Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect Summary, Characters and Themes
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (2023) by Benjamin Stevenson is a gripping, witty mystery that follows Ernest “Ernie” Cunningham, a crime writer turned amateur detective, as he finds himself solving murders while aboard a luxury train heading through the Australian outback.
The novel’s playful take on the traditional whodunit blends humor, literary satire, and classic mystery tropes as Ernie unravels a series of dark secrets within the publishing world. Packed with twists, quirky characters, and sharp dialogue, the story keeps readers guessing until its dramatic conclusion, all while poking fun at the crime fiction genre itself.
Summary
Ernest “Ernie” Cunningham is attending a literary festival on the Ghan, a luxury train traversing the Australian desert, when the murder of a prominent writer throws the journey into chaos.
The story unfolds through Ernie’s first-person narration, which he presents as if it were one of his true crime novels. The novel begins with an introduction poking fun at golden-age detective fiction, setting the stage for a darkly comic murder mystery.
At the start of the journey, Ernie and his girlfriend Juliette meet a group of literary figures: acclaimed authors Alan Royce, S. F. Majors, Lisa Fulton, Wolfgang, and Henry McTavish, along with publishers and critics like Wyatt Lloyd and Veronica. Tension immediately brews among the authors, particularly between the highbrow Wolfgang and the more commercial writers.
McTavish, a successful crime novelist, comes under fire for his biting criticism of Ernie’s debut book, deepening the conflict.
During a heated panel discussion, the eccentric McTavish’s behavior turns bizarre, and later he collapses, dead from what turns out to be heroin-laced whiskey. Ernie, eager to turn detective, starts investigating alongside Royce, who reveals that McTavish wasn’t just a difficult critic—he had plenty of skeletons in his closet.
Brooke, a young fan, claims that McTavish stole his third novel’s plot, while Fulton reveals a brief but troubled sexual history with him. Ernie also encounters Douglas, a mysterious man who later throws away a gun, hinting at a personal vendetta linked to a tragic train accident decades earlier.
As Ernie digs deeper, he learns from Douglas that McTavish’s novel was based on the real-life Ghan disaster, in which a school bus collided with the train, killing several children.
Douglas believed McTavish had a connection to the crash and planned to kill him for it. But someone beat him to it, and Ernie’s investigation widens.
Things take another turn when Wyatt Lloyd, head of Gemini Publishing, is found murdered, stabbed in the throat with a pen. Juliette is arrested, but Ernie suspects the real killer is still on board.
He uncovers a manuscript that points to Jasper, another passenger who has secretly been ghostwriting McTavish’s books. Ernie confronts Harriet, Jasper’s wife, who confesses to poisoning McTavish out of frustration that Jasper wasn’t getting proper recognition. She killed Wyatt to ensure the deception would die with him.
The climax sees Harriet trying to escape by taking Ernie’s agent hostage. In a final showdown on the roof of the train, Harriet is stopped when Jasper pulls her over the edge, sacrificing himself to end her murderous spree.
The novel wraps up with an epilogue from Juliette’s perspective. She reveals that Harriet, who survived the fall, stabbed Ernie in his hotel room.
Although he survived, the dramatic confrontation puts the finishing touches on his true crime narrative, as he and Juliette decide to marry despite the chaos.
Characters
Ernest “Ernie” Cunningham
Ernest Cunningham, or Ernie, is the protagonist and narrator of Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect. A true crime writer and amateur detective, he uses his life experiences as fodder for his books.
Ernie is witty, observant, and often self-deprecating, but he also tends to prioritize his career over personal relationships. This is especially evident in his relationship with Juliette, where his dedication to investigating the murders on the train creates tension between them.
He is determined to solve the case, seeing it as both a personal challenge and professional opportunity, which highlights his ambition. Ernie is resourceful and clever, but he sometimes lacks tact, as seen when he proposes to Juliette while also suggesting she could be a suspect.
His narrative style is lighthearted and ironic, offering commentary on the typical tropes of mystery novels, but he takes his detective work seriously. Ultimately, Ernie’s persistence helps him uncover the truth, although it nearly costs him his life when Harriet attacks him at the end of the novel.
