Thriller: Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes
Author: Rupert Holmes
Title: Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Publication Date: 2023
Number of Pages: 389
Geographical Setting: Unspecified; Baltimore, MA; Hollywood/Los Angeles, CA; and Northumberland. England
Time Period: Sometime in the 1950s
Plot Summary: This title (aptly named) is intended to help the amateur murderer kill their boss. This book follows Cliff Iverson from Baltimore, Doria Maye from Los Angles, and Gemma Lindley from Northumberland as they learn the art of murder from McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts (or McMasters Home for the Criminally Insane as it appears to the outside world). The school is located in an undisclosed location and is kept that way to protect current students and former graduates. The applicants may be located near the school, but are drugged, blindfolded, and led on a merry adventure that could span multiple days to keep the location of the school hidden. The narrator is Dean Harbinger Harrow, and the story mostly focuses on the journal entries of Cliff at the beginning as he works his way through the McMaster's curriculum, which includes the teachings of "deleting" ones executive/target through poisoning, manipulation, and deceit. It is revealed early on that Cliff is attending the school through the sponsorship of someone else. The identity of the sponsor will be revealed should he pass his "thesis" by deleting his former boss, Merrill Fiedler. As the story progresses, Gemma and Doria are more prevalent in the story, especially after they are sent home to complete their thesis, where failing means more than not graduating. The story contains subtle hints of Cliff and another student having romantic feelings for each other, and the story ultimately has a "happy ending" for the characters.
Subject Headings:
- Murder--Fiction
- Schools--Fiction
- Secret societies--Fiction
- Industrial relations--Fiction
- Crime--Fiction
Thriller Appeals: This novel is fast-paced and has many unexpected twists and turns. There are big reveals that I find to be satisfyingly unexpected. It would be a great book for someone interested in getting into thrillers as well as something with a slow burn romance that isn't the main focus of the novel.
3 terms to describe this book: Suspenseful, captivating, and darkly humorous
Similar Authors and Works:
All images will open a new link to Amazon for more information on these titles.
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:
The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo (2008)
Capuzzo, M. (2008). The murder room: The heirs of Sherlock Holmes gather to solve the world's most perplexing cold cases. Avery.
Common appeals: Darkly humorous, suspenseful, murder
Three detectives join forces to attempt to solve three cold cases. Detectives William Fleisher, Frank Bender, and Richard Walter decide over lunch that the amount of cold cases piling up is outrageous, and they set out to find two serial killers and the person who murdered a millionaire's son.
Emsley, J. (2006). The elements of murder: A history of poison. Oxford University Press.
Common appeals: True crime, science, history
John Emsley uses science explain the chemical properties of the five most toxic elements of the periodic table and how they have been used in famous murder cases. he also explores what. chemicals may be the cause of King George III's madness among other famous mysteries.
McDowell, M. (2023). Gardening can be murder: How poisonous poppies, sinister shovels, and grim gardens have inspired mystery writers. Timber Press.
Common appeals: Poison, mystery/thriller authors, murder
This book looks into the authors of both past and present that have taken inspiration from the garden for their fiction works. Marta McDowell uses her knowledge of gardening and writing to detail the inspiration of authors for their literary works.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:
Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge (2023)
Cambridge, C. (2023). Mastering the art of French murder: An American in Paris mystery. Kensington
Common appeals: Murder, intricately plotted
Mastering the Art of French Murder follows the journey of Tabitha Wright as she visits her grandfather in Paris. Her neighbor and friend, Julia Childs, studies at Le Cordon Bleu. Unfortunately, there was a murder in their building, and the victim had a note in Tabitha's handwriting in her pocket and was killed with one of Julia's kitchen knives. Will Tabitha be able to prove her and her friends innocence before it's too late?
Stevenson, B. (2024). Everyone in my family has killed someone. Mariner Books.
