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ineedrhythm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infertility
clovetra's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
damn. this is probably the best adult mystery novel i’ve read.
i mean already bonus points for being australian. like idk the tone of this book just makes sense to be australian. it’s so goofy and wacky yet insane. once i realised the setting i went “ahhh yes everything already makes sense”.
also props to the writing of ernest. not only is he so incredibly funny, but he’s intelligent and intriguing. he has a personality beyond the detective role in this novel, and his fourth wall breaks were just epic. i mean cmon him telling us after someone’s vomiting “she’s not pregnant u idiots i know it’s a cliche but she’s not pregnant i can assure you”. and this book is just that for like 370 pages which was AMAZING. i always love me some well-timed meta-commentaries and this book is filled to the brim with it. i’m so serious at times i was doubting this was a work of fiction and not just an autobiography with some names changed.
the other characters in this cast felt a little flat to me, but i think that’s just because there’s so many people. almost everyone except ernest is reduced to one or two facts about them until the very end where there is exposition diarrhoea about every single character. except andy bro was just along for the ride. he started the story with a beer, and ended it with hitting someone with a fire poker. thank you for your service andy .
and that brings me to why this book isn’t 5-stars — the actual mystery. now i will always give a book credit where credit is due, in that i didn’t guess the killer. yay!!!! but honestly i don’t think i could if i tried. so much was going on even at my hardest i could not follow what was going on. and when this character is hiding x and this character is hiding y and this character is hiding z i was just flatlining. there’s a fine line between keeping your audience on their toes and letting your mc figure out the mystery just before they do, and having ur reader so fucking lost that they have no hope of figuring it out until the great reveal where all is explained. like yes okkkkk i do understand how this all went down at the end…. but holy shit there were so many fucking moving pieces and conclusions leapt to by one liners i really had no hope. and that is where this book lets me down. it’s trying to be so clever and it does achieve that, but at the risk of the reader having to just roll with the punches because almost every chapter there is a plot twist and at some point you just cannot keep up with them anymore.
i will say though that i will defo be continuing this series, as although i just bitched and moaned about how this book was too intelligent, i still had a great time.
i will say though that as much as this book tries to sell to the readers that it is not your average mystery novel…… by the end it lowkey does turn out to be 🤐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
xqueenybee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder
joxinabox's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely ADORE this book, I think it's my favorite mystery novel I've ever read.
Ernest and his family feel like incredibly real people, all of them are flawed but extremely lovable. Ernie has this witty narration style that pokes fun at the mystery genre without dipping into outright insulting it, instead many of the jabs feel loving and lighthearted towards the typical tropes of a mystery novel. There's a lot of clever clues and build ups to the big twists, this is absolutely a novel you'll want to read/listen to several times. You'll pick up on so much on your other read throughs. I like them so much I refuse to mention spoilers in this review less I give it all away for someone who gets a little too nosy before they read the book. Go read this right now.
Ernest and his family feel like incredibly real people, all of them are flawed but extremely lovable. Ernie has this witty narration style that pokes fun at the mystery genre without dipping into outright insulting it, instead many of the jabs feel loving and lighthearted towards the typical tropes of a mystery novel. There's a lot of clever clues and build ups to the big twists, this is absolutely a novel you'll want to read/listen to several times. You'll pick up on so much on your other read throughs. I like them so much I refuse to mention spoilers in this review less I give it all away for someone who gets a little too nosy before they read the book. Go read this right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse and Gaslighting
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I read this book as part of a buddy read with my aunt, where we choose a book for each other and then come back and discuss. She chose this book for me, and it was pretty funny. I love a whodunnit and I also love Australian humor (see my love for Gideon the Ninth, even though I know Tamsyn Muir is Kiwi).
I recommend this to anyone that likes whodunnits. It was funny and had a good unique cast of characters for the main characters family, as a murder is committed and a body found while they are having a family reunion vacation getaway in a remote mountainous ski resort to celebrate the main characters brother’s release from prison — after the main character put him there. What ensues is a chaotic week of narrowing down suspects (all of which are family members of the main character, including his ex wife that left him for the brother he imprisoned), and uncovering secrets that have been kept for decades.
I did like this and would be surprised if it didn’t become a movie, since it is pretty similar in vibe to Knives Out (another familial suspect pool for a murder) and was outrageously funny. There is a sequel which I will probably read in the future too.
One thing I could have lived without wasthe degloving of the main character. It happened in a grandeur scene and was mentioned in detail multiple times during and after in the rest of the book -_-
I recommend this to anyone that likes whodunnits. It was funny and had a good unique cast of characters for the main characters family, as a murder is committed and a body found while they are having a family reunion vacation getaway in a remote mountainous ski resort to celebrate the main characters brother’s release from prison — after the main character put him there. What ensues is a chaotic week of narrowing down suspects (all of which are family members of the main character, including his ex wife that left him for the brother he imprisoned), and uncovering secrets that have been kept for decades.
I did like this and would be surprised if it didn’t become a movie, since it is pretty similar in vibe to Knives Out (another familial suspect pool for a murder) and was outrageously funny. There is a sequel which I will probably read in the future too.
