Benjamin Stevenson

“Apart from the murders, it had been a successful reunion after all.”

Like locked escape rooms, I’m not a locked-room mystery kind of reader. I don’t like riddles and impossible puzzles. I don’t want to muddle through hidden clues or Sherlock Holmes myself through a story. But because of the recommendations of some favorite readers, I picked this one up, and I’m so glad I did. Yes, it’s a locked-room mystery, littered with clues and riddles (so if that’s your thing, you’ll enjoy this), but it also has so much more. It’s a meta-mystery full of dry-witted humor and curious characters who give off some major Wes Anderson vibes. It’s funny. It’s also told through a really unique narrator’s voice and was (to me) more about the relationships in this dysfunctional family—who belongs to the family, roles within the family, living up to the family name—than it is about the mystery and murder happening around them. It really was a uniquely enjoyable read—so much so that I look forward to reading the next book in this series.… (mere)