This is a fun romp following the deadly adventures of new recruits at a school for assassins.

At the McMasters Conservatory, students and readers will learn about the moral philosophy and practicality of a good qualified “deletion” (their preferred term for murder). With class topics ranging from toxic poisons to deadly seductions, McMasters students will learn everything they need to covertly (and ethically!) commit a murder. The fact that it takes place in the 1950s adds a new element of possibility for the killers - with no cctv, cell phones or tracking devices, it’s easy enough to craft a clever kill and leave no trace behind.

The second half of the book is dedicated to a select group of students’ real world deletion attempts. Facing dire and deadly consequences if they don’t successfully complete their “thesis,” the students are highly motivated to excel at demonstrating their particular set of skills.

This was very light and breezy for a book about trained killers, and I especially enjoyed the clever dialogue. You can tell the author has experience writing dialogue for stage. Side note and fun fact: I just learned that Rupert Holmes is also the songwriter and performer of the song “Escape,” which is more widely known as The Piña Colada Song (as in “If you like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain..”) Neat!

Anyway… I could definitely see this book getting adapted for film or stage. The mid-century mystery vibes remind me of reading Charlotte Armstrong, and the clever assassin elements made me think of how much I enjoyed reading Killers of a Certain Age (another one with dialogue that would be perfectly adapted to screen!) If you like witty, punny mysteries with a vintage flare, you’ll want to pick up a copy of Murder Your Employer next week on 2/21/23.

Here’s what happens when you take talented students, a chance to use what they have learned at the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts in the real world. The problem here is the excise is to ‘delete’ a person. It’s delightful as it turns the usual whodunnit on its head. It also hints that this is not the last we will see of the Applied Arts.

Murder Your Employer is an extremely unique novel, falling somewhere between historical fiction and mystery-suspense. Though, there is really no mystery element--we know who the prospective killers and victims are from the outset, and are told not all will succeed in their path towards murder. The biggest question, really, is who doesn't.

I should perhaps back-up; Murder Your Employer is a novel written under the guise of a textbook for the clandestine McMasters College that shapes would-be murders into their best killer selves. The story follows three students: scholarship student Ian who is determined to murder his former employer who is allowing a terrible plane defect persist and resulted in the death of two of his colleagues, famous actress Dulcie whose producer is preventing her from starring in any half-decent pictures for refusing his "casting couch" advances, and poor Gemma who can only afford one year of education and whose path to murder is a little more convoluted--I won't reveal it here.

The book is written in a combination of points-of-view. Ian's story is mostly told from first-person diary accounts, much much other of the book is told in reconstructed third-person, with a few passages from the dean of the school interspersed. It's a winding and a tad jarring method of story-telling that took me a while to get into. It also wasn't immediately apparent that this book was set, seemingly, sometime in the 1950s. But by the time I was halfway through, I couldn't put it down, desperate to see which students would succeed, and if so, how they would get away with it. Those looking for something unique, a bit unclassifiable, with multiple interwoven stories will probably find this one equally impossible to put down.

The book is characterized as "Volume One" and I'm curious as to whether we may ever see a Volume 2; Murder Your Lover, perhaps? But the postscript would seemingly leave the impression that this book is a one-off... we shall see.

Thanks to Avid Readers Press for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

This was a fun read providing you were not the target of the pupils attention. It is written as a manual for those attending the poison ivy school and for those who were having to teach themselves due to lack of funds/ a sponsor.

1.5 stars

I thought this story was going to be amazing, but it just didn't work for me. It was messy, the writing didn't work for me, there were way too many unneccessary details and I felt no connection to the characters.

First off, the story is written as if you're opening an actual manual. It's about this school where people who have plans to kill somebody get shipped off to to learn how to do it. It's all written with a pretty blasé and funny tone. But my issue isn't with the tone. I really appreciated the tone, actually, but I disliked the writing. Too many unneccessary details, too many adjectives. The language used just didn't mesh with me. It didn't read easily.

Added to that, the set up wasn't consistent. First, you open up the book to read the foreword of the current dean of McMasters, the school. Then it starts adding exerpts in from one of the new students' diary, the diary of Cliff Iverson. The first chunk of the book is actually just that, with some additional quotes and info from the dean. But then, quite a chunk in, we start to have two more perspectives. So where, from Cliff's and the dean's perspective we see Dulcie and Gemma as side characters for a big part of the story, all of a sudden they're also main characters??

Which, okay. Fine, I could get used to. But then the book kind of deviates from its entire concept: it being a manual and it including written reports of these students. It just follows Gemma and Dulcie and Cliff on their separate murder planning from their own perspectives, no diaries involved. Like, if you're committing to a concept, why not follow through with it?

Another gripe I had with this book is that the perspectives are all very "extrospective". Meaning it's mainly just characters describing a lot of what happens around them (hence the massive amounts of details describing A LOT of things), instead of them describing themselves, their character or their feelings. The characters only had a little bit of backstory and were solely focussed on preparing and executing their murders. This resulted in them having practically no personality, except for maybe the one or two traits Dulcie displayed. The author also tried to imply a little bit of a romance, or at least an interest, between Gemma and Cliff. But because they had no personality, this was wholly unbelievable.

With all of the detailing and overtly explaining how they all learned and planned their murders - the methods were smart, don't get me wrong - it became kind of repetitive. The book was way too long.

Long story short: where this book hooked me with its concept, it fell short on the execution.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this eARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think I've ever smiled so much while reading a book about murder.

