I hope this will continue as a Series! Regardless of the title, this novel was delightfully warm-hearted and wryly humorous, a pleasant (if rather long) interlude in a field of mysteries which often seems dominated by detailed Horror or true crime. Author Rupert Holmes does a fabulous job of bringing endearing, very divergent, characters, eliciting readers' empathy, then painting the villains (out in the "real world" and even among the "good guys") as comprehensible, even when nevertheless highly unlikable. Balancing the narrative among the three protagonists worked well without distracting, and the thematic approach and setting are appealingly presented.

While this book was a little verbose, I enjoyed the read. The writing style was distant at times, so I didn’t really felt like I was EXPERIENCING the story. Instead, I felt as if I were WATCHING it from a thousand-feet above it. The concept was great, and the attention to details was outstanding. I was intrigued from the title to the end of Cliff’s journey.

Thank you, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and NetGalley.

More books like this, please! This was so fun and just a delight. Can I sign up for The McMaster's Conservatory just to learn some of the skills they teach? Unless you're a saint, I'm sure you can relate with some of the characters in this one. I was about 30% through this one and enjoying it so much I didn't even realize it wasn't set in modern day even though there were so many context clues - whoops! I cannot recommend this one enough!

Amazingly original concept. A very fun addition to the mystery genre and definitely a very fresh take.

So I was drawn to this book by the blurb but I'm also a true crime addict and this book has me thinking of a few TV shows that I think kinda fits this book. First one I was thinking of was YOU, this show is on Netflix and man it's good. This book gave off that show vibes and the How to get away with murder to. But anyways this is a 5 star book. Highly recommend it. Might reread it later on this year. Kept me pulled into it. Couldn't put it down. Already told some people that they need to read this book when they can because it's so good to read.

The reviews of this book are incredible which may have caused me to have too high of expectations…

This book was lacking for me in one way in particular: the pacing. The pacing of this book made me struggle to pick it up at times, it felt rather slow and inconsistent. Also in the middle of the book we start getting more POVs which felt forced.

All that to say I did enjoy this book and oddly enough found our main character wholesome?? Overall it was a good time and a very intriguing concept.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really liked the witty, macabre writing and concept. The idea of a school for murderers (ahem, deletists) was great, and from the very first page it’s obvious that there is a certain dark humour to this book. It had chapters from the actual guidebook, illustrations, school timetables and student reports, which made everything feel like a scrapbook murder guide put together by a student.
I didn’t really care for the the characters, there is a lot of telling instead of showing, but I was interested in finding out whether (and how) they would complete their murder.
My main complaint would be that the book felt very slow and cluttered at times. With three main characters and a lot of switches between a third person ominous narrator, Cliff’s first person letters and the included student reports/illustrations etc. it jumped around a lot and that did not make it feel like a suspense novel about murder at all.

Let me just start by saying that the premise and plot for this are absolutely bonkers and genius. A secret academy / university where matriculation means being certified not only in the dinner points of murder, but in how to do it and get away with it. Absolutely amazing.

Right off the bat, this was hilarious. It’s got that British, dead pan, sarcastic humor that’s just those side of cruel in the best way.

“After all, when the behavior of another person leaves you no choice but to kill them, their murder is simply involuntary suicide.”

However, about half way through, I felt this started to lag badly and I’m not sure it ever really recovered of why it needed to be so very long. This could have been 100 pages shorter and still covered the plot adequately while also letting the saccharine jokes and humor land without feeling so encumbered or even buried by superfluous words and character exchanges that don’t end up adding much.

“Heavenly father, who gave life to all creatures on this earth and then thought it would be just as good an idea to give us death . . . thank you for the bounty we are about to receive, and also for the bounty which is not on our heads. Give us this day our daily bread—and may I just say how delicious the brioche was today, my compliments to our baker as well as to our maker—and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who’ve trespassed against us once we’ve deleted them. And may all of us soon be saying ‘Amen’ at the funeral of our targets. Amen.”

I’d still recommend this, but would caution that the second half does feel a bit long.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for my galley! This is available now and delightful on audio with fabulous British narration.

I very much enjoyed Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes! It was such a unique and clever book - centered around a secret murder academy that teaches it's students how to "delete" their subjects. This was such a fun book!

