This book, like its predecessor, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, is a pure delight.
Well. I am so jealous I cannot even bear it that Benjamin Stevenson got to the Ghan first as a murder setting, and presumably got to ride it for both research and promotion. But other than that delight.
[If you are the poor sod who has to read all my last minute reviews, I apologise for using the word “delight” over and over again. I can swap to “joy” if you prefer? I, like many others I see here reviewing, have really tried to stop reading things that don’t delight me. I mean, sure, sometimes I don’t like stuff. But I have given myself permission to stop looking down on books that are not literature, and embraced the romance novels and crime fics and fun stuff.]
I don’t think I can be hugely objective about this book. I loved the first one, I loved the second one. If you found Ern annoying or frustratingly inept, the sort of guy who stumbles across the answers in spite of his best efforts in the first book? Well, he’s exactly the same in the second. Someone has been murdered on The Ghan, and everyone on the train is, as clearly called out, a suspect.
The Ghan, for those of you not well-versed in luxury train travel in Australia, is a super expensive, luxurious, multi-car extravaganza that travels from Alice Springs to Adelaide. Included in your journey are some sight-seeing stops, all food and bev, etc etc. Kind of like the Orient Express in Aus, crossed with a land-locked cruise ship (without the pools). [I’ve always wanted to take Mum, but having read this, my sister and I have agreed that it’s just a for-us thing.]
So, we have tight quarters, multiple characters with something to hide, loads of different possible motives, and a narrative that is just savvy enough not to outsmart itself. Ern consistently breaks the fourth wall to discuss murder mystery tropes, fake outs, and what he could reasonably be expected to be aware of at each point of the story. I found this charming – you may find it the most annoying thing that ever there was.
I’m utterly charmed by this series, and will continue to read all of Stevenson’s books. An absolute must-read for me.
