Murder Your Employer
The McMasters Guide to Homicide
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, “a fantasy academy laid out like a combination of Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and a White Lotus–style resort” (Los Angeles Times) dedicated to the art of murder where students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.
Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. 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.
Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A “fiendishly funny” (Booklist) 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
At the McMasters Conservatory, students major in committing the perfect murder. In this witty mystery novel from Rupert Holmes (yes, ’70s pop fans, the “If you like piña coladas” guy!), we follow three main characters who are plotting their killer thesis projects. Thanks to the novel’s devilish sense of humor, upbeat tone, and optimistic 1950s setting, Murder Your Employer is a totally fun read. Get ready for a wild and entertaining ride!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar winner Holmes (Swing) frames this cheeky 1950s-set crime novel as a self-study guide for those who can't afford tuition to the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a "finishing school for finishing people off" whose location is kept secret from even those enrolled. The book-within-a-book's author, McMasters dean Harbinger Harrow, chronicles the experiences of three students to educate at-home pupils by example. Baltimore engineer Cliff Iverson, British hospital worker Gemma Lindley, and incognito Hollywood star Dulcie Mown may hail from different walks of life, but all are at McMasters for the same reason: to learn how to kill their sadistic employers without getting caught. Harbinger warns from the start that not all three students will succeed in their respective missions, fostering a sense of mystery surrounding who fails, why they fail, and how spectacularly. Though the book feels overlong, sapping some of its drive, and Holmes never fully commits to his conceit, his farcical plotting, idiosyncratic characters, and witty, stylish prose combine for a fun, frothy read. Fans of humorous historical fiction will be well entertained.