P.S. the cover is stunning!

I was absolutely surprised and excited to see Rupert Holmes is also an author...just about everyone knows his song (which was a great piece of storytelling in itself). This full length book was just as good as I hoped it would be.

We are introduced to the McMasters school. A finishing school for finishing off problematic people in your life. As a student you study and work towards your goal of becoming a 'deletist' and most importantly, never getting caught at it. The final thesis, determining if you pass or fail, is the successful deletion of your subject.

This story follows three very different students on their individual journeys to rid the world of a person who has outlived their welcome. All three cases were fun, compelling, and riveting.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this exciting e-ARC. This story was so much fun I will be getting a physical copy for myself soon.

Murder Your Employer... winner for most subtle book cover that belies the fun assassin training filled plot underneath. Rupert Holmes' book is a win, sly and sneaky with its story that is somehow a deft blend of charm and darkness and a welcome change from a standard thriller while not leaning into the fantastical themes that I don't always connect with. The characters were all well drawn, with good depth, unique stories and backgrounds, and the story had strengths in the background early chapters that developed the story and moved into a kind of case study approach to develop the student characters. I really enjoyed this book and appreciate the review copy from Avid Reader Press, 4.5 stars for a creative story and a new author for me to follow.

This is a fun well written read, might be a fun book club read for groups looking for a different kind of thriller/murder theme.

Recommended for: fans of Never Saw Me Coming; Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone;

It’s very rare to come across a truly original premise for a book, so i was delighted by this story, reminiscent of other favorites but wholly unique in plot.

I am, of course, a perpetual sucker for anything with an academic setting, particularly books like this one where the author creates an immersive atmosphere for the reader at their fictional school. This has the feel of Hogwarts or Brakebills, minus the magical elements.

And like all books with this sort of school/training bent, the portion of the book set at the school is significantly more fun, clever, and interesting than the portion that comes after that. I don’t like to criticize authors too much for this because the departure from training is of course made inevitable by the plot, but it does always leave me wishing that a greater portion of the plot stayed in the central setting.

I love the clever training the students received, including everything from the rationale for certain instruction (cooking! Dancing! Baseball!) to the delightfully punny course titles (I’m still giggling at Zooicide).

My lone gripe with this one was some gross and unnecessary moralizing at the end with regard to Gemma’s plot line, but it wasn’t enough to truly leave me disappointed in the story. The end implies the possibility of a sequel or series to follow, and I very much hope that to be the case!

Not sure why this took me so long to get through! It's certainly a uniquely told story from a unique author, filled with a bit of mystery and humor and a lot of drama. In some ways, it reminded me of a TJ Klune book, and in other ways of a quirky suspense tale.

We are introduced to our main character Cliff Iverson when he attempts unsuccessfully to kill his horrible boss. Presented in the form of a textbook for the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, we follow Cliff mostly through his journal entries as he navigates his education to learn how to successfully "delete" (aka murder) his employer, and most importantly, to get away with it. We also follow two of his other classmates, Gemma and Doria, as they learn the skills to both murder their own employers and to avoid getting murdered themselves.

One of the things that I missed at first that really would have helped me was knowing that this book is set in the 1950s as I struggled for a while with the time setting. There is so much dry humor here, I could totally picture it as a movie on the screen with the witty one-liners. I came to really care for the characters and was rooting for their success in their deletions as their employers were truly awful people.

There are some parts that were slow and dragged a bit, but overall this is a highly original tale that has widespread appeal. The ending is superb, so even if you get to some of the slower parts definitely power through and you'll be rewarded in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rupert Holmes, Simon & Schuster, and Avid Reader Press for an ARC of Murder Your Employer.

The concept for this novel was new and interesting. Cliff Iverson is basically kidnapped after trying to murder his former employer and taken to McMasters, a murder training school. We follow Cliff's deletion education (McM doesn't use the term "murder") and once he is allowed back into his life to complete his thesis (execution of deletion) we see his plan unfold. Along the line, we are also introduced to Gemma, who is being blackmailed by her supervisor and Doria, a Hollywood star being kicked out the door for not giving in to the producers personal demands. The story floats between the three of them through their time at McMasters and beyond. We aren't told their plans, but see them in action once they are executing their deletions.