Juliette
Juliette is Ernie’s girlfriend and one of the few non-literary figures on the train. She is patient and supportive of Ernie’s career, but throughout the novel, she grows increasingly frustrated with his obsession with the murders.
Their relationship is strained, especially when Ernie implies she might be a suspect in McTavish’s murder. Juliette represents the tension between Ernie’s personal and professional lives, embodying his struggle to balance his romantic relationship with his ambitions as a writer and detective.
Although she initially leaves the train to distance herself from Ernie, her decision to return in the end suggests a deep, if complicated, commitment to him. Juliette’s voice in the Epilogue adds an extra layer of complexity, as she becomes the person to conclude the novel after Ernie is stabbed.
Her agreement to marry him, despite the turmoil of the events, shows her loyalty and affection, though it’s clear she has her limits when it comes to Ernie’s behavior.
Henry McTavish
Henry McTavish, a famous crime novelist, is the first murder victim on the train. His long-running Detective Morbund mysteries have made him a literary celebrity, but his reputation is tarnished by his unsavory behavior.
McTavish is arrogant, dismissive, and manipulative, using his power as an established author to belittle others and advance his career. He plagiarized the plot of one of his novels from another writer, which alienated many of his peers.
Additionally, his predatory behavior toward young women, particularly Brooke and Lisa Fulton, reveals his darker side. McTavish’s demise is rooted in both personal and professional grievances, as his actions have hurt many of the people around him.
His complex web of wrongdoings, including the theft of intellectual property and sexual misconduct, makes him a figure of disdain, which provides ample motive for multiple characters to wish him dead.
Lisa Fulton
Lisa Fulton is a key character who plays a central role in the narrative’s development. She is a successful author who, it is later revealed, had a traumatic past involving McTavish.
Fulton was raped by McTavish in 2003, and their shared history looms large over the events of the novel. Her presence on the train is largely due to her daughter, Brooke, who is McTavish’s child and wants to meet her father, unaware of the circumstances surrounding her conception.
Fulton’s character is one of quiet resilience; she tries to stay composed even as she grapples with the painful memories McTavish’s presence stirs up. She ultimately seeks some form of justice or closure for the pain McTavish inflicted on her, though it is Brooke who seems to drive much of the narrative involving him.
Lisa’s rescue of Ernie from the mine shaft shows her inner strength, and her final act of chasing after the train to catch the true murderer demonstrates her determination and willingness to protect those she cares about, especially her daughter.
Brooke
Brooke is a young woman whose motivations are largely tied to her complicated relationship with McTavish. She is unaware that McTavish is her biological father and that her mother, Lisa Fulton, was raped by him.
Throughout the novel, Brooke seems to idolize McTavish, wanting to meet him and possibly connect with him as a father figure. However, her idealized view of McTavish is shattered when she learns the truth about his predatory behavior and the circumstances of her birth.
Brooke’s character represents innocence and disillusionment, as she begins the novel with a certain naiveté about the literary world and her own parentage but gradually learns the darker truths about both. Her relationship with Lisa is complex, as it is Brooke’s desire to meet McTavish that drags her mother into a situation filled with painful memories and danger.
Alan Royce
Alan Royce is one of the other authors aboard the train and is characterized by his bombastic personality and love for alcohol. He comes across as arrogant and abrasive, particularly when drunk, and often expresses disdain for his peers.
Despite his rough exterior, Royce becomes a key ally to Ernie in investigating McTavish’s murder. His extensive knowledge of crime fiction allows him to contribute useful insights, and he even attempts to solve the mystery himself at one point, although his conclusion that Wyatt is the killer proves incorrect.
Royce represents the stereotypical figure of the jaded, hard-drinking author, and his bravado masks a deeper insecurity about his place in the literary world. He ultimately plays a pivotal role in the investigation, though his theories and deductions are not always accurate.
Wyatt Lloyd
Wyatt Lloyd, the head of Gemini Publishing, is another victim in the novel, killed after McTavish. As a prominent figure in the publishing world, Wyatt wields considerable power over the authors onboard the train, and his murder adds another layer of complexity to the mystery.
