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A review by shelfreflectionofficial
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“Seven writers board a train. At the end of the line, five will leave it alive. One will be in cuffs.”
This is my third Ernest Cunningham novel— yes I read the Christmas one out of order. That being said, I would definitely recommend reading them in order. Especially the first two.
If you read this book first I think you’ll feel like you’re missing something important. I honestly don’t remember a ton from Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone so I can’t tell you exactly how much you’ll be missing but you’ll feel it.
He admits that there is a bit of similarity between this book and the first: “I will point out that one inadvertent mimicry is the curious coincidence that both cases are solved by a piece of punctuation. Last year it was a full stop. This time, a comma saves the day.”
I don’t even remember enough to know if I just gave away a spoiler from book one. But seeing as he is pretty tight lipped about those events in this book I have feeling that tidbit is provided early on.
This series has a very consistent tone and writing voice that I love. They’re all told first person from the perspective of Ernest Cunningham, a writer who keeps having murders happen around him that he just so happens to be good at solving.
The schtick of the series is that these are all ‘Golden Age’ mysteries. He describes it in detail in book one, but basically it’s supposed to be like an Agatha Christie novel where all the clues are available to the reader to solve the mystery, the narrator doesn’t lie, there is nothing supernatural, and no secret twins.
As the narrator, Ernest gives us hints and tells us when we should pay attention, but even then I think it would be hard for a reader to solve the mystery in its entirety. In all three books I’ve been able to figure out some of the clues but there is always something I didn’t catch or put together. I think if I had really gotten into it and took my own notes down on paper and attempted to figure it out I could have come closer, but I was too busy reading.
Ernest is the kind of guy that doesn’t take himself too seriously so there is a lot of humor in this book. Stevenson is really creative with his word choices and descriptions. It definitely doesn’t feel like a run of the mill kind of mystery, but has its own unique vibe.
Here are a few quotes I enjoyed:
“I’d say Van Dine would be rolling in his grave, though that would break one of the golden rules about the supernatural. So he’d be lying very still but disappointed all the same.”
“His sentences had a way of cascading over one another, the oven between thought and speech undercooking everything: he spoke in first drafts.”
“‘Pisssss off’ he said, spending S’s like he’d robbed a bank of them.” [pardon the language on this one… I debated about putting it in but it was a good simile]
The setting of this book takes place on a train. You may have heard of Murder on the Orient Express. This is not the same train. This is a cross country luxury train that spans Australia north to south.
The context is a crime-writing conference. Ernest, who is with Juliette (from book one), is supposed to be writing a fiction book and participating in panels for the conference attendees, but when a murder happens aboard the train, he may be writing another true-crime book after all.
I will say that I had a hard time picturing this writing conference group in reference to the train as a whole. There are other guests in other carriages and we are not told the names of all the conference attendees, but when I read it it feels like a big shindig for like 12 people. I think I’m mis-picturing it.
I will also say that I loved the Andy cameo and all of Ernest’s side comments about him. Great comedic relief.
The first book focuses on Ernest’s family. The Christmas book is a bunch of strangers in his ex-wife’s life. This one has a combination of people he knows and people he doesn’t. It also gives a little glimpse into the writing world with the pressures of writing and dealing with agents, publishers, fans, and bad reviews.
Ernest is talking to the reader about the book that he is writing and how he is writing it so that’s an interesting perspective, almost like a book within a book feel.
He even throws in a Jane Harper blurb reference. So I checked and sure enough, Jane Harper blurbed this book!
I don’t have new Australian vocabulary on this one, but seriously, every book I read that takes place in Australia astounds me with new information about the continent as a whole. There really is so much more than kangaroos and venomous things and the bush.
Three of the stops on the train excursion are Katherine Gorge (a huge gorge great for canoeing), Alice Springs (a town in the middle of Australia) and Coober Pedy.
And dude, Coober Pedy is wild! It’s like a real life version of Holes (see below). They do opal mining and to protect from the dangers of people improperly filling in their mine shafts they leave their hole and the mound of dirt so everyone knows it’s there. It’s also so hot there that a majority of the people live underground.
[to see pics of these places check out my original blog post]
What a continent of hidden gems. Good on ya, Australia.
If you would like to read more books that take place in Australia, check out Jane Harper or Sally Hepworth, or the books Homecoming or Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (which is basically an Aussie version of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine).
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book. While I think I might have liked the other two books a smidge bit better for their ability to keep things straight a little easier, this is a series I think I will always enjoy reading.
It’s got the mystery, the likeable characters, and the humor. It’s a unique take on a murder mystery with creative writing and an interesting setting.
Somehow these are ‘feel good’ books even though there is death and murder and body pieces to collect and I’m here for it.
But a recommendation for Stevenson on the next one: I think we’re going to need to include some of the venomous creatures of Australia as part of the story so I can learn more about those and how to visit Australia for all the gems without the immense fear I have of death by creature.
