Hilarious, Horrifying, and Engaging New Novel From Australia

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

Benjamin Stevenson

Harper Collins

January 17, 2023

Meet Ernest Cunningham, "Ern," the narrator of Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone. Ern is the self-published author of numerous books telling others how to write crime fiction. He begins with Ronald Knox's 1929 Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction. Knox was a Catholic Priest and member of the legendary Detection Club. Other members included Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton. You should take a look at them, as they are essential. 

https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/tips-masters/ronald-knox-10-commandments-of-detective-fiction

Ern is attending a family reunion at a ski lodge in the mountains of New South Wales, AU. He never looks forward to reunions because he has always felt like an outsider. This reunion promises to be particularly fraught as Ern's brother, Michael, is getting out of prison after a stretch for murder. Ern happens to be the person who testified and put Michael there. The Cunninghams are unhappy with Ern, not his mother, Audrey, and her husband, Marcello, not Michael's ex-wife, Lucy, not Ern's soon-to-be ex-wife, Erin, or his managing Aunt Katherine. The only one who seems happy to see him is his half-sister, Sofia. That may be because she needs money and somehow knows about the bag containing 267 thousand dollars Ern has been holding onto for Michael. Soon after their arrival, a body is found, the victim of a particularly horrible death. Very quickly, the lodge is snowed in, and the temperatures drop precipitously. Not only is the snow falling, but so are the Cunninghams. Is there a serial killer loose known as The Black Tongue? Can one of the Cunninghams be the killer, or is someone seeking revenge for Ern's father, Robert, and his notorious criminal past? People don't often forget about cop-killers, even if they are long dead.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is one of the most original pieces of crime fiction I have ever read; horrifying and hilarious at once. Anyone who has read Golden Age mysteries will recognize all the tropes of the snowed-in scenario but with a new spin. Stevenson's Ern has a terrific "voice," sly, ironic, and likable. I was suspicious of his claim to be a reliable narrator, but that is what he proved to be. I don't expect to read another book this year that will engage me as much as Everyone in my Family has engaged me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 5 Stars

Secrets Surface in a Small Australian Town

 EXILES

Aaron Falk #3

Jane Harper

Flatiron Books

January 31, 2023

I've been waiting patiently (somewhat) for the final entry in Jane Harper's splendid Aaron Falk Trilogy. The trilogy introduced me to Australian crime fiction and was highly atmospheric, packing an emotional punch, and perfectly plotted. From THE DRY, through FORCE OF NATURE, and now EXILES, Jane Harper's books have shown me a new world. Aaron Falk is a detective in the financial crimes division of the Australian Federal Police based in Melbourne. But he comes from the outback town of Kiewarra, as seen in THE DRY. On his consequential visit to his hometown, he formed a friendship with the new Chief of Police, Greg Raco, and his wife, Rita. The Racos have asked him to be their new child's Godfather. The christening will take place in Greg's hometown, Merrilee. The previous year, Falk visited them for the Merrilee Food and Wine Festival, and the christening is taking place the very same weekend. 

The previous year's Festival dealt the Raco extended family a considerable blow. His older brother Charlie's ex-wife, Kim, disappeared from the Festival, leaving her new daughter, Zoe, in a pram, never to be seen again. Her new spouse, Rohan, was having dinner with his parents and was cleared as a suspect. The Racos and their Merrilee friends and family are completely "at sea," saying that Kim would have never left Zoe alone. Charlie and Kim's daughter, Zara, now living with Charlie, and her friend, Joel, are insistent on this. The memories of Kim are close to the surface, especially since her friends had almost lost contact with Kim in the year previous to her disappearance. She had been living in Adelaide, not far away. Tragedy has been no stranger to Merrilee in the past few years. The daughter of the police chief died as a result of an alcohol overdose, and a respected member of the community was killed in a hit-and-run. 

As memories surface, it becomes clear that the secrets of all these events are in the close-knit community. The solution to Kim's disappearance will upend their little paradise. But new connections and a new relationship convince Falk that there are more things in life than policing, and after years of being solitary, he can find a new home. 

Thanks to Net Galley and Flatiron Books for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 5 Stars

A Community in Flames

THE DRY

Aaron Falk #1

Jane Harper

Flatiron Books

January 10, 2017

The outback Australian farming town of Kiewarra has been suffering through years of drought. Businesses have closed, farms are failing, and the only really viable concern in town is the pub. Tempers are high, but everyone is shocked when a local farm family is shotgunned to death, and it appears that the father did it and then killed himself. The parents of the father, Luke Hadler, refuse to believe that he could have done such a thing. So they call in Aaron Falk, now an Australian Federal Agent specializing in financial crimes, to investigate. The last place on earth Aaron wants to be is Keiwarra. He, Luke, and Ellie Deacon were inseparable as children. The three formed a sort of adolescent romantic triangle as teenagers, and when Ellie was forcibly drowned in the river, Kiewarra decided that one or both boys must have done it. The two alibied each other, but Aaron has never been sure of Luke since Luke refused to say where he really was. The result was that Aaron and his widowed father were literally driven out of town. Luke managed to stay and put it all behind him.

The Dry is an intensely atmospheric thriller. One can feel the heat and see it shimmer off the roads. Kiewarra is a blasted landscape, ready to go up in flames, as are the townspeople. The novel is tightly plotted and filled with believable characters trapped in adverse circumstances, often of their own making. I picked up on the killer of Ellie pretty early on, but the person who killed the Hadler family was a real surprise. I don't know why The Dry sat so long on my "to be read" shelf. It is a most impressive first novel.

4 STARS

 

A Most Welcome Return

THE SPOTTED DOG
Corinna Chapman # 7
Kerry Greenwood
Poisoned Pen Press
September 10, 2019


It seems that I have been waiting forever for The Spotted Dog rather than "only" seven years.  I have read, re-read and listened to the adventures of Corinna Chapman, plus-size baker extraordinaire, and her gorgeous Israeli detective lover, Daniel. So I was delighted to receive an advance copy. Set in a highly fictionalized Melbourne, Corinna owns and runs Earthly Delights, a bakery on the ground floor of the Insula, an apartment building inhabited by a weird and wonderful cast of occupants who have a supportive and loving community of their own.

The Spotted Dog opens as all the books do, at the 4 AM rising of Corinna to do the baking. Baking is her calling, but even after years, Corinna is not at her best. Thankfully she has an assistant, ex-addict Jason, who comes in even earlier. Corinna opens the door to release Heckle and Jekyll, the "mouse police" from their nightly duties. Down the alley, she sees a tall man shambling towards her and mumbling that Sister Mary sent him to see Daniel. Sister Mary is the local stalwart advocate for the homeless, addicted, and mentally challenged outcasts of Melbourne. Of course, Corinna brings him in, where he collapses. Someone has mugged him and stolen his beloved service dog, Geordie. Alasdair Sinclair and Geordie were invalided out of the Army after horrible experiences in Afghanistan. A companion mystery is that of a visitor to Insula, Philomela, left both in a wheelchair and mute after an accident. Then there are a series of break-ins occurring at Insula. Can all these happenings be connected?

Corinna, with her absolute comfort with her body and huge heart, is one of my favorite fictional characters. All the supporting characters from previous books at least make an appearance. The interlocking storylines are a bit convoluted in this one, however. The "Autlralianisms" are plentiful, so Google is definitely a friend! As usual, the food descriptions are mouth-watering and recipes are included. The Spotted Dog is another satisfying read, though perhaps not one of my personal favorites. It could be read as a stand-alone but I would recommend reading the entire series. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen.

RATING- 4 Stars