My family and other suspects by Kate Emery

Wow! Another great mystery from an Australian author, My family and other suspects ticks all the boxes for a compulsive read for fans of murder mysteries. There is a twisty mystery to solve, all members of the dysfunctional family have motives, and there is suspense galore.

Ruth is not happy about visiting the family farm and her step-grandmother, GG. She would prefer to be with her friends, but she is isolated, with no internet or phone. She loves Agatha Christie novels and finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery when GG is found dead in suspicious circumstances. With Dylan as her off-sider, she follows clues about the people who would like to see GG dead and ends up suspecting everyone in the family.

Emery builds up the tension as Ruth begins to uncover family secrets. Her family is large with some strange characters belonging to it, so her list is long and the reader will have to read to the end to find out what is going on. What happened to the long-lost son? Did GG change her will? Why was her father thinking about selling his house and guitar? Ruth delves into these and more secrets, always commenting on what is happening in her snarky and very humorous narrative.

This is a compulsive and funny book with great characters, action and motives. I couldn’t put down and read it in a couple of sittings. Readers who enjoyed Eleanor Jones is not a murderer by Amy Doak and The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson are sure to want to pick up My family and other suspects, or they may like to try Emery’s The not so chosen one.

Themes: Murder, Family.

Pat Pledger