By Kate Emery
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Reviewed by Cecile Shanahan
NOTE: This is a YA novel and while it is a cosy crime there is an underlying thread, which runs through the whole book, that could be confronting to some readers and is more ‘serious’ than in Kate’s previous YA crime novel.
What do you do when you’re stuck in a lift with a stranger? If you’re the main character of Kate Emery’s latest YA mystery, A Murder is going Down, you launch into a retelling of your brother’s possibly accidental, though probably very deliberate, death.
When Heidi is trapped in an elevator with a claustrophobic and very uptight woman, she needs to distract her, and quickly, so she begins to tell the story of how she, her sister in law’s strange brother, her ex-best friend and her ex-boyfriend stumble together to solve the mystery of her brother, Felix’s, death. Yes, you read that right – the characters in this book are a rag tag, and at times chaotic, cast. Some of the bunch are loveable, or at least quite likeable, and others; well, you really wouldn’t mind if something terrible happened to them.
As with most whodunnits the narrator knows not only who the murderer is but how they committed the crime and that’s all our stranger, who we discover is called Marianne, wants to know. Heidi’s captive audience just wants to skip ahead to the big reveal, but Heidi’s determined to start from the beginning and keep going until every detail of the past year has been laid out. And this is how the story unfolds – switching back and forth between NOW; Heidi and Marianne arguing about how the story should be told and how they’ll eventually get out of the stuck lift and THEN; Heidi returning from Switzerland and falling into becoming an amateur investigator to figure out how and why her brother died.
There were moments where, like Marianne, I too wanted the story to speed up but the meandering pace of the telling of the solving of the mystery does serve a very specific purpose and when the twist, which explains why, is revealed I was pleasantly surprised that I had not picked it – at all.
As well as the murder mystery there’s a hint of romance, complicated family dynamics, a possible unreliable narrator, and quite a few clever quips. Like Kate’s other murder mystery book, My Family and Other Suspects, this novel is laugh out loud funny in parts. But fair warning; while it is a cosy crime there is an underlying thread, which runs through the whole book, that is darker and more serious than in the previous novel.
A Murder is Going Down is an enjoyable read with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and turning the page to uncover all the facts. Recommended for fans of Kate’s earlier work and anyone wanting to read a ‘gentler’ murder mystery.
Publisher’s blurb
A brilliant and hilarious cosy YA crime from the author of My Family and Other Suspects, with a mystery that will keep readers guessing to the very last page. For fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
This is what happens when you put a pair of unemployed teenagers in charge of a murder investigation. What we lack in investigative skills we make up for in free time.
Heidi’s meant to be having the time of her life on exchange in Switzerland, but instead she’s cold, alone and on an involuntary dairy-free diet. So when she hears the news of her brother Felix’s death, she’s quick to jump on the first plane home to Perth.
To be completely honest, Felix wasn’t that much of a brother, so Heidi’s not that sad – but she’s not exactly happy either. Thanks to an epic betrayal by her (ex) best friend and (ex) boyfriend, Heidi has absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to. No one, that is, except Patrick, the wisecracking younger brother of Felix’s widow, who convinces her that they need to investigate her brother’s mysterious demise.
Can Heidi and Patrick get to the bottom of Felix’s death – and do they really want to?
Kate Emery is the queen of cosy crime and the bestselling author of My Family and Other Suspects, which won the John Marsden Book of the Year for Older Children at the 2025 ABIAs and the 2025 Indie Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.