The Dysfunctional Family's Guide to Murder - by Kate Emery Hardcover

Book Synopsis

In this hilarious, contemporary YA whodunit, a mystery-loving teen finally gets a chance to solve a real-life crime. But solving a murder is complicated when all the prime suspects are related to you...

14-year-old Ruth was expecting a few fights on her family's vacation at their remote farmhouse. But she wasn't expecting a murder. And "death by typewriter" wasn't quite how she thought her step-grandmother, GG, would meet her end.

As an avid reader of mystery novels, Ruth is more than a little excited to have a real mystery to solve. (Though she's sad about GG. Obviously.) And she's read enough Agatha Christie that catching a killer should be a breeze... right?

With her annoyingly hot sort-of-cousin, Dylan, as the Watson to her Holmes, Ruth soon begins to uncover long-buried family secrets, finding that each of her relatives--her dad; her aunts and their partners; even, in the interest of fairness, Dylan and herself--had reasons to want GG gone.

But are any of them capable of murder? As tensions rise with everyone stuck in the house together, Ruth will have to dig deep to find out... before the killer strikes again.

Review Quotes

"Ruth, the first-person narrator, is fantastically smart, funny, and snarky." --Booklist

"A zany and entertaining whodunit." --Kirkus Reviews

"Ruth's narration is clever and witty, her dysfunctional family's banter is believable, and the dialogue-driven writing style makes the pages fly." --The Bulletin

"A laugh-out-loud funny whodunit that is a first purchase for mystery fans."--SLJ

About the Author

Kate Emery lives in Perth and works as a senior reporter for the West Australian. The Dysfunctional Family's Guide to Murder is her North American debut. Published in Australia, her first novel, The Not So Chosen One, was shortlisted for the 2020 Text Prize, the Aurealis Awards (Best Fantasy Novel) and longlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Older Readers.