PMJ signs ‘fiendishly funny’ Stevenson murder mystery in two-book deal

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson in a two-book deal amid a six-way US auction and a bidding war for screen rights. 

Editor Grace Long secured UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Nerrilee Weir at Penguin Random House Australia. It will be published in the UK on 18th August 2022. Follow-up Everyone On This Train is a Suspect will be published in 2023. 

North American rights were acquired in a heated six-way auction by Katherine Nintzel, v.p. and executive editor at Mariner, an imprint of HarperCollins US, with 19 other territories and counting also on board. Following a 12-way bidding war in Hollywood, film and TV rights have been sold to HBO, which has partnered with Made Up Stories and Endeavor Content to produce the limited series.  

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is described by PMJ as “a brilliant blend of classic and modern murder mystery” and follows the story of Ernest Cunningham, who has been shunned by his well-known criminal family for years after he turned in his brother to the police for murder. Now, ahead of his brother’s imminent release, the Cunninghams have invited Ernest to a family reunion at a snowbound mountain retreat. But when a body is found frozen in the snow, Ernest knows it cannot be a coincidence. In a family full of killers, it’s up to Ernest to uncover the murderer before they strike again. 

Long said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be publishing Benjamin in the UK. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a fiendishly funny, refreshing and original take on this much-loved genre. It’s ’Knives Out’ meets The Thursday Murder Club and Benjamin’s comedic abilities shine through in this sharp, witty and ingeniously plotted murder mystery.” 

Stevenson, an author, literary agent, and one half of the stand-up comedy act The Stevenson Experience, said: “I’m thrilled to be working alongside Grace and her brilliant team at Penguin Michael Joseph to bring Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone to UK readers. I was inspired to write this book when I discovered the Detection Club, a literary club of sorts including writers such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, among others, both of whom Penguin published when launching in 1935. I’m overjoyed Penguin has welcomed my love letter to golden-age crime as part of the club.”