist during the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society crime-writing festival aboard The Ghan, a famous luxury train. Ernest is looking forward to meeting the other panelists, all established authors, and is hoping that the trip will help end his current bout of writer’s block.

As the trip gets underway, Ernest finds that some of the writers are unhappy that he’s been invited and that the other panelists may know more about each other than they let on. When another writer suddenly dies, Ernest sets out to prove that it was murder and to unmask the killer. If not for justice, then for inspiration for his next book. Complicating his investigation, though, is the fact that all the other writers have spent years researching and writing about murder—and how to get away with it.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is a delightful locked-room mystery that is rife with references to classic detective fiction. What sets this novel apart, though, is Ernest’s unique voice and humor as he walks readers through the story. The text is Ernest’s completed manuscript that chronicles the deadly events aboard The Ghan, and he’s clear from the beginning: Someone was murdered on this trip and he’s laying out the facts as faithfully as possible. Can readers solve the case before he did? Mystery fans will find lots to love, including Ernest’s early clues (the killer’s name appears exactly 106 times in the story) and references to Ronald Knox’s 10 Commandments of Detection Fiction. You don’t have to be a genre fan to enjoy this novel, though. A consistently enjoyable narrator, Ernest is funny, self-deprecating and relatable.

This is the second installment in the Ernest Cunningham series, following Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. (Yes, the memoir that earned Ernest a spot on the writing festival is a real book.) But it’s not necessary to have read that book before diving into this one; Ernest reveals no spoilers, writing that his publisher wouldn’t be pleased with him if he did. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is a meticulously plotted and enjoyable mystery that lives up to the high standards set by Stevenson’s first mystery.

I was looking forward to the sequal to his book-Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like this one was as great of a story as the first. I had a hard time following this one. There seemed to be a lot of characters and it was hard to keep track of them. I am not sure I will be recommending this follow up.