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 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.

Murder Your Employer (Amazon US) (Amazon UK) (Audible) (AbeBooks)

I just knew that Murder Your Employer was going to be an original sort of mystery book so I snatched it up as soon as I saw it. Edgar Award winner Rupert Holmes? Check. Narrated by Simon Vance and Neil Patrick Harris? Double check. And I was not disappointed.

People aren’t murdered at McMasters Academy, they’re “deleted”. It wasn’t until I was about 1/3 of the way through when I realized that the book was set in the 1950’s and not in the modern day. Read as part manual, part reflections of a few students, most notably Cliff, who comes off as rather wholesome despite the fact that he’s planning to murder someone.

You’ve really got to have a dark sense of humor and a sense of the macabre in order to like this book. If not, all the talk of murdering people and how may put off someone. “After all, when the behavior of another person leaves you no choice but to kill them, their murder is simply involuntary suicide.” It’s this tongue-in-cheek writing that either makes or breaks a book for a reader. I found it rather charming.

I found the second half of the book to drag a bit, and the addition of side characters who were now main characters made it a bit of a slog. That’s why I can’t give this book a full five stars. But definitely a four-star entry for its ingenuity and original concept.

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