This is it - the crime novel I have been waiting for all year, and I will only say 'nice things' about this book!

Ernest Cunningham is dreading attending his family reunion at a remote ski lodge. There is plenty of tension amongst the family members as they are due to be joined by Ernest's brother who has just been released from prison. Before any major fighting can begin, the body of a man is discovered outside in the snow and it looks like one of the Cunningham's may have killed him - but which one, and why? Ernest sets about solving the mystery by working through each member of the family one by one, looking at events of the past , how each of them has intentionally or unintentionally killed someone, and how this has all led up to their present, slightly perilous situation.

The narrator tells the reader right at the start of the story on which pages of the book each death will occur. I knew right at that moment that this was going to be a big hit. This is a traditional crime novel which is deconstructed by the narrator page by page for the reader, all the time referring back to Ronald Knox's 10 commandments of detective fiction. I know that metaphysical crime fiction isn't for everyone, but I'm a huge fan of breaking the fourth wall. I thought it was incredibly clever, addictive, entertaining and also had just the right amount of humour. The quirky dark comedy shone through perfectly in narrator Ernest, who has quickly become one of my favourite fictional sleuths!

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone is the perfect choice for fans of Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi, Rules for Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson and the Rian Johnson film Knives Out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read an ARC of this fantastic book.

Stevenson absolutely nails the introductory chapter. I urge anyone considering this novel to check out the first five pages, that was all it took to hook me and damn what a hook.

EIMF is told via narration from the main character Ern as he tells the reader the story of writing a book about his family reunion. Ern writes 'how-to'guides for writing crime thrillers which gives the novel an interesting style.
I did at times find myself skimming the sections where Ern compares his story to the normal writing tropes.
It put me in the mind of SGJ's My Heart Is A Chainsaw where the main character compares her life events to common horror movie scenarios, to be honest I didn't like that either.

Stevenson gives us beautifully descriptive settings and plot twists when Ern is 'writing his book' and a conversational tone when Ern is addressing the reader about his methods for writing the book or explaining the history of various family members.
I didnt care for the milestone summary early on, as if Ern is recapping an episode in a television episode I'd just that minute finished watching. I skip recaps on Netflix, I certainly don't need to read them in books. Occasionally too many hints were dropped into these, steering the reader too hard and lessening the impact of upcoming reveals. 'You won't hear about us locking lips for another 89 pages.. if you're wondering'.
Whilst I loved it's use as a first chapter hook, I felt it should have been left at that.
Stevenson uses these as a clever misdirection later in the novel which did somewhat redeem them for me.

You can guess by the title that Ern's family are dysfunctional, and wow they aren't likeable folks either, this endeared me to Ern early on. Being the outcast for doing what was right and braving the scorn of a selfish family made me simultaneously sympathise with him, agree with him but also pity him like a stray dog.

Each chapter centres around a family member. The characters are somewhat stereotyped but they are believable, I challenge you to find a family that doesn't have atleast the majority of personalities who fit the bill. Although hopefully without the murderous intent.

As Ern discovers more and more of his families secrets and history the characters develop into an entirely new image. I'd done a complete one-eighty by the end of the book.

Overall I feel Everyone In My Family would benefit from some heavy editing, (including the email from Ern's editor simply stating that adding photographs to the book would be too costly) but was still a clever plot-twister, very much worth the read.

I loved this Australian whodunnit from comedian and author Benjamin Stevenson. It's fun and self-referential (it includes a letter from the editor saying a full page image is too costly to include when required, and promotions of the authors "10 Easy Steps to Write Crime Like You Lived in the 1930s") but also a homage to Christie with a gathering reveal and some great twists.
Think Knives Out without the outrageous Daniel Craig Southern accent.
The narrator sets out their stall at the very beginning by outlining the rules to write crime by and vowing he will always tell the truth. He even tells you which pages the deaths take place on.
If you read one crime novel in August, I recommend putting this to the top of your list!

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it difficult to put down.
The book is written as a standard murder mystery but with a difference and boy what a difference. Earnest the narrator, has written books on how to write a murder mystery and throughout this book regales the reader with Knox’s 10 commandments of detective novels (not something I have come across before) and gives hints to clues of the whodunit. Even with these I did not completely guess the ending which did not disappoint. I can’t wait to read more by Benjamin Stevenson.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

Thanks #Netgalley for my E-arc copy of #everyoneinmyfamilyhaskilledsomeone in exchange for my honest review.

It was the title “ EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE” that drew me to this book.
This novel was a different take on a murder mystery. The prologue has me smiling and even laughing at points, making me eager to continue reading so I could get to know all about these interesting characters.

I was enjoying the non linear structure I found it encouraged me to read on to find out where it was leading.

However a few chapters after the prologue I found myself becoming uninterested. I was finding the chapters long and laborious.

But as as frustrating as the story could be I had to continue in able to get any answers. It was one of the reasons I persisted with it.

The ending of this novel did pick up but again I felt there was so much going on

When it comes to rating this novel, I feel it is only fair to give it three stars, the main reason for this was how the prologue and the nonlinear structure piqued my interest. But I don’t feel I can rate it any higher as I’m interest was not held throughout and at times I almost didn’t finish the book.

