“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.”
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a 2022 mystery thriller by Benjamin Stevenson. This darkly comedic murder mystery introduces readers to the Cunningham family. Told through the perspective of Ernest Cunningham, they are told about a family reunion at a remote ski resort where a dead body is discovered which leads to a series of events that reveal dark secrets. Every member of the family has been involved in death at some point, meaning that everyone present is a convincing suspect. If you loved Stevenson’s novel, join us at What We Reading for the best cosy, witty and self-aware books like Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone that put fresh twists on classic crime stories.
Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries #1) – Catherine Mack
First stop on our list of books like Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is Catherine Mack’s Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and finally kill off the main character in her Vacation Mysteries series, Connor Smith. But, when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life – the man she got entangled with a decade ago – Eleanor is recruited to help solve the case.
Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, an obsessed stalker and even her ex-boyfriend, Oliver, rifts emerge, theories are bounced about and broken hearts are revealed. Compelling and heartfelt, Mack turns real life into a murder mystery as Eleanor is forced to work out who among her book tour is attempting to get away with murder.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night – Nina Simon
From her impeccable tastes, and successful career to her sharp intelligence, high-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to take pride in. But, when she finds herself trapped three hundred miles north of the city, hunkering down with her daughter, Beth, and teenage granddaughter, Jack, she is left hoping the boredom doesn’t end her days prematurely. Then Jack finds a dead body whilst out kayaking.
Jack becomes a leading suspect in the subsequent investigation, throwing the Rubicon women into chaos. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana dives headfirst into the investigation, uncovering a web of lies, family vendettas and land disputes brewing underneath a quirky community of ranchers and conservationists. Similar to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, as their amateur sleuthing gets closer to the truth, the headstrong Rubicons soon find themselves deeper and deeper in dangerous territory.
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The Appeal (The Appeal #1) – Janice Hallett
The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of a rehearsal when tragedy suddenly strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife, Helen. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and the experimental treatment promises to cost a fortune. Their castmates rally together and raise enough funds to give her the best possible of odds of beating the illness.
But, not everyone is convinced of the treatment’s efficiency – or of the good intentions of those involved. And as tensions among the performers reach boiling point, things reach a climax at the final dress rehearsal and the discovery of a dead body the next day. In the build-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through emails, messages, letters and other correspondence, realising that their killer may just be hiding in plain sight.
Murder Your Employer – Rupert Holmes
To gain admission to The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a student must present an ethical reason for erasing someone who deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The institution is dedicated to the art of murder and the consummate execution of the homicidal arts.
The location of the campus of this ‘Poison Ivy League’ college is unknown to even those who are studying there, and whose graduation is dependent on being able to get away with the perfect murder of an individual whose death will make the world a much better place. In Murder Your Employer, Rupert Holmes presents a book like Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone that is sharp-witted and fresh in its homage to classic crime novel tropes.
The Word Is Murder (Hawthorne & Horowitz #1) – Anthony Horowitz
One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the affluent mother of a famous actor – enters a funeral parlour. She is there to organise her own service. Six hours later, she is found dead, strangled by a curtain cord in her home. Daniel Hawthorne is a brilliantly eccentric, albeit disgraced, investigator who hires novelist Anthony Horowitz as the ghostwriter for his life.
Horowitz soon finds himself unwillingly sucked into a sinister story he is unable to control. Hawthorne is temperamental and annoying, but his latest case full of twists and turns proves to be too captivating to turn down. Similar to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Anthony Horowitz reinvents the classic crime novel with Holmes and Watson-esque meta-breaking Hawthorne & Horowitz series.
Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty
Nine individuals gather at an isolated health resort. Some are there to reset their lives, others are there to lose weight, others struggle to work out why they’re there at all. Amidst all the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they all know the next ten days promise serious work. Yet none of them are prepared for just how hard that work is going to prove to be.
Frances Welty is a former bestselling romance novelist who instantly becomes intrigued by her fellow guests at Tranquillum House. Yet the person who captivates her the most is the building’s strange owner, the person who promises to have all the answers to questions she didn’t even realise she had. One of the best books like Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Liane Moriarty provides another wickedly smart page-turning mystery in Nine Perfect Strangers.
How To Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files #1) – Kristen Perrin
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. There, a fortune-teller gives her a bone-chilling prediction: she will be murdered one day. For the remainder of her life, Frances attempts to solve the crime that has yet to happen. No one takes her seriously until she is found murdered nearly sixty years later.
Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling estate owned by her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. However, by the time she arrives, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch a killer. Unfortunately, thanks to the years of her aunt digging up the dirt, it appears that every eccentric and endearing character in the quaint village of Castle Knoll might just have a motive for murder.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
