I would like to thank Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for an advance copy of Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect, the second novel to feature Ernest Cunningham, newly minted author and guest on the Ghan, a luxury train running from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invites Ernest to celebrate the 50th festival on the Ghan he is delighted to accept, hoping for inspiration for his first fiction novel. He finds himself in exalted company with writers of blockbusters, forensic science, legal thrillers, literary works and psychological thrillers and then there’s the novice, him. He soon finds inspiration, only not of the kind he wanted, when one of the authors is murdered.

I have not read the previous novel, so I was interested to read Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect and initially I found it intriguing as it is quite unlike anything I have read before, but I found myself tiring of it and its gimmicks rather quickly. Fortunately it roars back in the denouement, which explains everything with some neat twists.

I will say immediately that I didn’t find the novel funny, probably because Ern Cunningham is such a hapless protagonist he gets annoying. I have absolutely no idea where his smart thinking comes from at the end, because throughout the novel he makes mistake after mistake (and I know that is supposed to be part of the fun). It seems contrived to me. The novel is told in the first person from his point of view, so it includes his remarks on writing crime fiction, notably how his story will match the golden age rules and how he will not bend these rules so that all the clues are there for the discerning reader to decipher. I’m not a discerning reader and didn’t try. These remarks are initially fascinating, but quickly get old.

There is no doubt that Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is a clever novel with an unusual approach, but it’s not for me.

The difficult second novel is a success! This is a wonderful witty and humorous murder mystery, in the same vein as the delightful debut novel, that really broke through the fourth wall.
I found this a more complicated beginning to the previous book, but once the characters had been introduced and got their feet under the table, so to speak, events moved at a rapid and enjoyable pace, with some rather surprising events and inventive mishaps or deaths taking place.
Yet again, I followed the clues, made copious notes and got nothing! It was rather dispiriting to read a chapter only to be told that there were three clues contained within said chapter, and I had missed them all, that’s just dandy!! Mind you, I failed completely with the first book!! It is bonkers, infectious,I love the style of writing and playful humour, not quite a farce, and not a locked room mystery either, but being set upon a train, crossing the vast, empty spaces of the Australian outback, like Murder on the Orient Express, without the snowdrift, that keeps the victim and murderer captive on board.
Creative writing and very addictive. I loved this book. A five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for my advanced digital copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is another incredibly captivating and entertaining book with a good sense of both heart and humour.

Benjamin Stevenson has such a knack for crafting mysteries that root inside my brain and consume my every waking thought. This was hilarious, deftly written and incredibly twisty. While it works well as a standalone, I have an increased love for it after reading the first Ernest Cunningham (Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone). He is just a brilliantly bonkers protagonist and his voice is infectious.

Stevenson infuses every page with humour and a knowing wink to the audience - it is incredibly meta as Ernest tears apart the very conventions his story is following. I also thought the counting was an ingenious idea. Here is a blatant thread to follow where you should be able to follow along and easily solve, yet you are bamboozled and tripped up constantly. The whole conceit is just stellar. There’s direct references to Murder on the Orient Express, but with the added twist of a crime festival complete with superstar crime writers and megafans of the genre. It should be a doddle, right?

I also adore how unexpectedly emotional it was. At its core, these books are all about messy human relationships and the connections we form with one another. These may be familial, friendship and something more, but they are often knotty and complex things. Ernest is a bit oblivious when it comes to this side of things and I enjoy having a narrator that knows it all when it comes to the technicalities, but not necessarily in practice. He still has these absolute flashes of brilliance and the denouement scene is exquisite.

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect marries two ingenious ideas into a mystery that is all-consuming, addictive and just a cracker to read.

Any story featuring a train will always grab attention, no idea why, but it does. Perhaps we blame Agatha Christie? However I really could not get into this book. It think it was well written, but I could not cope with the amount of characters and what their role in the story was.
Not for me, sorry

If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced, funny, and cleverly written whodunnit, look no further. I'd recommend this one along with the previous book, "Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone". They are not sequels in the traditional sense, but I'd recommend reading both for the full experience and to be in on the inside jokes.

