All of Us Murderers is a fabulous mixture of murder mystery and gothic horror, a superbly crafted homage to the gothic novel that expertly captures the essence of the genre while at the same time having some fun with its conventions. It’s clever, witty and atmospheric, with superbly drawn, vibrant characters, a charming romance, a rich historical setting, and laser-focused social commentary – plus a brilliantly written dysfunctional family comprising a handful of the most despicable individuals you’ll ever love to hate.

Twenty-eight-year-old Zebedee Wyckham hasn’t seen his much older cousin Wynn since he was a child and has, quite honestly, rarely thought of him since. The Wyckhams aren’t exactly a close, loving family, so receiving an invitation to visit Wynn’s country home, Lackaday House on the edge of Dartmoor, came as a complete surprise – and not an especially welcome one. Zeb had politely prevaricated – the prospect of travelling hundreds of miles to see any of the relatives he does know, let alone one he doesn’t, is not an especially appealing one – but then circumstances arose which made it a good idea for Zeb to be somewhere other than London for a while, so he’d accepted the invitation.

Zeb makes a couple of very unwelcome discoveries as soon as he enters the house. Firstly, he is greeted, very coldly, by his former lover, Gideon Grey, whom Zeb had no idea was now employed as Wynn’s secretary, and even worse, his other family members – his estranged older brother, Bram, and his unpleasant wife, Elise, his utter toss-pot of a cousin, Hawley, and another older gentleman who is introduced as his second cousin Colonel Dash – are also present. And things just go downhill from there when Wynn announces his plan to change his intentions with regard to the disposition of his house and fortune after his death. Bram had always been told he would inherit the lot, but Wynn has decided that he is going to leave everything to whoever marries Jessamine, the granddaughter of his lost love (who was also his step-sister – it’s a very convoluted family tree!) and even though Bram is already married and Zeb wants nothing to do with it, Wynn’s mind is irrevocably made up.

So Zeb makes up his mind to leave. He doesn’t want the house or the money (or to spend a fortnight cooped up with his family!), but when Wynn begs him to stay for the rest of the allotted time, he reluctantly agrees. The tension slowly ratchets up as Zeb is faced with having to navigate his way through increasingly fraught encounters with his relatives, the discovery of an old family curse and the Wyckhams’ darkest secrets – and all of it in the face of Gideon’s obvious animosity and disapproval. But Zeb realises he has more to worry about than his unpleasant family and disdainful ex when he starts hearing mysterious footsteps, feeling cold spots, and seeing faceless apparitions in monks’ robes. At first he’s inclined to dismiss it all as some kind of stupid prank – but then events take a more sinister turn, and Zeb realises, with dawning horror, that they’re all trapped inside this isolated, faux-gothic mansion surrounded by high walls and dense fog with only the treacherous moorland beyond.

Zeb is the book’s sole narrator, and I loved his engaging and witty narrative voice. His (obviously undiagnosed given the time period) ADHD means he’s been underestimated and belittled all his life and he is clearly a bit ground down by all the criticism and rebukes directed at him for being fidgety, disorganised, badly-dressed, too chatty, and for not being able to hold down a job. At the beginning of the book, he seems almost cast in the role of the clichéd gothic heroine who arrives at a spooky mansion in the middle of nowhere with no real idea of what she’s going to find there, but it quickly becomes clear that Zeb is no shrinking violet. Despite years of being dismissed and called useless, he’s a generous, kind and thoroughly decent human being who wants to see the best in people no matter what, and his strength of character is obvious from the start. I loved watching him growing more sure of himself and asserting himself with quiet confidence, and I loved even more that it’s his kindness and essential decency that tip the balance for him and Gideon at a crucial moment.

Gideon is harder to warm to at first because he treats Zeb so coldly and seems so willing to believe the worst of him, but once he and Zeb start talking and we get the full picture as to why they broke up, it becomes easy to see why Zeb fell for him. Gideon is the opposite of Zeb in many ways – orderly, buttoned up and (until Zeb came along) sexually repressed – but he’s also clever, honest, thoughtful, and patient, prepared to admit when he’s made a mistake and to do the work needed to put it right.

Zeb and Gideon’s second-chance romance is full of longing and a sense of genuine regret for what might have been. They’ve been apart for a year when this story begins, and Zeb is sure Gideon still hates him for the way things ended between them. He doesn’t really blame him – it’s his fault Gideon lost his job (they both did) – although he can’t help wishing Gideon had given him the opportunity to explain. Their first meetings at Lackaday House are formal and antagonistic, and Gideon makes it very clear that he wants nothing to do with Zeb, but as they become drawn further into the mystery of whatever is going on they start to have some honest conversations about their history and their break-up and to arrive at a new understanding of their own and each other’s faults and mistakes. The little things Gideon does to help Zeb – like the magic box – are so thoughtful and show how much he cares, and I appreciated the way the two of them navigate their way through what happened with maturity and grace. A good second chance romance should show the characters growing back together and learning how not to make the same mistakes again, and this one definitely does that; Gideon and Zeb have properly considered their past actions and choices so they can arrive at a solid foundation for building something new rather than just picking up where they left off and simply hoping for the best.

All of Us Murderers is chock-full of the ingredients you’d expect to find in a gothic romance – a creepy and remote old house, a family curse, ghosts, unwelcoming servants, dreadful family members and a kind and morally upstanding hero who triumphs over adversity to win true love (and escape with his life!) The mystery is satisfyingly twisty and the slowly growing atmosphere of dread and unease as the strange and supernatural events start to escalate is extremely well done, culminating in a clawing sense of panic as Zeb – and we – realise that there’s no way out. The more menacing elements of the story are finely balanced out by the subtle, witty humour and the warmth and affection of the romance, which inject some much needed lightness into the tale, and I loved the reveal as to what Zeb’s been up to when he’s been beavering away in the library. The author’s gift for creating well-rounded secondary characters is on full display here in Zeb’s group of reprehensible relatives, all of them perfectly awful without being cartoonish (special mention goes to Elise) and gets the reader thinking about exactly who the villains really are in all of this. 

All of Us Murderers is a masterful blend of mystery, romance and suspense that is delightful yet nail-biting in the very best of ways. It is, without question, KJ Charles at her best and is very highly recommended.