Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

This book is about an author talking about writing a mystery, and then a murder happens when he's at an author event so in a way you're reading him write the book within the book, while also reading the book within the book, while really, you're reading and trying to solve the main mystery. The fourth wall is practically non-existent in this book while the author always talks to you, the reader, directly, and promises to never hide anything.

The fourth wall is practically non-existent while Ernest, the author, always talks to you, the reader, directly, and promises to never hide anything. He's playing with his cards open. He also gives hints along the way and tells you about how a mystery should be written, while also trying to stick to those rules himself. It's a marvelous journey literally, figuratively and literary-ly.

This is book 2 in a series, I didn't really feel like I missed anything by jumping in at this point. Reading this did make me wanna go back and read book #1 though. And I'll absolutely be reading the next book in the series.

This might be the funniest, wittiest mystery I've ever read. The book is so meta, and the humor is so on point, it was an absolute hoot to read. I laughed out loud at many points throughout the book. The kind of self aware meta-narration + humor this book adopts is so smart, it really tickled my brain in the right spot. I was so delighted while reading it.

This is a must read if you like cozy mysteries. There were many nods to Agatha Christie, starting with The Orient Express. But it also subverts some of those expectations many times, with a wink and a nudge.

The main character is not the most loveable, nor is he the smartest. He's definitely no Poirot, he makes mistakes, makes wrong assumptions. I got annoyed at times because of it, but since he's also always very forthcoming, I can see how the mystery wouldn't be so mysterious if he was brilliant. The author within the book promises to never hide anything, and never lie to the reader so that we can be on the journey with him and try to solve it alongside him.

I solved the mystery about halfway through the book, but there were still a few unexpected twists, and thanks to the way it's written it never felt boring.

This is a really great mystery with a big cast of characters with varying levels of loveability. And the fact that most of them are authors makes it even more awesome, since I always love reading books set in the world of books.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC!