Book Review: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Adult, Humor
Pages: 371
Format: Ebook
Rating: .75

Goodreads summary: Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Who was it?

Let’s get started.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

My brother

My stepsister

My wife

My father

My mother

My sister-in-law

My uncle

My stepfather

My aunt

Me

I really want to write this review without any spoilers, so here I go. While I didn’t give Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone five deer-stars (which I’ll explain later), I still think everyone should read this book. The storytelling was so unique! The author literally lays out when the deaths happen in the prologue. There’s even a half-chapter thrown in for a midway recap, which I appreciated because a lot was going on. Ernest, the narrator, frequently breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to us, the readers, which I found hilarious.  

Since Ernest is a writer, he takes storytelling very seriously. He makes sure his mystery follows the rules—no plot holes, no random killers, and no inconsistencies. In fact, he follows Ronald Knox’s Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction, which you can see below:  

1. The criminal must be mentioned early in the story but can’t be someone whose thoughts we’ve followed.  

2. No supernatural elements.  

3. No more than one secret room or passage.  

4. No undiscovered poisons or long-winded scientific explanations.  

5. No Chinaman must figure in the story. (Yikes, this rule didn’t age well, but it was part of Knox’s original list.)  

6. No lucky accidents or unexplainable intuitions for the detective.  

7. The detective must not be the killer.  

8. Clues must be shared with the reader when the detective finds them.  

9. The “Watson” character must be slightly, but not overly, less intelligent than the average reader.  

10. No surprise twins or doubles unless properly foreshadowed.  

Stevenson’s and Ernest’s commitment to these rules makes the mystery feel deliberate and well-structured. That attention to detail ties into the book’s unique format—because this is a book within a book. Our main character, Ernest, is writing a true story about how, as the title suggests, everyone in his family has killed someone. So we, the readers, are essentially reading his final manuscript.  

The plot kicks off when Ernest is forced to attend a mandatory family reunion at a ski resort. He’s the outcast of the family, and I found myself feeling bad for him. But every outcast needs an ally, and for him, that’s his stepsister, Sofia. Things really start picking up once his brother, Michael, arrives—and from there, everything goes downhill (literally, teehee).  

While I really enjoyed this book and almost gave it five deer-stars, there were a few things that held me back. The main story revolves around each family member’s “killing,” but there’s also an additional murder mystery happening at the same time. The constant shifts between past and present made some parts hard to follow. Maybe I’m just not the smartest because whenever Ernest said, “an observant reader would’ve realized xyz,” I rarely did. There were moments when I could follow along just fine, but other times I felt lost in the explanations.  

I also questioned a few character decisions that didn’t entirely make sense. That said, the ending wrapped things up well, and I appreciated the detailed explanations. Overall, I’d still highly recommend this book, and I can see myself rereading it in the future.