I’ve watched plenty of whodunnits in movies & TV, but I don’t think I’ve ever really read many books on the subject, so this year I decided to change that, and this makes my second book of that genre this year (although I’ve already read 3 by the time I’m writing this review), and this has been my favorite so far. ‘Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone’ is the first book I’ve read by Australian author Benjamin Stevenson, and it delivers.
The story follow Ernest “Ern” Cunningham, as he tells the story of a family reunion in a snowy mountain lodge in Australi. Like any family reunion, there’s drama and internal conflicts, which acts as one of the main themes throughout the book. Oh and there’s some killing as well, which just helps to increase the family tension. Throughout the story, Ern tells us more details and backstory about the members of his family and how it is that they each killed someone. Like any good whodunnit, the focus on the story revolves around solving the mystery behind the murder and figuring out what Ern and his family have to do with everything going on around them.
I must say I really enjoyed this one, I felt like this is a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and when done well, which in this case it is, I really enjoy it. There’s a lot of 4th wall breaking right from the beginning, with Ern assuring the reader that he promises to tell the truth (or what he believed to be the truth at the time of the events taking place he’s talking about), and even tells us in what chapters murder happen in the very first chapter (so thoughtful). The narrative also continually switches between past and present so we learn more about each member of Ern’s family (and Ern himself) as we start uncovering more and more of the mystery.
I’d say the book revolves around the family dynamics and the murder mystery is actually secondary to this, and I think the book is better for it. No family is perfect, and I think the book did a good job of having somewhat realistic family dynamics. One of the other themes is that of an unreliable narrator, but one you know is unreliable and yet you still like. Ern tries so hard to convince us that he’s impartial and honest that all it does is make us doubt his every word, but still he manages to come across as at least an ok person, at least relatively speaking when compared to the rest of his family and he’s just a tiny bit more moral than them as well. You sort of root for him, which I think is an achievement. Throughout the story, we learn about pretty much every member of Ern’s family in the mountains, and while not all of them are very deep characters, they do all have a distinct voice, they have personality, and they all get a chance to have the spotlight in the story.
I feel like with the way the book is structured, with the constant changing between past and present, it would actually work pretty well as a TV show or a movie. I don’t know if the author had that in the back of his mind while writing this or not, but I do think a screen adaptation would work pretty well.
One aspect the book did fall short for me was that they were just a couple too many characters. Ern’s family is large, and it was kind of hard keeping track of everyone in the beginning, especially with the mystery and the changing timelines going on at the same time, once I had more time to get to know the different characters the story had a better flow for me, but from time to time I still had to look up who was who, although that might have just been a side effect of listening to the audiobook instead of reading a physical copy (I have been known to lose my place in audiobooks with even the smallest of distractions).
Another thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was the ending, it felt like the final reveal was just not super convincing for me. This might 100% be a ‘me’ problem, but the big explanation at the end just didn’t do it for me, it makes sense, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like it was way out of left field and that took me out of the story somewhat.
Other than that, I really liked the book’s pacing, it kept things moving along, and it did enough to make me believe all the information that was presented was relevant or plausible, even if they inevitably ended up being red herrings. Similarly, I think the plot itself worked as a very fun murder mystery akin to ‘Knives Out’, maybe not as funny, but the Australian humor does hit the spot pretty well for me.
I did listen to the audiobook for this, I had no idea the book was set in Australia, so when the narrator’s accent hit me it threw me for an unexpected, but welcome loop. I quite enjoyed the different voices the narrator used for each character, and, while I found it kind of hard to keep track of who was who, props to the narrator for giving each character a distinct voice. Ern’s personality really came through with his performance which honestly is probably what bumps the audiobook from a 3 star experience to a 4 star experience for me.
If you liked ‘Knives Out’ but wish it were more Aussie and less American, I think this book is worth checking out, it bring the same kind of fun, not-quite-so-serious murder mystery.
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