No one wanted to love this more than me, but I found it uneven in execution.

The setting and characters were fuzzy in the beginning, leaving me unsure who everyone was in relation to the others. Same for the time period, it wasn’t until gaslight was mentioned that I was sure where we were in time. Once past that, I did find the concept enjoyable and I loved Zeb. The depiction of his experience as a person with ADHD in this time period was stellar, and his family’s perception of his “laziness” will especially resonate.

The mystery plot was better than the romance, I felt Zeb and Gideon were sweet but I wasn’t overly invested in their being together. I had a fair bit of fun in the last quarter of the book, though, as the sordid deeds unraveled. If you’re looking for a queer Gothic romance, it’s worth giving a look, but for me it was not on the level of some of the author’s other work.

*I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review*

📣 a romance, but make it creepy and Gothic

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s one of your Wednesday numbers? Mine so far are: 12% into a current read, approximately nine episodes in to the latest season of Perfect Match, one cup of coffee, two kids going to gymnastics today.

If KJ Charles writes it, I’m going to read it. Although All of Us Murderers undeniably has its dark moments, KJ’s masterful hands do great work including a second chance love story in the thick, moldering web of it all.

When Zeb arrives at the home of a rarely seen relative, he’s not expecting to (a) be offered the chance to marry, take a grand home, & inheritance, & (b) see his former lover he broke up with after a horrible situation at work.

Gideon, the aforementioned former lover, isn’t too happy either.

In this giant house, created by a famous writer-relative, secrets come to light as Zeb’s relatives battle for the inheritance. Murder is committed, & it’s a fun ride figuring out who did it (& the multiple other options that could work, too). The secondary characters are pretty slimy, & Zeb & Gideon & their feelings for each other are shining lights.

4.5 ⭐️, out 10/07

CWs: references to suicide, slavery, rape, death from abortion; murder

[ID: the book is on a white quilt. A gray cat is above.]

I absolutely adored Zeb, and once the air was cleared between them, I really grew to like Gideon too. Zeb’s mannerisms were quite familiar to me, and I loved how Gideon knew how to help him best handle when things became too much.

While I’m not an avid historical romance reader, I felt this had some Pride and Prejudice vibes—that is to say, lots of hard for me to understand words and phrases and bits about horrible people’s lives that made me struggle at times to get through to the next interesting part. Some pieces dragged on a bit too much, and I would have loved to see more of Zeb and Gideon together after they left the house in lieu of some of this long drawn out conversations.

Over all, I enjoyed this book.

3.5! This does a lot of Classic Gothic™️ things, and also subverts a lot of them in ways that are very satisfying, if not necessarily shocking.

All of Us Murderers is a tricky book to sink into. For starters, I found the en media res opening unpleasantly jarring. The book tosses you headlong into a complicated tangle of preexisting relationships, leaving the various characters’ animosity feeling unearned and their presence in the story unexplained and slightly implausible. Even more than that, though - I think I object to STARTING a gothic novel with the character arriving and looking up at the big spooky house. You just can’t do that. Work up to it. Buy me dinner first. You know?

I’d say it gets easier from there, but it kind of doesn’t. This is a book about nasty, terrible people sitting around a nasty, terrible house, being generally awful to one another. The central premise of the plot is quite nasty, as well: it’s quickly revealed that the adult men of this family are intended to compete to marry their young cousin in order to secure the inheritance. It’s hard to pick a least favorite character among this truly unsavory batch of assholes.

I did enjoy the romance subplot by the end, but it suffered from the same problem as all of the other interpersonal relationships - it’s an extant relationship with a lot of history that we, the reader, are unfamiliar with. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of second-chance romance at the best of times, but in this particular case it felt a bit unearned: after their opening hostility, the characters eventually just talk, clearing up a pre-story conflict that we didn’t know about. And then they’re just sort of… fine. I did like them, though. The friction between their personalities was very believable, and I loved the way this book explored and focused on Zeb’s difficulties with ADHD.

The book ramps up to a really tense and satisfying ending, and although I might have preferred to see a little more of it on-page, I have no other real complaints. The mystery and delicious atmosphere carried.

I really liked this! Isolated settings always make for excellent stories, in my opinion, and this one definitely drew me in. We have family members drawn together to determine who will inherit the family fortune, the main character’s ex-lover, and a growing sense of unease — and violence — all piled into the (rather creepy) family estate.