One thing I could have lived without was
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder
megspiteri's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is a great whodunnit. It's extremely self aware and is very strict on following the rules of murder mystery. The whole plot comes together really nicely without it being ruined by annoying things like a huge coincidence, characters that you didn't know about or magic powers. I really like the writing style and I genuinely had no idea how it was going to end. The only reason it isn't 5 stars is it didn't have me so gripped that I had to keep reading - having said that it is partially my fault because I've been very busy and had less time and motivation to read. But overall a great murder mystery and I'm for sure going to read the rest of the series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Drug abuse
meggomyeggo1210's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
jomicoop's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Child death
frannienhi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Drug use and Kidnapping
jstilts's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Well, this is embarrassing as I'm interviewing the author soon - I'm going to read at least three more of his books before then so pray for me! Hopefully, as a comedian, he'll see the funny side in this.
Basically I was surprised to find I didn't really enjoy this murder mystery book, as it seems to have become an absolute phenomenon, with TV adaptations and multiple sequels and rave reviews with the general public! For me I didn't find the light tone particularly funny, there were a few too many similar main characters (I could never get Erin, Katherine and Lucy straight in my head), the mystery-of-the-past being unravelled was incredibly labyrinthine and itself prone to unnecessary twists (even up to the final page post-solution) and frankly I didn't really care enough about it compared to the present-day murders (which, unfortunately for me, were obviously intrinsically linked). I mean kudos to the author for working this all out but I needed a whole wall with red string connecting people and times and places and motivations and how they changed.
The book makes a big deal out of following a set of rules and deconstructing and mocking the genre - which is fine, it's more than ripe for it - but somehow this peek-behind-the-curtain wasn't very interesting to me and kind of took the fun out of what was left while not even really sticking to the *spirit* of the rules anyway. Probably if the rules were not constantly referred to this wouldn't have bugged me so much - it was like it was trying to be clever at the expense of being engaging.
Bad sign: when the murderer's identity was revealed I actually physically rolled my eyes (there should be a LOL'd equivalent for that - RME's?). Looking back it's probably the smartest thing about the book (and I reckon it'll play GREAT on the television adaptation) but with the rest of the plot being so hard to chart I was all out of patience for another wrinkle. Considering the whole book is about interpersonal dramatics and this is a big moment, I can't believe the rest of the characters were so blasé about it! Surely now is the time for extreme emotions and OTT reactions! It's one of the few times I can confidently say the book made a genuine mistake rather than just being not for me.
Possibly this book may have been on a hiding to nothing with me because I'm not really interested in family dramas (had too much of that in real-life thanks) - and this is ALL family drama ALL the time. If I were to write a positive review I'd call it "a juicy family murder mystery where secrets of the past must be unravelled before something something something".
On the positive side: it eventually grabbed me enough to make me see it through, there was one GUT PUNCH of a memory of a death about halfway through that brought a tear to my eye, and I did laugh occasionally. I don't buy the last minute romance though, but I was amused the most by their interactions throughout the book.
So my two star rating might be a little harsh, but honestly if I didn't have to read it for an interview I might have given up early. Sorry Ben!
Basically I was surprised to find I didn't really enjoy this murder mystery book, as it seems to have become an absolute phenomenon, with TV adaptations and multiple sequels and rave reviews with the general public! For me I didn't find the light tone particularly funny, there were a few too many similar main characters (I could never get Erin, Katherine and Lucy straight in my head), the mystery-of-the-past being unravelled was incredibly labyrinthine and itself prone to unnecessary twists (even up to the final page post-solution) and frankly I didn't really care enough about it compared to the present-day murders (which, unfortunately for me, were obviously intrinsically linked). I mean kudos to the author for working this all out but I needed a whole wall with red string connecting people and times and places and motivations and how they changed.
The book makes a big deal out of following a set of rules and deconstructing and mocking the genre - which is fine, it's more than ripe for it - but somehow this peek-behind-the-curtain wasn't very interesting to me and kind of took the fun out of what was left while not even really sticking to the *spirit* of the rules anyway. Probably if the rules were not constantly referred to this wouldn't have bugged me so much - it was like it was trying to be clever at the expense of being engaging.
Bad sign: when the murderer's identity was revealed I actually physically rolled my eyes (there should be a LOL'd equivalent for that - RME's?). Looking back it's probably the smartest thing about the book (and I reckon it'll play GREAT on the television adaptation) but with the rest of the plot being so hard to chart I was all out of patience for another wrinkle. Considering the whole book is about interpersonal dramatics and this is a big moment, I can't believe the rest of the characters were so blasé about it! Surely now is the time for extreme emotions and OTT reactions! It's one of the few times I can confidently say the book made a genuine mistake rather than just being not for me.
Possibly this book may have been on a hiding to nothing with me because I'm not really interested in family dramas (had too much of that in real-life thanks) - and this is ALL family drama ALL the time. If I were to write a positive review I'd call it "a juicy family murder mystery where secrets of the past must be unravelled before something something something".
On the positive side: it eventually grabbed me enough to make me see it through, there was one GUT PUNCH of a memory of a death about halfway through that brought a tear to my eye, and I did laugh occasionally. I don't buy the last minute romance though, but I was amused the most by their interactions throughout the book.
So my two star rating might be a little harsh, but honestly if I didn't have to read it for an interview I might have given up early. Sorry Ben!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Vomit and Abandonment