I've found myself leaning towards the Mystery genre a lot less in the last few years, but still sometimes find myself in the mood for one. This one definitely quenched my thirst for a silly, fun mystery that still kept me gripped and often unable to predict what was happening. I absolutely love how Benjamin writes our narrator Ernest's voice in an upfront, fun-loving way, with a running commentary on the mystery genre as a whole.

I don’t tend to specifically seek out humour in my books, but when it's done well, it really gets me. Our narrator Ernest has such a fun sense of humour, and the way he breaks the fourth wall makes you feel even more in on the joke as a reader.

Overall, this book was a super fun and mysterious time, which is exactly what it set out to be. I personally preferred this one to the previous book (likely due to my love for Agatha Christie), but would recommend both!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher Michael Joseph for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

As Ernest himself knows, sequels can be tricky, however Benjamin Stevenson really does know what he's doing when it comes to the next book in this excellent series (must be the pamphlets!)

Just as full of intrigue, tension and comedic timing as the first, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect certainly continues in the steps of the first book brilliantly. This time set on a train, we are taken on a ride of a lifetime (for some quite literally) and pulled in with a fantastic narrator that builds this story out to perfection.

Plot-wise this moves so quickly and makes for such fantastic plotting as we follow Ernest on his amateur investigating but also see him make little notes for the story in his notes that make for such a great story that really rounds this book out so well.

A fantastic return, I would definitely get all aboard for this one and I'm gonna mind the gap until the next book in this series!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Once again Ernest Cummingway in the middle of a murder mystery! Drawing on his rules for writing a crime novel, can he manage to fit the events on board The Ghan as it transports an eclectic group of authors, publishers and fans across Australia? Although this is a stand alone story, in my opinion it definitely helps to have read the first book and be familiar with Ernest and his love of the Golden Age of crime writing. Even with Ernest’s helpful recaps interspersed throughout, I still didn’t solve this case before his big reveal. I’m sure Ernest will be back with another story for us.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for an arc in exchange for a review.

After the events in ‘Everyone in my family has killed Someone’ Ernest Cummingway returns trying to find inspiration for his new book. Invited on The Ghan as it travels across Australia for a literary event as one of the authors things once again take a murderous turn. Told in the style of the previous book Ernest speaks directly to the reader .There is a very golden age of crime/Agatha Christie feel to the novel which obeys all the rules. I enjoyed this novel but wonder if it would be better as audio listen. That said Ernest is quirky and in an odd way quite loveable despite all his numerous faults. It could be read as a standalone book, but probably enjoyed it more if you have read the first one. Overall I was entertained by it, but it had lost a little of its novelty for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ERC of this novel in return for an honest review.

You had me at “on a train”! This book is a masterpiece of metafiction, skilfully weaving together the best tropes of crime fiction to create something brilliantly original.



Everything is told with sarcastic asides and amusing comments, which makes this book a really enjoyable read.

4.25*

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

I wanted to check out this sequel to Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone because I liked the fresh take and highly meta approach taken in that first book. At times it didn't work for me but this time I would say that Benjamin Stevenson has nailed the approach and narrative voice and for me it was better than the first book!

In this second instalment, set shortly after the first, our fourth wall-breaking narrator, Ernest, has been invited to a crime writers convention on a luxury train travelling the length of Australia. However, amongst the myriad of writers and fans he finds himself caught up in effectively a locked room murder mystery when one of the keynote speakers is killed and it's a race against time to solve the case before more victims are claimed.

I really enjoyed the case, the perspectives and the secrets unravelled in this story and felt that Ernest's character was much better balanced this time. Maybe it's because I read the first one and was used to it, but this time the direct commentary felt less jarring to me as a reader and I definitely felt more invested in keeping up with the clues and mini spoilers provided throughout. Despite everything being given to us I still didn't guess the who or the why and felt very satisfied with the denouement.