I need to add in a caveat here, which is that I am a BABY when it comes to any sort of book with the slightest haunting, uneasy, or frightening themes (horror and thriller are not exactly two of my most-read genres). So I can’t promise that all of the characters, plots, and explanations are 100% foolproof and well-written, because I was too scared to actually focus on anything but what was happening. That being said, I appreciated all of those things I just mentioned, particularly the main character and his partner. Their romance felt like a subplot, and didn’t take over the whole novel, but also was alluring enough to provide a bit of a reprieve from everything else that was going on (aka: scaring me, albeit in a good way).

It was at the halfway mark that this story really started to draw me in, and I couldn’t stop reading from that point on. While it ultimately wrapped up a little easier than it maybe needed to, I enjoyed the journey it took me on! Also would like to note that there was both ADHD and LGBTQ+ rep, the latter being what might be expected from a historical setting.

KJ literally never fails me. And I took a leap of trust because Ive never read much gothic literature before. I had to trust the process here, because the book was really just giving the movie Clue.

Luckily I connected with Zeb's voice well. I enjoyed the way he thought and how he was portrayed as a bit practical, yet absentminded. I think this is a piece of genre convention, but I liked it nonetheless.

Would highly recommend for fans of KJ but also for those looking for a fun mystery in general that feels classic authentically. For some reason it made me think of the old movie Candleshoe.

I’m a fan of Charles’ historical romances, so an Edwardian era story with spooky vibes and a little mystery? I was over the moon at the prospect. And All of Us Murderers absolutely delivers that. The story combines elements of the gothic horror and mystery genres, but also contains a little romance as well. I really enjoyed the nod to some of the classics and even found myself wanting to read a Walter Wyckham novel! Both the romance and the mystery were well-paced, allowing the story to develop naturally. This book was also a quick read for me simply because I couldn’t put it down. There were too many questions that needed answering!

What really sold me on All of Us Murderers was the wonderful cast of characters. I found Zebedee Wyckham to be a sympathetic protagonist, and I enjoyed his history and chemistry with Gideon. The rest of the Wyckham men were a pretty dreary lot, but Charles does a fine job of making them fun to hate. There were a few moments of humor in the story that I appreciated, cutting through some of the tension, but never overpowering it. I’ll also note that some of the spicy scenes were indeed quite hot, because I definitely had to fan myself a little bit during the last one. Perfect read for the upcoming spooky season!

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley

This was a fun different read. It had the laughs, the mystery, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It was a murder mystery of who dun it. Every turn of the page was a new mystery unfolded.

I enjoy most books by KJ Charles so I was really looking forward to this read, and having a main character with ADHD and as someone with ADHD just made the book so much better, ending kept me so tense so I really recommend!

Another great book by KJ Charles. This time she dips her toes in gothic romance. So we have the big creepy house on Dartmoor, quarrelling family members, ghost sightings, disappearances and obviously murder.
The MC is Zeb, who is lovely despite his horrible family members. His love interest is equally lovely. Everyone else, however, …
I devoured this book in a one day and I don’t regret a single thing. Loved it.

(2.25) I was drawn to this book because of its Nancy Drew-esque cover and the comparison to Knives Out. Unfortunately, both the mystery element and the romance elements were rather lacking, though Zeb, the MC, carried the attention throughout the book.

The gothic tone is rather lacking. The family are called to a pseudo-gothic house with the gates locked. Yes, there is fog. Yes, there is a library. Yes, there are footsteps and storms, and a stone circle. But all of it is simply background, and never seems to really affect the characters psychologically. Zeb is meant to be a disbeliever, and while this can work well in gothic stories, the disbeliever should also doubt, which Zeb doesn’t do. He immediately sussed out what is going on, and the rest of the book is just him trying to escape and the family acting against him.

Similarly, I couldn’t quite get into the romance. Zeb is flung back with an old lover who ended on bad terms with him. I wanted more angst, Persuasion style, but instead, they just return together. It’s difficult to pinpoint how exactly Gideon doesn’t work as a good love interest, but I just found him bland. He is meant to be a good balance for Zeb, calm when Zeb isn’t, but we find out barely anything about him other than why he needs this job.

The family, which is meant to be our main source of tension, were somewhat interesting, but also just sort of dull. Elise is the most interesting of the lot, and still we find out barely anything about her. Jessamine comes in at a close second, but again, because Zeb’s only plan is to leave, he never digs into the character of Jessamine. Wynn, the man who brought the family in together is predictable in a way that sucks out all of the manipulation he is supposed to embody. Bram, Zeb’s estranged brother is ambitious without reason. Harley is just a man. Dash disappears early on so there’s nothing there.

