title: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someoneauthor: Benjamin Stevenson
series: Ernest Cunningham #1
published: 17 January 2023
publisher: Mariner Books
genre(s): thrillers
pages: 368
source: library
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | BookHype | Goodreads
rating:
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the blurb
Everyone in my family has 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
a few notes
content warning: ❗some graphic violence❗
steamy rating: 0🔥s
language level: 0🤬s
POV: 1st person, fourth wall
keywords/phrases: murder, death, violence
awards: Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Nominee for General Fiction (2022)
my review
In a nutshell, this was one of the most creative and unique locked-room mysteries I’ve ever read. It was both dark and serious and yet hilarious, too. It completely broke the fourth wall, and the author did that extremely well.
I LOVED the homage to Ronald Knox’s Ten Commandments and the Detection Club. The author used them as part of the breaking of the fourth wall, which was endlessly entertaining. The narrator, the oh-so-reliable Ernest, tells the story of his dysfunctional family. Truly they are the epitome of dysfunctional, as they have all, as the title suggests, killed someone. Yet, in spite of the title, none of them are of the Bloody Benders ilk, but all people who tended to find themselves in situations that went, well, wrong. The story is told in an engaging conversational style that delved into the lives of each member of the family.
quoteables
Call me a reliable narrator. Everything I tell you will be the truth, or, at least, the truth as I knew it to be at the time that I thought I knew it.
One day you’ll realise family isn’t about whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.
About Benjamin Stevenson
Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. His first novel, Greenlight, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction, and published in the USA and UK. His second novel, Either Side of Midnight, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Original Paperback. His novella, Find Us, was an internationally bestselling audiobook. He has sold out live shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has appeared on ABCTV, Channel 10 and The Comedy Channel. Off-stage, Benjamin has worked for publishing houses and literary agencies in Australia and the USA. He currently works with some of Australia’s best-loved authors at Curtis Brown Australia. He loves hearing from readers on Instagram (@stevensonexperience) and Facebook (The Stevenson Experience). Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is his third novel.
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reading challenges:
- 2023 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
- 2023 Library Love Reading Challenge
- 2023 PopSugar Reading Challenge
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