The follow up to one of the funnest thrillers I’ve read in a while, If you enjoyed the first, RUN to grab the second! Such a joy to return to the world created by Stevenson, and I’m excited for the prospect of a third already!!

This book is quirky, funny (although there are some gruesome murders) and clever.

It is the story of a book festival on a train in the middle of the Australian desert ( which is pretty much, and while I don't want to disrespect the Australian desert in any way - the middle of nowhere). Tensions are high and then the murders begin while the train speeds towards a police station of some sort.

It is told by one of the authors and it is told from a hospital bed. The author is open about the clues that are being left, the murderer will be mentioned 106 times. It made me smile and the plot and mystery worked brilliantly

‘A sequel is an admission that you’ve been reduced to imitating yourself’

I loved Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone, so I was excited to read the sequel – Everyone on this Train Is a Suspect. The book sees our protagonist from the first book attend a writer’s festival on a moving train (think Orient Express,) as he tries to come up with an idea for his second book. However, when a dead body is discovered, Ernest might have more inspiration than he was hoping for!

I enjoy the humour and wit in Benjamin Stevenson’s writing and this book certainly has the same charm as the original. There’s also a similar convention as the first book which highlighted the page numbers of certain events – this one has to do with how many times the murderers name is mentioned. It’s certainly clever and keeps the reader engaged with the story, as well as adding a ‘meta’ type element to the read.

The ending is also very clever, and all of the threads came together to make for a high impact conclusion. However, I didn’t find the pace of the rest of the book as quick as the first book and some bits did drag in places.

Overall, Everyone on this Train is a Suspect is a fun and clever read and I’m very excited to see what Ernest will get up to in his quest to write his third novel. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House – Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never travel with Ernest Cunningham... it's murder. I love the twistiness of these tongue-in-cheek books, Ernest makes me smile and I love the asides that come with the first-person style. These are great books, and I sincerely hope there are more.

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect is a great follow-up to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.
This time the setting is aboard a luxury train hosting the 50th Australian Mystery Writers Society festival. The story follows Ernie who, once again, finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery!
Another fantastic read!
Many thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Australian Mystery Writers Association are doing an event on an iconic train journey in Australia, what could possibly go wrong? With crime writers on board and there is a death can they solve a real life mystery or have they turned their fiction into fact? Who will make it to the end of the journey and the book? Told in the first person by the newest author, all sorts of secrets and jealousies are revealed.

This is the second in a series, but you don’t need to have read the first as I had not but I will go and read the first one now.

I adored the previous book by this author and this was just another brilliant treat on every level. A must read (on both books) if this book isn't already on your radar.

I absolutely loved this! I wasn't sure how a sequel to "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone" would work, as it seemed very much a complete story, but Benjamin Stevenson has pulled it off. I love the meta nature of the writing style - Ernest (the protagonist) knows what we are expecting from the genre and goes to great pains to play fair and flag clues for us - he is writing this as a "diffucult sequel" to his first surprise bestseller and once again is basing it on events that have recently happened. This book is reminicent of Anthony Horowitz's Hawthorne series where the lines between "real" and "invented" are intentionally blurred. The setting is absolutely perfect (The Ghan train as it crosses the romantic and remote interior of Australia), the cast is suitably qualified (a crime writing convention) and the entire book is a charming, self aware and playful take on how to write the perfect murder mystery. Thoroughly enjoyable and I will be widely recommending to fellow crime readers.

After the terrifying events the previous year, Ernest Cunningham has written a book and now he has been invited to take part in a Crime Writers Festival. The bonus is that it is a three-day luxury trip on The Ghan, a train from Darwin to Adelaide. Ernest boards hopefully but he finds his fellow authors quite unpleasant and there are obviously tensions. When a best-selling writer is murdered Ernest finds himself at the centre of a mystery again.
This time Stevenson's focus turns to homage of 'Murder on the Orient Express' and it's great! The detection is suitable opaque, the plot nicely twisty and our anti-hero quite engaging. Essentially this is a book which updates Golden Age writing and plot construction with a modern and very humorous attitude.

I really enjoy the writing style of this. It’s fun that the author almost pokes fun at the genre they’re writing.

Just didn’t think this was as strong plot wise as the first book. I started to feel a bit bored by half way and nothing really shocked me. Didn’t have that jaw dropping reveal vibe I like in a crime/mystery book.

The whole murders on a train being solved by mystery writers felt quite cliché and like similar has been done before.

It was an ok read and I’m sure lots of fans of this genre will enjoy. It didn’t live up to the first for me, which is kinda funny as the narrator says how hard it is for a sequel to succeed.

I was probably the one person in the world who was a bit on the fence about Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. The book felt like The Nine Wrong Answers in overdrive, with constant challenges to the reader, and I felt that despite it being a very clever mystery, the tone never quite clicked with me.
Going into this one knowing what to expect made this one much more palatable. The game playing is cranked up to eleven – for example, Cunningham discloses early on how often the murderer’s name appears in the book and every now and then gives an update so that the readers who are more inclined to guess (or possibly gamble) can place their bets.
Cunningham’s voice worked much better for me this time round. He makes some bad decisions – in particular one in the middle and one right at the end – but he’s a much more likeable character here, and I thought the revelation with his girlfriend was very well done.
Plot-wise, well, this never stops moving, with constant little misdirections and reveals as the book progresses. The murder plot twists and turns all over the place, with some surprising reveals concerning what is going on and how everyone is linked together. The plotting is really impressive – nicely complex but still completely understandable.
While everything is clued to an extent, I did think that towards the end, Ernest becomes a little too much of a super-sleuth, deducing almost everything correctly almost at the drop of a hat. He’s just a little too accurate about the details and this was just a little bit jarring that he goes from not knowing much to suddenly having almost the complete picture.
All in all, though, this was a really entertaining read and a great homage to the classic era of mystery fiction. The more I think about it, the cleverer that I think it is. Well worth your time.