I would have liked to see more tension between the family, particularly past tension or actions. Instead they just talk? Nothing happens other than threats and the family do not bond or fight over the strange occurrences.

The narrative voice is quite good, however, and I enjoyed the humorous tone to the story. I also liked the ADHD representation.

After reading this, I was reminded that I had previously read a KJ Charles book which I had also disliked, so maybe it’s just personal taste.

I absolutely loved this! It was an absolute banger!

I didn’t realise that cosy gothic was a vibe, but it apparently is, and I love it.

So you start with Zeb who has been summoned by a distant relative, Wynn, to a creepy house in the middle of the moors. To his surprise it is filled with relatives that he cannot stand, his ex, and a young lady Wynn has plans to marry off to one of the people present along with a large inheritance. Mysterious things start happening in the house, and Zeb starts to untangle what is really happening and how to escape
.
The balance in this book hit just right for me, the relationship to mystery, the scary but not horror, and the scheming family. I just loved this whole story and am now on the hunt for other cosy gothic, queer mysteries.

This started slow for me but it quickly picked up and it was quite exciting! The location is a creepy old manor on land that is surrounded by a 12 foot wall, trapping in the guests. As the fog rolls in there is no way in or out of this horrid place or escaping its evil owner.

Zeb Wyckham is surrounded by horrible people at his cousins Gothic manor. His cousin has introduced a distant relative, a young woman named Jessamine, who he wants to inherit the manor and all of his money. In order to do that he wants one of his current guests to woo her and they will become the heir once they marry Jessamine. Zeb is in no way interested in this arrangement since he is a gay man but he also wants nothing to do with Wyckham money since all of his relatives, alive and dead, are and were horrible people. He is trapped in this house for two weeks and of all the people who he is trapped there with is his ex, Gideon, who is now his uncles secretary.

Gideon and Zeb did not end their relationship well and it led to them both being fired from their previous job. Gideon is angry at Zeb and very cold towards him at first. Luckily there was conversation and these men talked through everything bringing them closer than before. They discover a crude trick is being played on all the visitors to the manor and it is leading to murder.

The story was creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt trapped with the characters and wasn’t sure how it would end. I enjoyed Zeb’s character and I loved that he had ADHD and that Gideon understands this part of him where no one else can.

The epilogue was extremely rushed and that was very disappointing. I wish we saw more of the events after than what we were told in hindsight.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this arc

This book nails the gothic horror vibe with a sweet queer romance at its heart. Zeb and Gideon are easy to root for, even if the story takes a bit to settle in at first. The mystery and humor balance nicely, and the twists kept me guessing.

The cast is a mixed bag—some folks are prickly, some complicated—but that only adds to the story’s edge. There’s a spooky, almost paranormal feel that leans into thriller territory, plus solid representation and a second-chance romance that feels real and raw.

If you want a moody, misty mansion full of secrets and sharp family drama, especially around Halloween, this is your read. Just stick with it—the second half really picks up once you start connecting with the characters. Overall, a gripping, atmospheric story with heart and heat.

This was a really great gothic horror story with a solid romance at the center to keep you rooting for the main characters involved. For fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor, this is definitely one to check out.

It's nearly impossible not to adore Zeb and Gideon (especially once Gideon starts to open up a bit more). There's a great balance of humor, mystery, and all the trappings of a gothic horror that kept me engaged the whole way through, though the beginning took a little bit of time getting accustomed to. The twists were executed really well and hard to see coming, creating lots of surprising twists and turns.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I had adored this, and could write an eloquent review about how well the characters and plot worked for me. I am grateful to have received an eARC of this book, to read it early at the beginning of fall. I was really excited for some gothic vibes with LGBTQIA+ characters. The vibes were there, and the romance was there (much spicier than I anticipated). The romance is pretty cute too.

I think it was the setup and pacing of the backstory that didn’t work for me. The second half felt much stronger than the first half, once I started caring about a few of the characters and understood who was who and what they might want.

I should note: traditionally a cast made mostly of unlikeable characters, and a plot that is playing on the edge of whether it’s paranormal or not, both don’t tend to work for me. If you like both of these things, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it considerably more.