His character is not as deeply developed as some of the others, but he represents the corporate side of the literary world, where business interests often clash with the creative impulses of writers. Wyatt’s death, which occurs after Royce wrongly accuses him of being the murderer, shifts the investigation in a new direction and adds urgency to the case.
His murder ties into the larger mystery surrounding McTavish’s ghostwriting arrangement, and it is ultimately revealed that his death is connected to the same motive as McTavish’s: Harriet’s desire to free her husband from his burdensome career as a ghostwriter.
Jasper and Harriet
Jasper and Harriet are a married couple who, at first glance, seem relatively unremarkable compared to the other literary figures aboard the train. However, it is revealed that Jasper has been ghostwriting McTavish’s novels for years, and Harriet, frustrated by the lack of recognition for her husband’s work, takes matters into her own hands.
Harriet is the novel’s true antagonist, responsible for both McTavish’s and Wyatt’s murders. Her motivation stems from her desire to free Jasper from the exploitative relationship with McTavish, who took all the credit for Jasper’s writing.
Harriet’s actions reveal a deep sense of loyalty to her husband, but also a willingness to commit extreme acts to achieve her goals. She is ultimately exposed by Ernie, and in a dramatic confrontation, she injures him before being stopped. Harriet’s character adds a layer of domestic tragedy to the novel, as her motives, while criminal, stem from a desire to protect and elevate her husband.
Douglas
Douglas is a man with a tragic past, connected to the Ghan’s history of a devastating crash. His former partner was the teacher killed in the collision, and Douglas believes that McTavish may have been the bus driver responsible for the accident.
This belief motivates him to carry a gun, intending to take revenge on McTavish. However, Douglas’s arc is one of disillusionment, as he realizes that McTavish was not the bus driver after all.
His character represents unresolved grief and the desire for justice, though his understanding of the situation is ultimately flawed. Douglas’s subplot provides additional emotional depth to the novel, as his grief and sense of loss are tied to the larger themes of guilt, redemption, and revenge.
Themes
The Role of Self-Referentiality and Metafiction in the Mystery Genre
Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect operates as a layered exploration of the mystery genre through the lens of metafiction. The novel constantly draws attention to its own construction, most notably through its protagonist, Ernest Cunningham, who is both a character within the story and a narrator constructing a “true crime” narrative from the events.
This self-referential structure disrupts the traditional immersion associated with mysteries, inviting readers to engage with the artifice of storytelling. Through Ernie’s ironic, often irreverent commentary on genre conventions—such as the golden-age detective story and the “whodunit” format—the novel critiques its own genre while simultaneously participating in it.
The novel’s humor emerges largely from this self-awareness, with Ernie’s quips about literary panels, author rivalries, and publishing industry scandals providing insight into the tension between serious “literary” fiction and more commercial or sensationalist genres. By framing the story within a metafictional narrative, Stevenson blurs the line between fiction and reality, leaving readers to question the truth behind any of Ernie’s accounts.
This constant oscillation between playful satire and genuine mystery highlights how stories can be crafted and manipulated for both entertainment and personal gain, much like Ernie himself attempts to do.
The Corrosive Nature of Ambition in Literary and Personal Life
The novel delves deeply into how ambition—both professional and personal—can corrupt individuals, skew relationships, and lead to moral decay. Nearly every character on the train harbors deep-seated desires for success, recognition, or revenge, which ultimately shape their actions and motives.
Ernie, though outwardly a modest and somewhat bumbling amateur detective, is driven by the hope that solving the murders will restore his reputation as a writer. His obsession with proving himself—not just to the literary world but also to his girlfriend, Juliette—undermines his personal relationships, creating a paradox where his ambition to be recognized as a genuine writer becomes both his guiding force and his greatest flaw.
Similarly, Harriet’s resentment toward her husband Jasper for his role as a ghostwriter for McTavish reflects the toxic consequences of unrecognized creative labor. Harriet’s decision to murder McTavish and Wyatt is born from frustration at being denied the acknowledgment she believes Jasper deserves, an extreme manifestation of the desire for literary fame.
