Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect
Ratings15
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings15
Average rating4.3
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.
How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?
Featured Series
2 primary booksErnest Cunningham is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2022 with contributions by Benjamin Stevenson. The next book is scheduled for release on 10/24/2024.
Reviews with the most likes.
Was on track to rate this a 3-3.5 until the ending, which bumped it up. There were parts in this which dragged a little, and I did have to flip to the beginning to distinguish between characters (which I am so thankful that was included). The ending answered all my questions and cleverly threw away some red herrings, making for a surprising reveal. The last few pages added an unexpected zinger, and really just had me so impressed with the cleverness this entire book is written in. This is a series (author) to watch, it is so much fun and still meta unlike anything I've read. Waiting patiently for the next one!
4.5 ⭐️
Ich fands sehr erfrischend, der Schreibstil unterscheidet sich sehr von anderen Autor*innen in dem Genre.
I really liked this one - engaging mystery, humour, and some delightfully frustrating characters. It didn't quite have the emotional impact of the first book, but I guess that makes sense in the context. Though I did have fun exploring Ernest's relationship and seeing just how how much of an idiot he is - very enjoyable.
Unfortunately, like the first one, I found there to be way too much info dumped on me right at the end. Too much for me to ever guess it all, even if I can guess whodunnit based off vibes. Which is kind of annoying, because Stevenson is good at drip feeding clues - I just wish we got more of those big revelations throughout the book, so it wasn't such a leap to the solve at the end.
I hope he writes another one.
As a rules-based human, I love these "Fair Play" mysteries! The way Stevenson lays out the clues and follows the rules of his literary universe, you feel like a partner in solving the crimes. But beware - even partners should be ready for some real twists at the end! "Everyone on This Train..." is a worthy successor to "Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone," and carries the ball for the Earnest-verse very effectively despite having only one real character (other than the narrator), plus one very important cameo by telephone, back for the sequel. This book plays with a lot of the themes from "Murder On The Orient Express" (usually winking at them very humorously) and adds to the fun by having most of the suspects be mystery writers themselves. A lot of fun, and a quick read/listen.
