Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

by Benjamin Stevenson

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

If the title, the premise and the comparison to Richard Osman weren’t enough to win you over, know that this is a ridiculously clever locked-room mystery that is as full of hilarity as it is of suspects. Benjamin Stevenson already announced himself with his debut Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, but this will only announce him more.

From the bestselling author of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, a fiendishly fun locked room (train) murder mystery that "offers a tip of the hat to the great Agatha Christie novel while at the same time being a modern reinvention of it" (Nita Prose) -- perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063279094
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/30/2024
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,825
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. He has sold out shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is the author of four novels, including the national bestsellers Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, which has been sold in twenty-seven territories around the world and will soon be adapted into a major HBO TV series, and Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/27/2023

Stevenson’s brilliant and creative second closed-circle mystery featuring author Ernest Cunningham (after Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone) toys with golden age mystery tropes while delivering its own hugely satisfying whodunit. Cunningham’s published account of the murders detailed in the previous book has netted him an invitation to the 50th Australian Mystery Writers’ Festival. He’s been asked, along with five much-better-known authors, to be a panelist aboard the Ghan, a luxury train whose route bisects the Australian desert. Soon after the journey starts, one of the writers turns up dead, and each of the train’s other panelists—including Cunningham himself—becomes both suspect and sleuth. As the investigation unfolds, Stevenson plays scrupulously fair: as in the previous book, Cunningham addresses readers directly, promising “to be that rarity in modern crime novels: a reliable narrator.” Even before the first murder, he reveals that a comma will be a crucial clue, and that there will be more than one victim. Dashes of humor (while introducing his fellow panelists, Cunningham pokes wicked fun at the publishing industry) light the way as Stevenson charges toward the deliciously clever final reveal. This is another triumph from a gifted genre specialist. Agent: Pippa Mason, Curtis Brown. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Sparkling with wit and witticisms about the world of writers and writing, Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect offers a tip of the hat to the great Agatha Christie novel while at the same time being a modern reinvention of it. Leave it to Stevenson to make high-jinx and murder deviously good fun." — Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest

“Fun and diverting, with a plethora of red herrings.” — New York Times Book Review

"Another clever spoof of the mystery genre." — Washington Post

“Witty.. Readers should find the ride on the Ghan well worth the price of the ticket.” — Wall Street Journal

"Clever and twisty....an intoxicating murder mystery puzzle." — Seattle Times

"An outstanding and exceptional mystery from start to finish . . . everything fans would hope for. It’s a spectacular sequel, every twist and turn as fun and fiendish as the first novel."  — Jane Harper

"Clever, satisfying, impossible to put down and gloriously inventive. It's fantastic. Books like this are why we love reading."  — Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

“A fresh take on the classic whodunnit. In developing Ernest Cunningham, Stevenson has brought a modern-day Poirot to the mystery scene, and his newest novel is not one to miss.” — CriminalElement.com

“Stevenson’s brilliant and creative second closed-circle mystery toys with golden age mystery tropes while delivering its own hugely satisfying whodunit… This is another triumph from a gifted genre specialist… deliciously clever.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Stevenson rivals his golden age models in his willingness to sprinkle every scene with clever clues, outdoes them in setting up a dazzling series of false conclusions, and leaves them in the dust for modern-day fans with an appetite for self-reflexiveness.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Perfectly structured and suspenseful...Readers who wondered whether Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone was lightning in a bottle, whether the author could recreate that feeling of freshness, now have their answer, and it’s a resounding Yes.”
— Booklist

“A delightful locked-room mystery that is rife with references to classic detective fiction. What sets this novel apart, though, is Ernest’s unique voice and humor … a meticulously plotted and enjoyable mystery that lives up to the high standards set by Stevenson’s first mystery.”
— BookPage

“This is just as cleverly written as the previous book, with wit, laugh out loud moments and humorous asides and observations on the nature of writers and festivals. … If you enjoy meta fiction and Stevenson’s previous novel featuring Ernest, then you will surely enjoy going along on this wild and deadly train trip with him.” — Mystery & Suspense Magazine

“A witty twist on classic whodunits… Stevenson not only ‘plays fair,’ he plays the mystery game very, very well.” — Washington Post on Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

"An ingenious and hilarious meta-murder mystery." — Sunday Times (London), best crime of the year on Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

“I absolutely loved it. Utterly original, hugely entertaining, and a must-read for every fan of the mystery genre. What an exceptionally fresh, smart, funny book—I’ve never read anything like this before.” — Jane Harper on Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

“Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a jaunty and clever mystery with unexpected twists. Absolutely not to be missed.” — Karin Slaughter

From the Publisher

Barton Welch brings the perfect narrative touches to this mystery set on a train ride through Australia. The Aussie-accented performance adds a comedic touch to the presentation without overdoing it, keeping a fine balance throughout. Ernest Cunningham is on the train to participate in a crime-writing festival. There are backbiting and jealousies among the attendees, and then someone dies. Welch, who narrates the bulk of the book, speaks directly to listeners as he lays out the rules of fair-play mystery solving, along with a number of clues. He delivers dialogue well, capturing the egos and insecurities of all those aboard. Narrator Megan Smart, as Cunningham's significant other, Juliette, handles the epilogue. It's a nice touch to wrap up a fun, clever listen. G.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile

★ 2023-11-17
The 50th annual Australian Mystery Writers’ Festival, taking place aboard a long-distance train bound from Darwin to Adelaide, is punctuated by snarky dialogue, murder, and a zillion inventive misdirections.

“Why [am] I here?” wonders Ernest Cunningham, whose struggles to write his second book are interrupted by his invitation as a headliner at the festival-on-wheels, which will turn into the setting of his new book. Thriller writer S.F. Majors, former forensic pathologist Alan Royce, and artsy one-named Wolfgang are all much better known than he is. So is Lisa Fulton, even though she hasn’t published a novel in 20 years. And of course Henry McTavish, the bestselling creator of Detective Morbund, is in a different league altogether. After making a series of disingenuous promises about future developments—since he’s narrating the tale in the first person, for instance, he will definitely survive, and the killer’s name will be mentioned exactly 106 more times going forward—Ernest gets down to business with a combination of zeal and obliviousness. True to his word, he chronicles more than one murder, reveals a multitude of other felonies from burglary to rape, links the current mystery to a much older case, and sets the stage for a series of escalating reveals, one of them interrupted so many times that the self-anointed detective complains, “There’s not normally this much heckling in a denouement.” Stevenson rivals his golden age models in his willingness to sprinkle every scene with clever clues, outdoes them in setting up a dazzling series of false conclusions, and leaves them in the dust for modern-day fans with an appetite for self-reflexiveness.

No, it’s not for everyone—but if you want to read a supercharged meta-pastiche like this, this is exactly the one to read.

Kirkus Reviews