Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

by Benjamin Stevenson

Publisher: Mariner Books / Harper Collins Publishers

Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Mystery / Murder Mystery

Read This If You Love: Agatha Christie, Clue, Knives Out

Ernie is a writer of books about writing crime books. He is also the member of a very dead-body inducing family. Right from the start death comes knocking at his door. From there, we step through each family member to gain some knowledge and back story before we are thrust into a mountainside snowstorm bound family reunion. A reunion where, you guessed it, there is a BODY. Who killed this one? Who is the BODY? Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a mashup of an Agatha Christie novel and Clue. It’s perfect for fans of the Knives Out movies. The chapters move along swiftly and you are constantly entertained by the wit of Ernie and the unveiling of secrets, lies, and layers.

Throughout the novel, Ernie acknowledges the audience directly. He also calls out all the murder mystery writing tropes and cheats that avid readers will recognize. One plot device that Ernie uses is the recognition that you are holding a book where you can flip around and find out what happens at any point. Page numbers/hyperlinks are listed throughout the manuscript for you to skip to the dead bodies and the “good parts” of the book. It’s a funny way to communicate with the reader and, if you are like me, you probably won’t spoil yourself by actually flipping pages. 

This book is SOOO much fun! It’s wildly campy and, as another reviewer put it, “the book is fiendishly good with a high body count.” A thoroughly brilliant murder mystery and whodunnit read that is packed full of laughs but still has its serious side that shows up periodically. The cold weather setting makes this a perfect book for a dark and snowy night binge read.