Everyone In This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson [Book Review]

A bank heist. A murder. Zero exits. Ernest Cunningham is having the worst errand day ever. Find out why I gave Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone In This Bank Is a Thief 3.25/5 stars.

There are easier ways to avoid ATM fees. Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief is the fourth book in Benjamin Stevenson’s clever, self-aware mystery series, and while this one got a little too crowded for me, it still delivers the kind of funny, chaotic puzzle-box nonsense I will almost always show up for.

What is the book about?

I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before.

The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, hostages become suspects.

The Bank Robber

The Manager

The Security Guard

The Kid

The Film Producer

The Priest

The Receptionist

The Patient

The Caregiver

Me

Turns out there was more than one bank heist planned today. There are ten.

Can I solve them all and discover who is not only a thief but also a killer?

My thoughts:

Author Benjamin Stevenson looked at a bank heist and thought, “Sure, but make it murdery and self-aware.”

The Ernest Cunningham series is always good for a fun mystery, and Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief keeps that going. Is it my favorite of the series? No. Did I still have a good time? Absolutely.

This time, Ernest gets caught in a bank heist. Someone inside the bank is murdered, the doors are chained shut, and suddenly everyone trapped inside is both a hostage and a suspect. Because apparently, one crime at a time is for amateurs.

What I still love about this series is Ernest himself. The whole “writer reviewing the mystery while actively being inside the mystery” thing continues to work for me. I like it when he pauses to rehash what we know, comment on the structure, and basically treat his own life-threatening situation like a manuscript with pacing issues.

The premise is genuinely fun. A locked-door mystery inside a bank robbery is exactly the kind of chaotic nonsense I love to sign up for. But this one had a lot going on. Maybe too much.

Still, Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief is imaginative, funny, and easy to enjoy. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of Stevenson, fans of the series, or anyone looking for a light locked-door mystery with a solid sense of humor and a mild disregard for everyone’s stress levels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advanced reader’s copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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