My main reason for a 4.25 instead of higher is that I did feel that the story was a little drawn out in places and for me took a while to get going. By the half way mark I was fully all in but it took a little while for me to get there. Despite that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and I will definitely be reading more - after all, after struggling with his second novel how on earth is Ernest going to handle a trilogy, I'm so intrigued?!!

Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect is released on February 29th 2024

I absolutely loved Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - the first in this series - when I read it a while back and, to get the best from this book, indeed to allow it to make full sense, you really do need to read that book first.
So... Ernest is now a proper writer and starting the often tricky second book. It's not going well. So he is very excited to be invited to a crime-writing festival hosted by the Australian Mystery Writers' Society. Even more so when he finds out that it is held aboard the Ghan - google it, it's impressive!
He thinks he will get inspiration for his book and also make some rather nifty connections, as well as enjoy the fame. What he doesn't factor in, is the murder of the key-note speaker that occurs early in the journey. And how he, and the rest of the authors present, channel their inner fictional detective side and try to investigate. But he is the only one with the real live experience of murder so it should be him that cracks the case...
Ok, so I have to admit that this book did take a good while to really get going. There is a lot of setting up and it does drag a wee bit at the start. But never enough to be fully annoying just a wee bit irksome. And to be honest, wholly necessary for what has to come later. So, stick with it, it is worth it in the end.
As with the previous books, the delivery is unique. The narrator breaks the wall and talks direct to the reader on occasion. Giving them extra hints - suck as the number of times the killer's name will be mentioned. With a tally of suspect name mentions thrown in every so often for good measure. All a bit tongue in cheek, and I would imagine a bit marmite for some, although I love that sort of bonkersness in a book. It's also very funny in places. Proper laugh out loud, clever funny.
It's also quite layered with the plots and subplots and all that stuff. The author does do a lot of juggling but he manages to keep all the balls nicely in the air until they all come tumbling down together at the delicious end, which I never saw coming, even with all the hints along the way.
All in all, a cracking follow up to what is now shaping up to being a series to watch out for. Really looking forward to seeing what shenanigans Ernest gets embroiled in next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a very cleverly written book: a sequel to a crime novel about an author writing a sequel to a crime novel. It’s setting distinguishes it from other murder mysteries - I loved the descriptions of the Australian outback as the train travelled through. I didn’t find the main character particularly likeable, and readers will definitely find this book more satisfying if they have read ‘Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone’ before starting this one.

Hurray, a sequel that’s better than the first one in the series!

Recovering from the death of most of his family, Ern and his girlfriend, Juliette embark upon a journey across Australia on one of its most famous trains, the Ghan. Ern has been given a substantial advance to write a novel and hopes that appearing on the panel of the 50th Anniversary programme of the Australian Mystery Writers’ Festival will provide inspiration.

Since Ern is a ‘fair play’ mystery writer, he gives us an idea of what’s in store from the outset, as well as roundups throughout. This kind of meta humour can become a bit wearing if not handled well but the balance of humour, mystery and incompetence were perfect.

It’s a great, fun, light read and really did keep me guessing.

With thanks to NetGalley, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Benjamin Stevenson for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A joy! Very funny and also a genuinely cracking whodunnit. A fabulous follow up!

Ernest Cunningham, writer of how to write mystery fiction is back! Following his best selling book ‘Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone’, and unveiling a real life serial killer, Ernest has been invited on the cross-Australia luxury train the ‘Ghan for a mystery writers retreat. Albeit he is the least renowned and worst selling author there. However when the murders start, it’s down to Ernest to solve it again (or at least he thinks it is, which is a general point of contention to everyone else).

I loved book one and arguably love book two more! Stevenson’s humour and meta approach to story telling absolutely kills me. Book two can be a tricky venture but he has nailed it. Just enough returning characters and themes and so much amazing new content.

I love the opportunity to play the game with Ernest and I failed spectacularly. I enjoyed the ride too much. (Both the train and the story).

The comedy in absolutely no way undermines the mystery. The collision of the dramatic and the ultra real are united so well. A lot of the story breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to you the reader but this in no way detracts from the happenings and that is a bloody hard way to write and it’s done so well!

