Everyone on This Train is a Suspect
Benjamin Stevenson || Publication Date - 17.10.2023
Death seems to follow Earnest wherever he goes... Even on an author's retreat across the country.
Fiction | Crime | Mystery
Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9780063279087
Following the events of 'Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone', Ernest Cunningham is trying to live a quiet, non-death filled life and revel in the fact he is now a published author. However, when Earnest published his novel, he didn't think he would be on The Ghan travelling with some of the most prolific authors in the industry. He also didn't think that he would be dealing with another murder... or two.
Unfortunately, this is where he finds himself. Travelling on a luxurious train from Darwin to Adelaide, his fiancé by his side, a murderer, and a corpse in the train's fridge.
Now the train is occupied by authors who turn into amateur sleuths to try and figure out what is happening before they all end up dead.
The Review (may contain spoilers)
Just like 'Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone', it's written from the perspective of Ernest recounting events from his past. Already within the first pages I am happily thrown back into the writing style that I fell in love with in the first novel. It's funny, it's clever, and deadpan in a deliciously good way.
I can understand why readers following on from Stevenson's first book would echo that it's the same as the first, but set on a train. However, for me, something about the writing and how the narrative is told to me is like 'fairy floss for my brain'. It connects with me and, honestly, is simply a great time. Enjoyment in a book is worth a lot to me, and I very much enjoy Benjamin Stevenson's writing, even including his earlier novels.
For some who have not already read the first instalment, 'Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone', this does reference people who appeared and events which happened within that novel. I don't necessarily believe that it is a must read for you to appreciate this story, however, it would give amusing context to a lot of comments and quips thrown throughout this book.
I did rate this book lower overall compared to the first in the series. Some of the scenes within the novel I found a little confusing to follow along, specifically where there was action involved... because there was some including The Ghan and a car. Albeit amusing, it added something different to the structure of the novel and even though I did just it a bit hard to follow, I enjoyed it none the less.
Overall Thoughts
As an Australian, I will admit I am biased to Australian authors. Benjamin Stevenson is one of those such authors that is also Australian and I am biased to. His writing is fun and witty, the mysteries are enjoyable, and I love the structure to this series of novels. They don't seem to take themselves too seriously and are self aware enough to acknowledge when something is plainly absurd.
I find myself excited to see when a new book in this series is going to be released and recently, this has been a severely missed feeling for me. If you enjoyed the first, I'd hesitate to say you wouldn't enjoy this one too. I'd also like to point out that if this is the first time you are seeing this book or series, give it a shot! I'd place my bets that the writing is not for everyone, however if you're looking for an easy read, mystery crime novel that doesn't take itself too seriously, this would be the series for you.
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