Australia. Remote ski resort. No cell phone reception. Snow storm. Dysfunctional family reunion. Everyone has secrets. Pretty much all the elements you need for a Golden Age mystery (1920s-’50s. Ernest (Ern) Cunningham is the 1st person reliable (self-professed) narrator and black sheep of the family after testifying against his brother at a murder trial. Awkward especially as his brother has just been released from prison and is on his way to join the reunion.
This is a mystery thriller with a body count so not a cozy but Ern has a chatty way of addressing the reader directly that is engaging and often delightfully snarky and darkly humorous. He also writes books about how to write mystery books.Throughout the story, He applies the Golden Age of Detective Fiction rules for writing mystery novels (e.g.Ronald Knox’s “Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction,1929” and the membership oath of the Detection Club, 1930). The rules boil down to play fair with the reader and Ern promises to play fair in describing the events.
I confess a lot of my enjoyment comes from the author incorporating aspects of Golden Age detective fiction in which at one time I immersed myself. But above all it has a good cast of characters, an entertaining narrator, and a fine plot that unfolds at a good pace. I plan to continue with the series.The next one is Everyone On This Train is a Suspect and I’m a sucker for train mysteries.
If you think the rules for writing detective fiction are fun, check out S.S. Van Dine's Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
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