I want these books to continue forever (sorry Ernest, I hope more murder is coming your way).

Thank you Penguin Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my ARC

Put simply, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect is sublime. It’s ridonkuously clever and brilliantly structured, with Stevenson demonstrating a Penn and Teller level of storytelling magic – giving away some of the secrets, showing you how a trick is done, yet still managing to surprise and amaze. There are lots of twists and turns, both in the mystery storyline and the relationships between characters, including Ernie and his amour Juliette, the former owner of the resort where the Cunningham family killings occurred. Juliette also wrote a book on those events, but chose to accompany Ernie on the Ghan trip even though she’s not on the festival programme herself.

There’s an unabashed playfulness, almost tongue in cheek, to Stevenson’s storyline and storytelling, where he’s both honouring and parodying classic Golden Age mysteries. Ernie offers clues along the way, such as the number of times he’ll mention the killer or killers’ name, updating the count at times for our benefit, and things once again get a little meta, while also being dosed with some high-octane action reminiscent of Western movies as the Ghan chugs through the Australian desert.

Along the way Stevenson seems to show us and his protagonist that death is not just a clever puzzle to solve - it has far greater impact than that. He does this via an extraordinarily clever puzzle, of course. It’s early on in the year, but Everyone on This Train is a Suspect may very well end up one of the best mystery reads of the year; a smile-inducing, brain-whirring magic trick, with heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for an advance reader copy of this book.

Sequels are difficult. They have to build on what has come before, offer something new while retaining that certain something that brought in the audience in the first place, all the while treading the tightrope of not feeling like more of the same at the same time as feeling like exactly more of the same. It is a heady conundrum and feels very much like a central cog in the structure of Benjamin Stevenson's "Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect."

The novel following hapless author-turned-detective Ernest "Ern" Cunningham follows on from Stevenson's sensational debut "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone," which was a wonderful surprise with a unique blend of humour and literary subversion. Ern is simultaneously the most honest narrator you will find in fiction and the most dishonest, unreliable narrator with multiple instances of wordplay keeping you from the truth behind one of Stevenson's many clever twists. It never feels like cheating though and is often presented in an amusing way; Ern is halfway between being incredibly clever and incredibly stupid, a combination which works wonderfully.

Rather than focusing on familial drama and secrets, this time around we find ourselves on a train amidst other crime writers in Ern's world; Ern, along with his girlfriend Juliette, are quickly pulled into a murder-mystery when one of the attending authors is apparently murdered. By the time we reach the conclusion, more bodies have been added to the pile, we have experienced some great comedy and drama, but most importantly we have lived an outstanding mystery. There is something so satsifying about the way Stevenson wraps his characters in a complicated tapestry and gently prods at them until the whole thing unfurls and reveals itself.

Benjamin Stevenson is now two for two on spectacular mystery novels that hit you fairly hard in the gut at the end. There is true genius on display here, as with the previous novel. This is a sequel that not only breaks the apparent sequel curse plaguing storytelling, but it does so in remarkably stylish fashion. We can only hope for a third novel that can keep the momentum going.

This takes the "rules" of detective fiction, runs with them and gently pokes fun at them. Were all the rules listed completely followed? I didn't know and really didn't care. I was enjoying reading the book too much to keep checking. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought a copy of the previous book. I hope there will be more. Thanks to Netgalley.

Not for me I’m afraid. There were too many characters to try to keep track of, and it took so long for the murder to happen that I got bored waiting. The leading man’s girlfriend was more interesting than he was, so that I found I didn’t want to hear him speak, and it would’ve been better had she been the lead

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

Well written, 'golden age' style murder mystery with a little meta thrown in.

Stevenson has a brilliant turn of phrase - almost too good! His knack with a humorous simile or well constructed sentence can sometimes slow up the flow of the story.

There are also A LOT of named characters in this, and no murder til about 40% way through the book.

But I think the main drawback with the Ernest Cunningham series is the lack of personality of its lead character - I never really got a sense of who he is or what makes him unique.

That said, the meta touches are a joy as always and there are some well worked twists and turns.