Well this was a bit of a mixed bag.
I started off liking the quirky writing style and was into the story but must admit from half-way through it got a bit tiring and lost its' appeal for me.
The story was good overall with plenty of twists for this fan of genre and plenty of characters to form a suitable pool of suspects. It felt a bit weird reading a snow resort-based novel in the height of summer (and a record hot summer at that) - it's perhaps a funny release date for such a book(?)
Anyway, back to the feedback... I liked some of the humour but again some of it missed the mark. Note to editor (of which there were plenty of references from the author throughout the book) jokes or references to page numbers (of which there were a few) don't transfer well to a Kindle format release and were completely lost on me (as a Kindle format reader). Great for the paperback - not so much for the Kindle version.
At least one of the references to the editor (and specifically the author acknowledging feedback received from the editor to the author on improving the book echoed my thoughts exactly!) Made me stop and question why the author didn't take note if I was thinking the same thing too (and I'm no expert!).

Overall I've opted for 4 stars, which, looking at the other reviews, seems to be par for the course for this book.
It's no bad book and for fans of the writing style in the first person with lots of internal commentary and self observations, some readers will lap this up.
I'd point to competing books like 'Eight Detectives' (Alex Pavesi), which I read relatively recently and which tackle crime detective writing with a quirky feel but hit it bang on and had a real wow factor. For that reason 5 stars for that one and four stars for this one.
Many thanks for the ARC

Brilliantly original, superbly written crime thriller that keeps the reader gripped from the first page until the last. I would absolutely recommend this book and will be reading more from this author.

This book doesn't just break through the fourth wall it demolishes it. Starting with Knox's 10 commandments of detective fiction this book not only tells an impressive story it also tells you why it is so interesting to read too!

As the title suggests, this is not so much of a whodunnit, more of a who didn't do it. Working through the suspects and what they did actually do built a strong foundation upon which the final reveal made for a perfect ending. I had half guessed it about 2/3 of the way through but hadn't caught all of the clues so most of the reveals when they came were twisty little surprises.

There is a fair bit of dark humour in these pages, especially when the narrator is speaking directly to the reader and it moves at a good pace which kept me interested. I really enjoyed this read!

Surprising, darkly funny, clever and engrossing - you won't want to put this one down. A quirky approach, written in the first person, it's a fun spin on the usual whodunnit. The family that gathers for the party in the ski lodge is just like every other family - loving, dysfunctional, complicated - but with so many secrets this new murder could take some time to unravel, but unravelled it must be, before the body-count climbs any higher. With so many candidates for the killing, the only challenge is where to start.

Earnest is at a family reunion. Tensions are high as a few years previously Earnest’s conviction put his brother in jail. Now a serial killer is on the loose and Earnest believes it to be one of his family members. But who? Part classic who-dunnit, part dark comedy, fully original, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a whole lot of fun.

I usually enjoy quirky books, but this one was a step too far for me .I didn't like the style it was written in or the main character, or any of the other characters for that matter. Not a good read for me I am afraid.

I really enjoyed this book, I have not read anything like it. I love how the story was told, would be great adapted to the screen. A quirky thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Will look out for further titles by this author.

OK - you may need a notepad and pen whilst reading this one and you'll certainly want to rest your head on completion! It's a complicated, complex murder mystery and a good one!

An original, inventive storyline told from the perspective of Ernest, who has a dark sense of humour that for me worked well. It begins with Ronald Knox’s 10 Commandments of detective fiction (1929) and has an ending worthy of Knox and his group. Overall, an intriguing, complex, witty murder mystery. It's just, for me, it was a bit too complex and worthy and I did have to force myself to keep reading at times. Overall, for me, definitely a strong 3* good read, but, concentrate!

Thanks to Michael Joseph Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Everyone in my family has killed someone!
A family reunion, a mountain resort and a storm leaves a body.
Who has done it?

3.5 stars
As soon as I saw the title of this book I was immediately on board and couldn't wait to read. But sadly it didn't live up to my expectations.
First of all, I wasn't a huge fan of the narrative style. It was an interesting choice for this kind of book but it broke up the story in a way that I didn't really gel with.
I have seen that this is potentially going to be made into a TV show and I think that that would be a much better format.
It was just a bit disjointed for me.
I also struggled to find any of the characters likeable, which I do understand why this was but it would have been nice to root for or like at least one of them.
I'm sure others may really enjoy this but it just wasn't for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Benjamin Stevenson and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was obsessed with this book from the very first line. The way it’s narrated is clever and witty, and makes the story more entertaining. Having chapters dedicated to each family member made it easier to follow.
Practically everyone had a motive to be the murderer which made it harder to guess who it was. I loved the twist at the end.

A great read. A really interesting new take on the detective novel, with some wonderful characters, and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing right until the end

2.5 stars.
Firstly, I liked the writing style, kind of conversational, and the way it was written as if he was writing a book about it all afterwards, this was interesting and comical at times. However, it is so so convoluted, and when he tied everything up at the end I was getting more and more lost in the 589 twists/revelations.

Despite the intriguing title, this book did not live up to expectations. Whilst I was prepared for the titular family to be quirky and dysfunctional, I struggled with just how unlikeable they were. For me, this left me disinterested in the storyline and the outcome and it felt like a book that was following the “how to write” rules in the books that the main character authored.

With thanks to the author, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review it.