Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

Benjamin Stevenson’s redoubtable amateur detective Ernest Cunnigham is back for the fourth time in Everyone in this Bank is a Thief. This adventure while still being faithfully based on the golden rules of detective fiction also draws on some classic heist tropes. The set up/structure of the book is around ten suspects and each of them has stolen something from the bank (although Stevenson stretches the definition a little to achieve this). There are also, as it turns out, a few murders aswell.

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief opens with Ern and his fiancé coming to a last ditch meeting with the manager of a small regional bank. Ern has been trying unsuccessfully to secure a loan to start a detective agency. But it turns out the bank manager has not invited Ern to offer a loan but to hire him to find his brother who has gone missing and has the only combination to the bank safe. Before Ern can get far into the investigation, however, the bank is held up by a masked robber who makes some unusual demands.

As with other books in this series there are a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot going on. In amongst that is the mysterious death of the actor who was to play Ern in a TV adaptation of his first book, a subplot involving e-sports and the death of the bank manager’s nephew and a historical connection between the manager and the bank security officer that goes back to the gold rush. And also, as with previous books, plenty of Ern pointing out what might be relevant and what might not be – ie “playing fair with the reader” – pretty much from page 1, but also using this to misdirect the reader and hide plenty of clues in plain sight.

This series has always relied on some contrivances but as it has progressed it has become ever more contrived (two of the modes of death in this book are more than faintly ridiculous). But what has become increasingly off-putting as the series has progressed is Ernest Cunningham’s winking, smarmy narrative style and the idea that because he wills it, everyone he encounters will abide by the golden rules of classic detective fiction. Not only that, but that solving the mystery takes precedence over everything. In this case, some of Ern’s actions are particularly egregious and while they create some amusing physical comedy and tense situations, they do not sit well.

Plenty of readers enjoy spending time with Ernest Cunningham and trying to unravel the incredibly complex plots along with him. And they are likely to forgive some of the excess in return for a twisty mystery. But the fourth time round, this ride is becoming increasingly repetitive and its protagonist more unbearable than ever.

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

6

6.0/10