It’s gothic, but also funny. It’s got some thriller aspects, but there’s also steamy romance. There’s ADHD rep, and a cute gay romance, and there’s also a complicated mystery. It’s got a lot of different things all bundled into one story.

I hope this helps you decide if it’s the book for you! Thank you to NetGalley for the early access.

Thanks to KJ Charles and Poisoned Pen Press for the review copy and this is my honest review.

Overall really enjoyed it, I stayed up till 1am finishing it because I couldn't stop. I'm not familiar of the Gothic literature genre so many of the meta references went over my head but I do adore the murder mystery vibes and tried to deduct my way through the book and it's spookiness.

The mystery elements had me rivetted and the humour as always with KJC made me laugh. Absolute top bants and cutting remarks spoken by the family members to each other because who else can hurt us the most?

I loved the main characters romance even if it isn't in the forefront of the book, the second chance angst and aches were present and their frank conversations dissecting their relationship made the romance sparkle. I do wish there is just a tiny bit more of it.

I think it's a great October spoopy month book if you want to immerse yourself in a gaslit Gothic mansion surrounded by misty and wet moorland.

The cover of this book is beautiful. I need it on my shelf. And no one writes a sodden, sinister, foggy English countryside better than KJ Charles. Lackaday House and its grounds are a claustrophobic expanse of twisted family history, gothic architecture, and oppressive mists.

The characters' pasts, presents, and mysterious encounters are thoroughly developed, and woven to correspond with the history of the house and grounds (a beautifully designed character and setting). Each character is an individual, and each character's personality is perfectly crafted to create confusion and trust issues amongst the group. While in society these characters may thrive or struggle, the circumstances they find themselves in while playing inheritance games reveals their quality to the reader. The author's skill in combining all of these aspects, while pulling off hauntings, murder plots, and love stories made this book absolutely gripping.

There is an obvious respect in the writing for the imagery and seclusion of gothic novels of the past. These classic touchstones are layered with updated concepts of morality, and references to past missteps highlight how well thought out this story is. I had such a fun time reading it, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy for my shelf.

If there's one thing KJ Charles knows how to write, it is hopelessly devoted historical men. In All of Us Murderers, Charles turns her attention to the early Edwardian era, and tries her hand at a genre which has cropped up in some of her previous novels: the Gothic thriller. Unlike Amanda Frisby of Band Sinister, however, Charles' version has a bit more queer romance, and one would assume, a few more open-door intimate scenes.

Zeb Wyckham is the second son of a vicious, conniving, and all round unpleasant moneyed family. He is more than happy to live his life in isolation from the lot of them. So what if he can't keep a job, and the only meaningful relationship of his adult life ended because of his thoughtless impulsiveness? He'll make do. Then he receives a letter, well, letters from his very persistent cousin Wynn. On the, admittedly naïve, promise of a warm familial welcome, Zeb sets off for Lackaday house. He arrives to two unfortunate surprises: the first, if the presence of his entire family already at each others throats; the second, the handsome face of Gideon Grey, the man he lost, a man who hates him. Emotionally overwrought, desperately dodging dastardly family members, beset with spooky happenings, and an utter fool for his lost love, Zeb must contend with enemies unknown, in this rapidly unravelling Gothic thriller, shot through with Charles' trademark aching romance and well-penned spice.

I will forever be a fan of KJ Charles. There is such an excellent balance of history, character, tension, emotion, humour, and, yes, sex in her novels, that they consume you. All of Us Murderers is no exception, once it got going I was hooked. Something I appreciate about Charles' take on historical fiction, is her commitment to representation, and to history. Race, gender, and sexuality are all areas she has explored in her novels, never shying away from a potentially difficult topic, and this was no exception, but here Charles also tackles, with specific intention, neurodiversity, in a very real and realised way.

I must say, without spoiling anything, I did find the ending a bit lacklustre, which for me knocks this from a 4.something to just a 4. Nevertheless, this is a spooky, intriguing queer read perfect for the 'ber months, and the looming spooky season.

3.5 stars

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun, twisted read but it did take me a little to really get into.

I liked Zeb as a main character and his and Gideon’s relationship was the beating heart of this book. I really enjoyed them together.

I think for me the sense of urgency with the mystery was lacking. I’m not exactly sure why—Zeb certainly wanted to leave multiple times and could not—but that lack of urgency for me made the story less thrilling than I think it should have been.

It was still a fun read though, in the end.