[Content Advisory: 4 f-word, 6 s-words; no sexual content; mention of rape]
This is my third Ernest Cunningham novel— yes I read the Christmas one out of order. That being said, I would definitely recommend reading them in order. Especially the first two.
If you read this book first I think you’ll feel like you’re missing something important. I honestly don’t remember a ton from Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone so I can’t tell you exactly how much you’ll be missing but you’ll feel it.
He admits that there is a bit of similarity between this book and the first: “I will point out that one inadvertent mimicry is the curious coincidence that both cases are solved by a piece of punctuation. Last year it was a full stop. This time, a comma saves the day.”
I don’t even remember enough to know if I just gave away a spoiler from book one. But seeing as he is pretty tight lipped about those events in this book I have feeling that tidbit is provided early on.
This series has a very consistent tone and writing voice that I love. They’re all told first person from the perspective of Ernest Cunningham, a writer who keeps having murders happen around him that he just so happens to be good at solving.
The schtick of the series is that these are all ‘Golden Age’ mysteries. He describes it in detail in book one, but basically it’s supposed to be like an Agatha Christie novel where all the clues are available to the reader to solve the mystery, the narrator doesn’t lie, there is nothing supernatural, and no secret twins.
As the narrator, Ernest gives us hints and tells us when we should pay attention, but even then I think it would be hard for a reader to solve the mystery in its entirety. In all three books I’ve been able to figure out some of the clues but there is always something I didn’t catch or put together. I think if I had really gotten into it and took my own notes down on paper and attempted to figure it out I could have come closer, but I was too busy reading.
Ernest is the kind of guy that doesn’t take himself too seriously so there is a lot of humor in this book. Stevenson is really creative with his word choices and descriptions. It definitely doesn’t feel like a run of the mill kind of mystery, but has its own unique vibe.
Here are a few quotes I enjoyed:
“I’d say Van Dine would be rolling in his grave, though that would break one of the golden rules about the supernatural. So he’d be lying very still but disappointed all the same.”
“His sentences had a way of cascading over one another, the oven between thought and speech undercooking everything: he spoke in first drafts.”
“‘Pisssss off’ he said, spending S’s like he’d robbed a bank of them.” [pardon the language on this one… I debated about putting it in but it was a good simile]
The setting of this book takes place on a train. You may have heard of Murder on the Orient Express. This is not the same train. This is a cross country luxury train that spans Australia north to south.
The context is a crime-writing conference. Ernest, who is with Juliette (from book one), is supposed to be writing a fiction book and participating in panels for the conference attendees, but when a murder happens aboard the train, he may be writing another true-crime book after all.
I will say that I had a hard time picturing this writing conference group in reference to the train as a whole. There are other guests in other carriages and we are not told the names of all the conference attendees, but when I read it it feels like a big shindig for like 12 people. I think I’m mis-picturing it.
I will also say that I loved the Andy cameo and all of Ernest’s side comments about him. Great comedic relief.
The first book focuses on Ernest’s family. The Christmas book is a bunch of strangers in his ex-wife’s life. This one has a combination of people he knows and people he doesn’t. It also gives a little glimpse into the writing world with the pressures of writing and dealing with agents, publishers, fans, and bad reviews.
Ernest is talking to the reader about the book that he is writing and how he is writing it so that’s an interesting perspective, almost like a book within a book feel.
He even throws in a Jane Harper blurb reference. So I checked and sure enough, Jane Harper blurbed this book!
I don’t have new Australian vocabulary on this one, but seriously, every book I read that takes place in Australia astounds me with new information about the continent as a whole. There really is so much more than kangaroos and venomous things and the bush.
Three of the stops on the train excursion are Katherine Gorge (a huge gorge great for canoeing), Alice Springs (a town in the middle of Australia) and Coober Pedy.
And dude, Coober Pedy is wild! It’s like a real life version of Holes (see below). They do opal mining and to protect from the dangers of people improperly filling in their mine shafts they leave their hole and the mound of dirt so everyone knows it’s there. It’s also so hot there that a majority of the people live underground.
[to see pics of these places check out my original blog post]
What a continent of hidden gems. Good on ya, Australia.
If you would like to read more books that take place in Australia, check out Jane Harper or Sally Hepworth, or the books Homecoming or Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (which is basically an Aussie version of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine).
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book. While I think I might have liked the other two books a smidge bit better for their ability to keep things straight a little easier, this is a series I think I will always enjoy reading.
It’s got the mystery, the likeable characters, and the humor. It’s a unique take on a murder mystery with creative writing and an interesting setting.
Somehow these are ‘feel good’ books even though there is death and murder and body pieces to collect and I’m here for it.
But a recommendation for Stevenson on the next one: I think we’re going to need to include some of the venomous creatures of Australia as part of the story so I can learn more about those and how to visit Australia for all the gems without the immense fear I have of death by creature.
[Content Advisory: 4 f-word, 6 s-words; no sexual content; mention of rape]