Are you a fan of Agatha Christie golden age mysteries? Do you enjoy wink-wink meta 4th wall breaking movies like Clue and Murder by Death? If so, you will love Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. Just as I did.
Ern, short for Ernest, is at a family reunion at a snowed in ski resort (because of course he is, did you not read the first paragraph of this review?) His extended family is waiting for his brother Michael’s return from prison after serving time for murder. The prison where Michael was sent because of Ern’s testimony. A body is quickly found and off we go into an amateur sleuth’s investigation because the on-site detective is woefully incompetent. No explanation is given for how, with so many murderers available, the detective could fail. But it is rather like searching for a piece of hay in a haystack, I guess, paralyzing by the sheer number of choices.
Ern is the first-person narrator, who offers frequent asides to the reader. I really enjoyed this witty approach, though I began to wonder if Ern was a bit too assertively voicing his intention to be a reliable narrator. Could he be protesting too much? You will have to read the book to see.
Overall, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is an enchanting new viewpoint into a beloved, but rather tired, mystery sub-genre. 5 stars!
Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.