What would you do if your sister was a serial killer?
Serial Killer – the blurb
“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.”
Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead.
Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit.
Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. She dreams of the day when he will realize that she’s exactly what he needs. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.
Judge a book by its over
I bought this one purely for its cover. The striking lime green font and pared back photo of a black woman whose mirrored shades reflect a carving knife. The blurb reminded me of the TV show Dexter (excellent apart from the last series) and this coupled by its lack of page count (226 to be precise) was exactly what I needed coming off the back of some weighty hardbacks.
Word Count
Having seen the size of Hilary Mantel’s, Jo Nesbo’s and Robert Galbraith’s latest offerings they could all take a leaf out of Braithwaite’s book. The chapters are short, a page or two, yet the power she packs into them is immense. There is back story, emotion and vivid imagery (particularly the ‘Roses’ chapter). Braithwaite lets the reader do the work rather than spoon-feeding them and the result is a much better book. You seriously worry that Korede will take the cop for her sister’s wrong doings, that Tade will die, that Ayoola will get off scot free. It was such a refreshing change to have the room to think, and to worry!
Nigerian Setting
I also really loved the setting, I think it’s my first Nigerian read? The food, the language and little snap shot in to Korede’s life were all interesting side points. I read it in two days yet feel I took so much more out of it than most books I have read recently. If you haven’t read My Sister The Serial Killer you should. It won’t take you long but you will come away thinking DAMN that was a good read.
