“Pulpy, peppery and sinister, served up in a comic deadpan…This scorpion-tailed little thriller leaves a response, and a sting, you will remember.”–NEW YORK TIMES“The wittiest and most fun murder party you’ve ever been invited to.”–MARIE CLAIREWINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR MYSTERY/THRILLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 WOMEN’S PRIZEA short, darkly funny, hand grenade of a novel … PRIZE
A short, darkly funny, hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends
“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.
Sharp as nails and full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s deliciously deadly debut is as fun as it is frightening.
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4 Killer Stars
Review by Lisa
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
Well, that was one hell of a story. Murder/murders, sister drama, work drama, family drama with a side of deadpan puns, this is the book for you. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is one that I keep thinking…wow I just read that. My only hang up is the ending, I felt it left me hanging and wanting to ask “that’s it? I want to know more”.
Korede has taken on the role of protector for her little sister, Ayoola. Ayoola is the one that has it “all”, the looks, the lightness about her and men dropping at her feet….literally. Ayoola is also on the “insane” spectrum with having a problem of killing her boyfriends. Korede who is also a nurse in a hospital has no life, working and cleaning up her sister’s messes. When Ayoola shows up at Korede job things go from just okay to worse. Can Korede keep Ayoola from killing someone she cares about?
I like how the author laid this story out. Jumping right into a murder scene and then the going back and forth from the past to present. The story flowed effortlessly and moved right along. A thriller, murder story at its best.
Sly, risky, and filled with surprises, Oyinkan Braithwaite holds nothing back in this wry and refreshingly inventive novel about violence, sister rivalries and simply staying alive.
Disturbing, sly and delicious, Braithwaite’s novel compels us to consider the limits of loyalty and the insidious weight of silence.
Lethally elegant.
A gem, in the most accurate sense: small, hard, sharp, and polished to perfection. Every pill-sized chapter is exemplary. Where others waste ink and trees, Braithwaite can conjure fully-detailed settings and characters with a finger snap. Of these, all shine. One dazzles. Tell Shirley Jackson that the Merricat Blackwood of the 21st century lives in Lagos, her name is Ayoola, and she is so obliviously/adorably/hilariously/heartbreakingly wicked, she’ll make you cry tears of all flavors.