The three main characters are likeable, and the targets of their deletions are very much worthy of their demises...if the three of them can succeed. Merrill Fiedler is the worst kind of boss; he has no care for employees or anyone who comes into the path of their products. All he cares about is the bottom line, and it doesn't matter how many people are lost in the process. Adele is using a past indiscretion to blackmail Gemma, so she's making Gemma's life a living hell. And Doria's producer? Well, he's a typical Hollywood producer. He found out she was intimate with another employee after refusing him for years and he's taking revenge on her.

Although the story concept was good, the execution left a little something to be desired. It was definitely a slow burn...with no flame at the end. No suspense, just cold hard facts. It was very wordy and just seemed to drag on and on. That being said, I still liked it, I just wish it hadn't felt like I was trying to wade through a 1000 page tome.

All in all, an interesting concept, and it has some good murder ideas and does show how to truly plan out a deletion. There are no triggers, just a good-hearted murder story.

DNF @30%.

I was hooked in the beginning but the book lost it’s spark quickly after that. It’s very overwritten and without a plot established at this point, there’s almost no forward momentum to the story and I just feel like I’m reading verbose pretentious writing for no reason.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes from NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster in order to read and give an honest review.

…Quirky, clever, inventive, and deliciously dark….…

Cliff Iverson has the boss from hell, Merrill Fiedler is a narcissistic jerk who has not only ruined Cliff’s career, and knowingly put people’s lives in danger but he’s driven Cliff’s dear friend and love interest to suicide.

In the opening of the book, we learn about Cliff’s failed attempt to murder Fiedler, but he is saved in a sense by a sponsored scholarship to The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a private college which teaches one how to “delete” their treacherous employer, however there is one caveat, failure in the program is not an option.

The academy is in a completely unknown location, students are blindfolded and arrive at the academy by multiple means of transportation. A beautiful campus with all amenities, the Conservatory seems like an ivy league experience with classes such as “Remains to be seen” and “Principles of Deletion” students get a well-rounded education in the Art of Murder.

We learn of Cliff’s classes, classmates, and their respective stories, as well as meet students a little too competitive for their own good. The story is mostly told through journal entries, progress reports and correspondence. Upon graduation we follow Cliff and two of his classmates as they plot to delete their employers for reasons that make the reader root for the graduates.

Quirky, clever, inventive, and deliciously dark. I really enjoyed Murder Your Employer. My only complaint would be that at some points the story did drag a bit but overall, a fun read that has you flipping pages, I highly recommend.

The premise of this book sounded great to me - a school where the students are trained in how to commit a perfect murder. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy. When I saw the audiobook was partly narrated by Neil Patrick Harris I immediately preordered the audio and started listening on the day of its release. Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me and I decided to DNF at 25%. For such an interesting premise I’m so bored. I kept waiting thinking it would pick up but at this point I’m calling it. There’s also a fine line between being clever and trying too hard to be clever and for me this one fell on the wrong side of that line.

Murder Your Employer was so good!!! It's set in the late 1950s and is about 3 students of a secret murder academy that teaches its pupils how to "delete" the subject of their "thesis."

It was so much fun, and so CLEVER! Reading this book was like watching an episode of 30 Rock or Arrested Development for the first time. You feel smart because you understand and laugh at most of the jokes, but you are aware that things are going well over your head. I also got White Lotus vibes but I can't pinpoint any real reason why.

I received an advance copy (thank you so much Netgalley, Rupert Holmes, and Simon Schuster!) but I WILL be buying my own copy to keep on my physical shelves.

A+, 5/5, please make it a series

Thank you to NetGalley, Rupert Holmes and Avid Reader Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This is written in quite a unique way that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to continue. It’s interesting but the style of writing and the back and forth between first person and third got much too confusing for me.

I'm concerned that Rupert Holmes knows too much about murder!!
What a fun romp through a university destined to make their students the best "deletists" they can be. Holmes artfully merges three murders into one story, effortlessly switching between time periods and characters.
It all came together so satisfyingly. I thoroughly enjoyed this dark comedy. As strange as it sounds, it was a fun break from reading thrillers, even though it was all about murder!