Benjamin Stevenson is becoming a favorite and his update version of the classic detective is clever and well done.
This is a compelling and well plotted mystery set on a train, the perfect setting for a closed circle plot
There's a limited number of suspects, red herring and a lot of fun.
Love it
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Engaging and entertaining, following firmly in the footsteps of the first Ernest Cunningham book. There's the same meta-layered writer-narrator explaining his craft, the knowing voice, and the same Golden Age of detective fiction feel with the twist on the locked room mystery, in this case a long distance train journey. Ernest is a bit too knowing at times, but it's a quick and enjoyable read.

"Everyone on this train is a suspect" is the follow up to the brilliant "Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone", from 2022 by Benjamin Stevenson. While the books work effectively as standalones, in order to understand the dynamics between Ern and Julie, along with their backstory, I would recommend reading both books - also "Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone" is ingenious and funny, and well-worth your time.
Now, Ernest is invited to attend the Australian Mystery Writers Festival on board the luxury Ghan train. The other authors include:
a psychological profiler,
a fine Legal mind
an experienced mystery author
and a Literary Heavyweight
Ernest has completed his successful novel, based on his recent family holiday and has also self-published a number of books (pamphlets) on the topic of writing. He refers to his advice and guidance on the best procedure for writing throughout the novel, frequently referencing Poe, Conan Doyle etc. Such references acting as "Easter eggs" fir fans of these authors.
The story is fast paced and Ernest is occupied with solving another dastardly murder mystery while trying to save himself from becoming the next victim.
Make sure you don't miss out and read this book. And now, as I've been inspired I'm off to look up a trip on the Ghan!

I'm not sure why there's so much hype surrounding the release of this; it's very average 😕. Half of the book is spent telling you how to write a "Golden Age Murder" book, and referencing the rules that were followed. It's an unusual point of view but I don't think it's quite pulled off. I'm not rushing to read the previous book.

3.5

Ernest Cunningham returns in this follow up to last year’s debut and once again he’s slap bang in the middle of a murder. He’s been invited to a festival by the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society and it’s taking place aboard the Ghan, a train which travels from Darwin to Adelaide. He’s hoping that being amongst other crime writers will help get his literary juices flowing and he’ll be able to write his second book.

Just like the first one this book is full of Ernest breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to us, the reader. He continues to give us little clues about what’s to come and teases us with details about the murderer. The setting is incredibly claustrophobic, with not only the enclosed setting of the train carriages restricting peoples’ movements but with the intense heat of the desert bearing down on them.

The fellow characters were an interesting bunch with plenty of motive to go around but I wasn’t really drawn to any of them the way I was with Ernest’s family in the last book. The stakes didn’t seem to be as high and I can’t say I honestly really cared about who the culprit was, which in a murder mystery, is a bit of a downer. This could have something to do with the fact that the deceased was so dislikeable.

It had touches of humour which I loved and I had fun trying to figure out some of the puzzles (although I wasn’t successful). It was an enjoyable enough ride but it didn’t live up to the brilliance of the first book for me. Still, if you like a classic murder mystery with a modern twist then this might just scratch that itch.

I started this before Christmas and struggled a bit to get into it. I have read the first one and loved it and was curious what the sequel would bring.
I did love this less than the first one but it’s still pretty compelling. I think this is because the first half is quite slow going but the second half I read in one sitting! You really don’t have to have read the first book just know the title to work the rest out!
Definitely recommend as a fun, slightly hammy read.
Read through netgalley for an honest review. And I really don’t review things I don’t like.

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect is a great follow-up to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.

Both books are unusual because the narrator is fully aware that they’re in a murder mystery book and is making every attempt to play fairly with the reader by the rules of Golden Age detective fiction. The reader should be able to work out who the murderer is, but, as ever, I was too lazy to do the detective work and just sat back and enjoyed the story.

Ernest is an engaging protagonist, the setting of the Ghan train in the Australian outback was beautiful and the ending was satisfying. What more could anyone want? Five stars from me.

Ernest is back and has boarded a train which has the Australian Mystery Writers’ society festival taking place .
The train has mystery authors galore and Ernest who seems to be a magnet for murders.
I found the story slow going at times but it did seem to pick up the pace about half way through .
I enjoy the style of writing and the story has humour and wit as well as a few serious subjects .
The way the story is told through the narrative of Cunningham makes it a different read and an enjoyable one too.
Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph , Penguin Random House .

I read and enjoyed the author’s previous book as it was something a bit different but this seems to be a repeat. Murders on a train isn’t a new idea and I struggled to engage with the characters. I feel it would make a better movie than a novel. Not really for me.