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After surviving his (literally) killer family reunion, Ernest Cunningham wrote a book about his experiences. A year later, he’s dating the owner of the resort where the reunion was held and recovering from some of his worst wounds. Ern also has a contract to write a mystery novel. The fiction part is stumping him so far, though.
When he is asked to participate in a crime writers’ festival on board a famous train, the Ghan, that runs north to south in Australia, Ern is kinda hoping for a new murder to happen to jump-start his writing. Well, not really. But hopefully he can get some inspiration surrounded by other murder mystery writers and fans.
The Ghan takes several days to make its way between Darwin and Adelaide and runs through a lot of desert. So when a murder does happen on the train, to a prolific and popular writer roundly hated by his fellow writers, the train essentially functions as a “locked room.” The suspect pool is small and there’s nowhere for anyone to go given the remote location.
This second book “written by Ern” is just as entertaining as the first, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. I thoroughly enjoyed the style of the writing, all the little asides Ern puts in about how murder mystery novels are supposed to be written. The mystery is good, too, though I read it probably more for the humor. I do think the mystery was more wide-ranging and complex in the first book, though. Doesn’t much matter because it’s still fun. I’ll keep reading as long as Ern keeps finding himself surrounded by murders.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 4 uses of strong language, around 10 instances of moderate profanity, about 25 uses of mild language, and 15 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There are also 15 instances of British (bl-) profanity. Sexual content includes some references to sex and some vulgarities, violence includes a mention of a rape, two murders, injuries and some blood.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
