Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

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It was interesting to see what the classes are about and the weekly timetables, including the eating schedules. As the story unfolds and you uncover what brought these students to learn the art of murder, you find yourself on the dark side, rooting for a killer. Like, if you run a murder school, I don't think putting so much emphasis on whether a person deserves to die actually serves as any kind of moral absolution. This piece, part textbook, part novel, and even with a slice of journal, offers the reader a varied view on murder and how to execute it properly, if you will pardon the pun.

The writing drew me in from the beginning and the personalities of the characters were established rather quickly and easily.The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. He was a gullible doofus at times but I was rooting for him the whole time and felt proud of him as his skills approved. Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if the object of your affliction ceased to exist? Please understand that by nature I oppose all senseless killing… but in Fiedler’s case, murder makes perfect sense. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone whose interest is even slightly piqued by the book’s title or concept.

The brisk plot smoothly stays on point while Holmes adds bits of farce, quirky characters and a style and sense of place that evoke the 1950s.His first novel, Where the Truth Lies, was nominated for a Nero Wolfe award for Best American Mystery Novel, was a Booklist Top Ten Debut Novel, and became a motion picture starring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. when compared to the stale-a*s-toast the publishing industry's been serving since 2020, this is a masterpiece. I would have liked just a little more thrilling moments sprinkled through the slow burn to keep me more invested, but overall it was quite the fun read!

Cliff is there as a scholarship student, and much of the novel is addressed to the benefactor who made it possible for him to become a more effective murderer. The first portion of the book centers on Cliff Iverson, who is anonymously "sponsored" into becoming a student at the McMaster Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a clandestine academy designed to help its students learn how to become "deletists," otherwise known as murderers.Something I didn't know going in is that this is also historical fiction, taking place in the years just after the second world war, so it's more like Agatha Christie levels of technology here, which does affect the type of mysteries you get. When presented with the time to complete his final assignment, Cliff will have to decide if all this training is worth it, turning him into the ideal murderer. A new novel from the man who wrote Swing (2005), Where the Truth Lies (2003), and “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).

If I refused to do what these ex-cops said, they could turn me in, and that would be the end of that. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you'll ever read.Set in the 1950s, the author creates an intriguing and atmospheric setting with a cast of interesting characters. The end of the book adds another minor twist that at the same time nearly re-frames the whole thing. I loved the setting of the school, from classes to the assignments given to through the eyes of our main characters. As Holmes takes hairpin turns from irony back to sincerity for his three McMasters pupils, his zany storytelling will delight fans of The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, all Sherlock Holmes stories, and even those who love tales of arcane and Gothic institutions. Set in a secret location, this very exclusive institution boasts a bucolic campus, three (unpublished) Michelin stars, and a comprehensive education in assassination.