THE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY'S GUIDE TO MURDER

A teen marooned with her family at the home of her step-grandmother, GG, in rural Western Australia puts her sleuthing talents to work.

As the novel opens, 14-year-old Ruth is looking forward to returning home to Perth. She’s bored with her uncaring GG’s stories, all about “her (dead) cat, her (dead) son, or her (dead) husband(s).” A freak run-in with a snake sends Aunty Vinka’s boyfriend, Nick (“part aging member of a K-pop band and part surfer”), to the hospital. Ruth, her dad, cousin Dylan, Aunty Vinka, Aunty Bec, and Bec’s boyfriend, Shippy, stay on with GG as Nick experiences more health mishaps and must remain hospitalized. When GG is found dead and the police open an investigation, the family members, suspicious of one another, are trapped in the countryside without phone reception or internet service. Humorous exchanges among Ruth and her eccentric relatives establish a light tone, which is further buoyed by Ruth’s lively, self-aware, and wry voice. As the first-person narrator, she occasionally addresses readers directly. Ruth is a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and Ngaio Marsh. In an homage to these classics, family secrets—unknown to both the characters and readers—are gradually revealed, clue by clue, in an airy murder mystery where an isolated Australian farmhouse stands in for an English manor. The snappy dialogue contributes to the strong sense of place. Most characters read white.

A zany and entertaining whodunit.