Common appeals: Murder, deception, first. person narrative
Ernest (Ern or Ernie) Cunningham comes from a family of murderers. Some have even killed more than once. While at a family reunion at a ski resort, the planner of the reunion was murdered. Follow along with Ernie as he tries to figure out which family member is the murderer.
Sutants, J. Q. (2023). Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers. Berkley.
Common appeals: Murder, intricately plotted, likable characters
Vera Wong is a 60 year old Chinese mom whose detective work consists of stalking her son online to see if he is dating anyone. All this changes the day that someone is found murdered in her tea shop. She decides that she would be a far better detective than the police, and sets out to figure out who the murderer is.
Murder Your Employer has been a heavy hitter at my library! It's something that has sort of been on my radar since it was published, but this may have pushed me over the edge. It also sounds like a great example of what our textbook meant by categorizing thriller/suspense/adventure together as one larger genre. Was this something you enjoyed reading?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the mixture of genres! It really helped keep me interested even when the book started to drag on a little with the education portion of the story. I highly recommend you read and and if you like it let me know!
DeleteTera,
DeleteWow, I don't know how I haven't heard of this book! I have a small murder obsession (researching local true crime) and this sounds like the type of quirky and unexpected that I love. Also, I'm absolutely going to read it at work. (This is legit - it's a library job and reading is acceptable if there's no pressing work.)
Hi Sarah!
DeleteI loved reading this book! it was so fun and kept me entertained the entire time I was reading it! If you do end up reading it I would love to know your thoughts and discuss!
My sister and I are also fans of all things true crime and her absolute favorite podcast is My Favorite Murder. If you get a chance you should definitely give it a listen because it is hilarious. They have people send in stories of murders from their hometowns that they read and discuss and they also have episodes that they have researched a high profile murder and tell the story of how it happened. The two hosts even wrote a book if you want to read that! It's "Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered" by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, and I love the title because its how they sign off on each episode.
Hi Tera! I have never heard of this book, but it sounds so good! I have recently been getting into mystery/thriller/suspense novels, and I have been loving it. They are so fun and keep me at the edge of my seat. I am definitely going to have to check this one out soon!
ReplyDeletePlease do! It was such a fun read and will probably go on the list of books I wish I could read again for the first time. Another good one is "The One" by John Marrs. I listened to the audiobook for it and it is by far my favorite audiobook. It follows along with 5 people as they try to find their one true match through a DNA test. It has some crazy twists and turns and even a serial killer thrown in there! I even pushed to get the audiobook for my library because it was so good!
DeleteHey Tera, this book sounds really good! I'm not usually into thrillers, though I do enjoy a good mystery. I've seen this book around my library a few times so maybe the next time I see it, I'll have to pick it up. I really liked your non-fiction recommendations; even though I don't really enjoy non-fiction books, they sound really interesting. It's also funny that you included Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone as a read alike because that's the book I'm planning to annotate for mystery week!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as you do about non-fiction, I think the last true non-fiction title I read was a YA version of The Burning by Tim Madigan and adapted by Hilary Beard. It's about the Tulsa Race Massacre and, as an Oklahoman, I felt it was an important part of my states history. But boy was it a CHORE to read haha! So with that in mind, I tried to keep my selections for non-fiction to something that I thought would be appealing to the fiction reader.
DeleteI can't wait to see what you think of Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone! It's on my TBR and a patron was raving about it to me a couple of weeks ago!
I processed this book at my library and was definitely intrigued by it! I feel like this sort of premise has been fairly popular right now with titles like Assistant to the Villain and your read-a-like Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. I think it's a good reminder that even those of us who work so closely with books can never be sure exactly what the next trend is going to be!
ReplyDeleteIt really is such a great story! I will be raving about this one for a long time, and I did some digging and the author may be making a sequel along the lines of killing your spouse so I can't wait to see if that is true or not!
DeleteI don't know how this has flown under my radar but looks absolutely intriguing. Fantastic annotation!
ReplyDelete