Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
A Novel
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4.0 • 687 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever locked room mystery that blends classic and modern whodunits.
“A witty twist on classic whodunits… Stevenson not only 'plays fair,' he plays the mystery game very, very well.” — Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. In this dysfunctional family, some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.
I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I write guides to writing mysteries, so you can call me a reliable narrator. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
Let’s get started.
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE
My brother
My stepsister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The trickiest type of mystery is one that makes it look like all the cards are on the table. Benjamin Stevenson’s postmodern riff on the classic Agatha Christie–style mysteries revolves around mystery writer Ernie Cunningham, who gives us detailed information on the murders we’re going to read about, down to the page numbers on which the murders are going to happen. Ernie’s family members (who live up to the book’s title) have assembled for a reunion at a snowy mountain retreat, so when a body turns up, there are plenty of suspects. As the body count rises, so does the mayhem. Stevenson, an Australian comedian, takes great pleasure in constantly knocking our expectations for a loop as Ernie consistently breaks the fourth wall. Filled with quirky humor and meta commentary, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a fun and freewheeling take on the old-fashioned mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ernie Cunningham, the narrator of this exceptionally clever and amusing mystery from Stevenson (Either Side of Midnight), hooks the reader immediately with his opening words: "Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once." Ernie, who acknowledges up front the recent trend in crime fiction for narrators such as himself to be unreliable, self-publishes how-to books for aspiring authors. As another character comments, "You write books about how to write books that you've never written, bought by people who will never write one." It's been three years since Ernie's testimony sent his brother Michael to prison for murder after Michael asked Ernie to dispose of a corpse that turned out not to be quite dead yet. While attending a tense family reunion at an Australian ski resort, Ernie winds up in the middle of a real-life whodunit. The death of a stranger, apparently killed by a fire in the snow that didn't melt any snow, resembles the work of a serial murderer known as the Black Tongue. Along the way, the author tosses in other deaths, past and present. Stevenson carries off this tour de force with all the aplomb of a master magician who conducts his tricks in plain view. This is perfect for Peter Lovesey fans.
Customer Reviews
witty and excellent dark humor
loved this book! it is truly an entertaining read. the premise, the structure of the plot and the narrator really made it fun to read. loved the witty and dark humor.
there’s plenty of hints throughout the novel, and you can probably piece it all together, but it all comes together at the end very nicely.
A clever approach to writing
Entertaining. An interesting way of narrating a story. Good characters, and a plot that kept moving, even if it was totally unbelievable at times. A good cheap read.
Not Convinced
I really tried to get into this book, but it just wasn’t my style. The main character’s thoughts go on forever, so it’s hard to tell when he’s thinking or speaking. The mystery feels buried under too much inner dialogue, and the humor didn’t work for me — I laughed maybe twice. It’s a clever idea, but the storytelling wasn’t clear or engaging enough.