Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunningham #1) by Ben Stevenson
Genre: Murder mystery, Humour
Read: 8th November 2024
Published: 29th March 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
I was dreading the Cunningham family reunion even before the first murder.
Before the storm stranded us at the mountain resort, snow and bodies piling up.
The thing is, us Cunninghams don’t really get along. We’ve only got one thing in common: we’ve all killed someone.
Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.
I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I'd killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it's a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
Let's get started.
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE
My brother
My stepsister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me
The Australian novel that has taken the world by (snow)storm. Following a heated auction in Hollywood, film/TV rights were sold to HBO, and publishing rights to 26 countries so far!
MY THOUGHTS:
I was dreading the Cunningham family reunion even before the first murder...
I came across this book via a review (thanks Sarah!) and when I saw it was set in my own country (Australia) I just had to check it out. I wasn't prepared for the complex ride Ben Stevenson took me on...despite its locale being a ski resort. Yes, it does snow in Australia (for the northerners) though only in the southern areas with a higher altitude. Otherwise we're pretty much an oven.
The opening of this very clever and witty prose drew me in from the very start. Ernest Cunningham (Ernie or Ern) is our narrator and published author of books on how to write books. He helpfully lists the ten rules of writing detective fiction at the beginning, to which he strongly adheres, and thus refers back to each rule as and when applicable throughout (usually in parenthesis such as these or even in general conversation with us, the reader). He is hugely entertaining with his wit and dry humour which I found very similar to Stuart MacBride, who I note has been quoted with his own thoughts on this rather fresh approach to the murder mystery.
(The best thing I've read in ages. I absolutely loved it. Whip-smart, twisted, funny, and constructed with the pinpoint precision of a bloodthirsty watchmaker. - Stuart MacBride) Snap! My thoughts exactly.
While the title draws the attention of the reader, how true is it? Has everyone in Ernest's family really killed someone? Bear that in mind because they are not a family of psychopaths and they are not killers, per se. So who have they killed? And why? One of the rules by which he writes is not to pen an unreliable narrator and promises to be a reliable one...but is he to be believed?
What begins with a family reunion at a ski resort (fictitious name and place but in the Snowy Mountains of southern NSW just out of Jindabyne, which does exist), should be a happy occasion, right? But Ernest has avoided any and all family reunions if he could help it in the past. However, he was not able to avoid this one as his aunt (a perennial busybody one could not say no to, even if they wanted to) stated in no uncertain terms in bold print so as to not be avoided that there were to be no excuses and all must attend. Happy happy joy joy. In a family where everyone has killed someone? This doesn't bode well for him, Ernest thinks.
So the players. There's Ernest, Michael (his brother), Sofia( his step-sister), Erin (his wife), Lucy (his sister-in-law), Audrey (his mother), Marcelo (his stepfather), Katherine (his aunt) and Andy (his uncle). That's just the family. Throw in a copper (Crawford), a dead body (green boots - you'll see), Juliette (the resort owner) and a few other characters peppered throughout - both past and present.
Then there's the locale. A faded ski resort that has seen better days with a full guesthouse and vacant chalets for the Cunningham family.
Now, the plot. I don't think I could begin to do it justice. This really is one of those books where you need to go in blind and just enjoy the ride...because enjoy it, I think you will. If you love murder, mystery, wit and dark humour then I'm sure you will love this.
The entire tale gives off the vibe of Ernest just chatting to us, revealing bit by bit each clue as it appears to him. He claims not to lie to us or throw us red herrings but that all clues are peppered throughout and are presented just as he saw them as he saw them. After all, each clue is what he used to draw his own conclusions and expertly solve the mystery.
It's very quirky, very clever and oh so funny throughout. Some of his internal monologue had me in fits of laughter. For example, some of this thoughts on the spreadsheets (in the beginning upon arriving at the resort) and then later referring to having PTSD - Post Traumatic Spreadsheet Disorder. His rationale on the sign to the said resort needing punctuation between "resort" and "retreat" begging all who approach to turn around and don't look back!
A truly mind-boggling plot that is both clever and quirky as well as complex as it was convoluted, this thoroughly entertaining tale is dark and witty in equal measure. Stevenson has penned a unique style of murder mystery (that is appropriately OTT without seeming OTT) that is so complex that that in itself makes the villain not so easy to identify. I was befuddled by the family tree and keeping the tale in order as there is a lot of jumping about (hence the convoluted part) so I was stunned when I actually guessed villain correctly! And even spotted one of the clues for what it was and not what everyone else thought at the time. I didn't solve it completely so I was in for another shock but oh my, what a delightfully delicious dark and witty tale this is!
Marketed as Agatha Christie meets Arthur Conan Doyle (lots of Holmesian references within) meets Richard Osman. I haven't read either of the latter but I grew up reading Christie so I can safely say that this is a modern take on a Christie-esque mystery. There's even a nod to the Queen of Crime herself with one of her books penned under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott mentioned a handful of times. This is truly unlike anything I've read before though it's humour is very much like that I've read in Stuart MacBride and I always appreciate such dark witty humour. I'd be interested to see if the following two are just as entertaining.
I note that the rights have been snapped up to become a TV series so I look forward to that. I just hope they are able to capture the same quirkiness and wit that Stevenson does in this delightfully entertaining tale. With all it's twists and quirky humour throughout makes this one ride of your life you will not forget in a hurry.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, his third novel, was a huge bestseller and has so far been sold in twenty-four territories around the world. It will soon be adapted into a major HBO TV series.
Benjamin has sold out live shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has appeared on ABC TV, Channel 10 and The Comedy Channel.
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