The rivalry between the festival’s authors, especially Wolfgang’s disdain for commercial fiction, underscores the pervasive hierarchies and snobbery that plague the literary world. The murders themselves can be read as a dark commentary on how far individuals are willing to go to protect or enhance their literary reputations, with lives and relationships becoming collateral damage in the pursuit of success.
The Intersection of Trauma, Guilt, and Memory in Shaping Identity
A less obvious but central theme of Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect is the way trauma, guilt, and memory intertwine to shape the identities and motivations of the characters. This is particularly evident in the subplot concerning Douglas, who is haunted by the tragic collision involving the Ghan train decades earlier.
The trauma of losing his partner in that accident has left an indelible mark on him, leading to his mistaken belief that McTavish is the bus driver responsible for the crash. Douglas’s grief and guilt manifest in his carrying a gun with the intent to kill McTavish, showing how past trauma can warp an individual’s sense of reality and justice.
His entire narrative arc reflects how unresolved guilt can distort memory and lead to misguided vengeance, highlighting the destructive potential of unaddressed emotional wounds. Similarly, Brooke and Fulton’s experiences with McTavish touch on the long-lasting effects of abuse, betrayal, and shame.
For Fulton, McTavish’s betrayal is not only a personal trauma but a professional one, as he both stole her ideas and violated her trust, leaving scars that motivate her complicated relationship with both him and her daughter, Brooke. This dynamic demonstrates how deeply trauma can shape an individual’s relationship to power, trust, and truth, influencing actions in ways that are not always conscious or rational.
The Fluidity of Moral Boundaries in Crime and Justice
One of the most striking themes in the novel is its exploration of moral ambiguity, particularly in how it interrogates the boundaries between justice, vengeance, and crime. Ernie’s role as both an investigator and a participant in the unfolding events complicates the traditional binary of hero and villain, as he grapples with his own motivations and ethics.
His willingness to suspect Juliette—someone he loves—reveals the uneasy balance between personal loyalty and the pursuit of truth. This suggests that even the most well-meaning individuals can blur ethical lines when caught up in the desire to solve a mystery or gain recognition.
Harriet’s eventual exposure as the murderer similarly raises questions about morality, as her actions, while undeniably criminal, are motivated by her deep-seated frustration over systemic injustices in both her marriage and the literary world. The novel portrays her not as a one-dimensional villain but as a woman driven to extreme measures by a combination of professional invisibility and personal resentment.
In this way, the narrative resists simple moral judgments, emphasizing that the line between justice and retribution is often thin, especially in a world where people are constantly vying for status, power, and control.
The novel’s conclusion, where Harriet escapes death only to return and stab Ernie, reinforces the cyclical nature of crime and punishment, leaving readers with the unsettling sense that justice is never fully achieved and that moral certainty is an illusion.
The Performance of Identity in Public and Private Spheres
Another key theme in the novel is the notion that identity is performative, particularly in how characters present themselves in public versus private contexts. The literary festival setting, with its mix of professional rivalries, personal grievances, and audience expectations, serves as a microcosm for the ways in which individuals curate their public personas.
Authors like Wolfgang and Fulton are shown to play particular roles—Wolfgang as the disdainful literary purist, Fulton as the embittered former victim—while hiding more complex, contradictory private selves.
Ernie’s own self-presentation as an amateur sleuth and crime writer is an elaborate performance, designed to fit the expectations of both his literary peers and his audience.
This theme of performance extends beyond the professional realm, as characters constantly negotiate their roles within their personal relationships. Ernie’s proposal to Juliette, for instance, is not a genuine act of love but a performance of romantic intent that backfires when Juliette perceives his underlying suspicion.
Jasper’s role as McTavish’s ghostwriter epitomizes the novel’s concern with hidden identities, as his labor goes unnoticed and uncredited, causing tension and resentment within his marriage.
The novel thus raises critical questions about authenticity, suggesting that individuals are constantly performing versions of themselves to fit the expectations of their respective audiences—whether those audiences are literary critics, partners, or fellow travelers on a luxury train.