A tongue-in-cheek love letter to the best worst genre.

The book immediately informs the reader of what it's going to be like from the very first pages, with Zeb thinking of the heroine of a gothic novel he's read, who foolishly steps into a haunted, tightly-shuttered estate, while he is himself in the process of stepping into a haunted, tightly-shuttered estate. It then proceeds from there, taking all the trappings of the gothic very seriously, while juggling merrily with them, which only reinforces the uncertainty and mystery at the heart of the story.

And, make no mistake, this is *not* a parody: it is still very much a gothic, and it has all the usual elements: a grand, crumbling, eerie house in remote parts (it's in Dartmoor, for god's sake), weeping young ladies in nightgowns, toxic family dynamics and associated weirdly convoluted family trees, maybe-ghosts-maybe-not... but it's all looked at and thought through in KJ Charles's usual grounded style of narrative, where the dramatic happenings fit seamlessly into the realities of people's lives and circumstances, rather than stretching the life circumstances to fit the gothic.

I loved Zeb as a protagonist, whose stubborn, eye-rolling refusal to entertain supernatural explanations for things is very much counterbalanced by his somewhat chaotic, distractable nature. Being a trait I share with Zeb, I was really impressed with the adhd rep, too. It's neither presented as some kind of "superpower" (eyeroll), nor as a deficiency that causes only suffering, but shown as something that causes him more than just superficial problems, but that can be accommodated, if the people around him are willing.

I honestly don't want to say too much about the specifics of the plot or the romance, except to say they're as masterfully crafted as usual with KJ Charles. I think the more you find out of them by yourself, the more you'll enjoy the book.

I'm honestly amazed it took me more than one sitting to read this, and that I remembered that such things as "work" and "sleep" exist. I would caution you, though, if you decide to pick up this book, you might not be so lucky...

I got the ARC of this book via the author's discord and NetGalley and did a happy dance.

I'm biased toward anything this author writes, but not every book is perfect.

This book? Absolutely delightful, very nearly perfect.

I downloaded it yesterday after work and finished it today (I had to go to sleep and to work today). It really is that great of a read. Just whooshhhhh.

So you can read the blurb and other reviews and don't need me to tell you this is a classic Gothic novel, but gay (and with sex on the page, unlike the classic gothics). It's also a love story to ADHD and to kindness.

Believe me, I felt Zeb's inability to focus on his day job, especially because I wanted to read this book.

Tropes/themes: lovers reunited, revenge, bad family vs found family, opposites attract, naive POV, neurodivergence

(Thanks to NetGalley for access to an advance copy of All Of Us Murderers in exchange for an honest review)

While the adage that you should never judge a book by its cover is generally good advice, in the case of “All Of Us Murderers” the cover art is an excellent guide to the contents of the book: a gloriously over the top piece of escapism created as a love letter to the genre.

This is an unrepentantly gothic confection, and it was, as anticipated, a wittily tropetastic delight rife with nefarious villains, misty moors, blood-drenched ruins, cursed fortunes, wide-eyed nubile heiresses and mysterious ghostly figures, ALL of which our hero (a precious ADHD cinnamon roll, and - provided one doesn’t find The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name to be a source of wickedness - very much the white sheep of his unpleasant family) is desperately trying to avoid, bless him.

Zebedee Wyckham is the impoverished grandson of a successful gothic novelist, and having found himself once again between jobs he has unwisely accepted an invitation to pay a visit to a wealthy uncle whom he hasn’t seen in decades - only to find himself trapped in the most ghastly houseparty since…well, since the LAST hilariously ghastly (and murderous) house party to grace the pages of a KJ Charles novel.

Finding that the lover whom he inadvertently ruined a year ago is now working as his uncle’s secretary comes as a mortifying shock, but this is the least of the unwelcome surprises that his uncle’s faux-gothic home has in store.

Zeb may be the innocent Cinderella figure amongst the variously unpleasant scions of the Wyckham family, but he’s no fool: having grown up on the works of Mrs Radcliffe, Horace Walpole and his own respected ancestor, Zeb can spot a gothic novel cliche at fifty paces and he has absolutely no intention of ending up sacrificed on a pagan altar, walled up in a cellar, drowned in a well or otherwise disposed of: think “Scream”, but make it gay and a period piece.

He is, in short, the polar opposite of Austen’s Catherine Morland: far from imagining spectral figures and dark secrets where none exist, Zeb is a pragmatic soul with a kind (if battered) heart who wasn’t born yesterday & has no interest in rushing headlong into danger if it can possibly be avoided.

Can Zeb escape the unwelcome attentions of the various spectral figures, blackmailers, marriageable heiresses and spider-filled rooms that await him at Lackaday House, and persuade his bitter ex to forgive him for past offences?

(Of course he can! This isn’t LitFic! You know that the starcrossed lovers will escape the villains’ clutches in the nick of time, foil their iniquitous plans, and finally achieve their happily ever after - but it’s still *thoroughly* enjoyable watching KJ Charles get them there.)