Review by Marygrace B.

Get your copy of My Sister, the Serial Killer here

What’s the best way to clean a crime scene? How do you move a dead body down four stories, while avoiding nosy neighbors? And how many deaths change a sister into a criminal?

Over the past months, Korede has learned the answers. Bleach, bleach, and more bleach will get the bloodstains out of Ayools’s ex-boyfriend’s bathroom. With a bit of finesse, two women can maneuver a six-foot, sheet-wrapped mummy into the trunk of a car. And after pitching the third cadaver to join the rest in their watery grave, all Korede knows is that three is what makes a serial killer. Three men. Three crime scenes. Three reasons her sister should be feared. 

“Besides, no one is innocent in this world. Why, go up to your maternity ward! All those smiling parents and their newborns? Murderers and victims. Every one of them. ‘The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.'”

From My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

In Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel, Korede, Ayoola, and their mother star in a short darkly entertaining and highly laureated thriller. Korede is a young nurse gunning for a promotion. Ayoola is the stereotypical social media sensation with impeccable talents as a seamstress and model. Their mother has become a widow strategically plotting to keep her family’s money and status in upper-class Nigerian society after the death of her husband. And Femi? The golden-boy doctor Korede has been falling for, and the reason her already dysfunctional family might just fall apart. 

With poetic prose that reads like a true-crime story, My Sister, The Serial Killer, holds a special place in my heart. While there were a few issues with pacing, the stellar cast of characters and brilliant writing more than redeem it for. The 226 pages fly by too, which makes it great for getting out of a reading slump or relaxing after finals season. Suitable for any mystery-lovers who can stomach a bit of blood but hate horror, I’d recommend this to anyone above the age of thirteen. Additionally, if you (like me) loved the books #murdertrending and An Emotion of Great Delight, I’d bet three corn chips you’ll like Braithwaite’s novel. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Note: There are references to abuse, alcoholism, blood, and death. 

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Crime/Satire