Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

57 reviews

jstilts's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

In a genius move, Benjamin Stevenson has his lead character (the supposed author of these books) be emotionally vulnerable to criticism of the first book and wracked with self-confidence issues on his right to be considered an author at all - to the point where I felt guilty giving that book a scathing 2 star review and fully committed to giving Ernest Cunningham a second chance.

I wasn't disappointed - this was a huge improvement over the first book - genuinely funny, more distinct characters, rattles along at great pace - and a final mystery that didn't require a pin board and red string.

That doesn't mean it's simplisitic - there are plenty of mini-mysteries amongst the suspects that are connected enough to make an interesting whole without making that whole a muddle.

I think I complained last time about the genre-critiquing style of the book and narrating lead character - perhaps setting this book in the publishing world makes that meta-critique a better fit, but I found the style more settled, less intrusive - and much funnier.

It certainly had me laughing out loud - there's an excellent scene with a Landcruiser that I can see perfectly in my mind's eye, absolutely ripe for a hilarious movie adaptation. The overall tone is quite light-hearted (the first book veered to hard for me between real-life awful tragedy and jokes), but nevertheless the twists still hit hard - the arrest in particular!

I'd definitely recommend this book - you don't need to read the first in order to enjoy the second, although it will certainly tempt you to go back for it - as the lead character is well aware!

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heer_pluisje's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Even better than the first one, I really enjoyed it!

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whatmckennareads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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tuckertl's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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christajls's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thank you to everyone who recommended I continue this series in audio. This was a delight!

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emma6544's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, mainly due to the inconsistency of the plot structure.

However, this book is definitely a step up. The plot follows a linear structure and it follows classical conventions (closed circle, isolated mystery set on a train). But Ernest pokes fun at these classical conventions.

I also really liked the use of the book festival as an event on a train which then allowed Benjamin to poke fun at different specialisms within Crime fiction (legal, psychological and forensic thrillers) and this commentary was humorous.

The only negative thing for me, personally, was that I still found Ernest’s first person narration and breaking of the forth wall annoying at times but this was significantly less than the previous book Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone.

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