Great Reads for Great Readers

 

Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stephenson.

           

       
     Classic murder mysteries follow strict rules:  a set number of people are gathered (or thrown) together at a place that is difficult to escape from;  one by one, they are picked off in various clever ways, thus building suspense and horror in the reader;  the denouement always, always reveals a murderer that no-one would ever suspect, and the remainder of the novel deals with the satisfying punishment and demise of the guilty party.  The great Agatha Christie was, as we all know, the unparalleled mistress of the genre and her shoes will never be filled;  however, there have been plenty less famous – and less talented upstarts ready to try their luck, with varying success.

            Australian writer Benjamin Stephenson does the opposite:  he has written an enormously entertaining 21^st century parody of that disparate group of people with grudges and grievances, in this case narrated by Ernie, disgraced within his family because he testified against his brother Michael at Michael’s murder trial – families stick together no matter what, and the Cunningham family has had more of its share of trouble with the law than it could possibly need or want.  He is the pariah in the family group organised to welcome Michael home after his mysteriously reduced prison sentence.  Everyone has gathered at a luxury ski lodge in the Snowy mountains, and Michael’s ex-wife Lucy is there hoping for a reconciliation;  unfortunately, Ernie’s ex (whom he still loves) shows up as Michael’s new lovebird and, true to form, the weather turns nasty:  what was meant to be a skiing weekend with lots of hot toddies and flash food is transformed into a violent storm that traps everyone, starting with a complete stranger killed in a most ancient and unusual way.  Victim One!

            The body count rises as the weather worsens;  Michael dies the same dreadful death as Victim One and when Ernie (he is the narrator, after all!) eventually gathers everyone together in the ski lodge library – a classic setting for so many Big Reveals – I feel I can say with confidence that no reader had guessed WhoDunnit, and  What Happened Next, because I certainly didn’t and I’m really good at that.

            Benjamin Stephenson has followed all the rules, in fact he has helpfully provided a copy of them at the beginning of the book – and he has given readers a laugh-out-loud, enormously entertaining variation of the genre with characters so good that I wish I could meet them in future works by him – but he’s killed them all off!  FIVE STARS.