The premise of a school that teaches you how to get away with the perfect murder and has published a guide based on previous students' experiences gives literal dark academia vibes, only make it funny and somehow wholesome? I can't say I've read anything like this before.

The author does a great job of making you empathise with aspiring murderers, skillfully revealing their backstories while building three perfect mystery stories in which you already know who the killer is, you just don't know how and if they'll carry out said murder deletion successfully. I was anxiously rooting for them the whole way through.

If you like boarding school settings but for adults, dark humor, the 1950's, and satisfying... endings, welcome to McMasters!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a charming & delightfully dark read! I loved the Poison Ivy League college and seeing the students learn the practical & theoretical ways ways they could end the life of their chosen target. I thought the setting of an undetermined place & era just added to the mystery of the story. The case studies we follow, from the same class, were really different - the motivations for our heroes to carry out their deletions, the villains, the methodology, and even the characters themselves. I thought the characters were well written & fully fleshed out, and I was cheering them on. While the pacing in the first half is slow, I feel that it’s mostly justified as there’s a lot of background that needs to be supplied. The pacing does pick up in the second half when we see the practical side of the thesis’s being carried out, and this had me eagerly turning the pages to see who was successful. This was an engaging tale & I hope that there is a second.

This book had one of the best opening chapters I have ever experienced. It drew me in and made me laugh. It’s funny and original, but at times a little long and the narrative feels a bit old fashioned. The end was spot on thought!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5⭐️

At McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, you won’t find your typical subjects being taught there…and you won’t find your typical students either. A “Poison Ivy League” campus dedicated to the homicidal arts is what awaits Cliff Iverson, McMasters newest student. Here he will be carefully taught how to execute his thesis - the successful deletion of his employer.

I can honestly say I have never read anything like this before. I loved that the majority of it was Cliff’s journal entries to his sponsor. The ending made me literally squeal with joy, which is not something I thought I would say after reading a book with such a title as this one. The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that parts of it felt like drug out. I would have also liked more from Gemma’s character/storyline. Hers felt like kind of an afterthought with how much focus was placed on Cliff and Doria. Regardless, I really enjoyed this

Great idea! Just a tiny bit too long, too complicated and too slow. Otherwise a highly recommended, funny and smart book. We get to follow the antics of not one, but three students of the art of murder, including their adversaries, their proposed “deletions” of same , the careful planning and execution. And yet the best parts of the book happen at the McMasters school, where an assembly of teachers and students makes for a very fun exploration of the curriculum.

This was such a unique book that I'm not really sure what genre to call it. Imagine a mystery/thriller where you're following the potential murderer leading up to their attempted crime, but a) you're generally on their side and b) you don't know if they're going to succeed. It had slight "character gets whisked off to magical school" vibes except that there's no magic it's just... murder techniques. It's historical fiction, taking place in the 50s, but tbh I think that was mostly to avoid the issues that modern technology would have brought into play. I had a great time reading this.

Murder Your Employer is darkly funny and original. I was attracted to the story of a school that trained everyday people to commit a murder of that one person that just needs to be “deleted”. The schools hidden location and very existence is held completely secret. Written as a guide as well as a narrative, the world that the author creates is creative and detailed.

The story is satisfying and I liked following the individual narratives of three of the students as they train and then embark on their final thesis, which is to successfully complete their murder. I was not sure where the story was going though out much of the book but the ending was pleasing and fit perfectly.

Thank you Avid Reader Press for the advanced reader copy to review

Thank you NetGalley/the publisher for allowing me to review this book!

So I have been back and forth on how to go about this review....because well I DNF'ed this book. What I read was great don't get me wrong butttt I wasn't in the headspace for this one and haven't been. It is definitely a book I will revisit in the future due to what I had enjoyed so far.

I can't give an actual review so far but what I read gave me the same vibes that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy does. It is comprehensive and gave great background while building up a great story. I think this has the potential to be a 5 star so I will give it that for the part that I did read.

I loved this!! The premise is so unique and I haven’t read another book like it before. I love how fancy and classy the author makes murder. The characters were amusing and I could understand why they were doing the things that they were. I may have even rooted for them a time or two.

If you’ve ever wondered if the world would be a better place if one particular person no longer inhabited said world, and you have an ethical reason to eliminate that person, the McMasters Conservatory might just be the educational place for you. Here you will learn how to – literally – get away with murder. But beware – you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate. And your mandatory graduation thesis is unlike that of any other.

I have had employers that I disliked, although none that I wanted to remove from the world, but the title of this book caught my eye. When I saw that it’s written by Rupert Holmes (yes, *that Rupert Holmes! "If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain..."), that made the book even more appealing.

The book was a little strange, but so was the entire premise, so I guess that’s to be expected. It started slowly, but once the characters and their backgrounds were established, it picked up considerably and was hard to put down. It was difficult to accept that I was rooting for the success of the three primary characters, because their success meant getting away with murder, but there it is.

If there is a Volume 2 to the McMasters Guide to Homicide, I will certainly read it.

education, murder, overt-humor, planning, read, sly-humor, tongue-in-cheek-art,*****

The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts brings you The McMasters Guide to Homicide Volume One: Murder Your Employer.
We follow several students as they apply what they've learned in class and study to their real world application to "delete" the person on their list (thesis). A reversal of the usual murder (mystery), but lots of good fun and interesting writing style. All of the characters are well done and the "execution" of their plans is intriguing. Loved it!
I requested and received an EARC from Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster via NetGalley. Thank you!

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes, a new author I found on NetGalley, is a 2023 mystery novel. Set on a campus where the institution teaches undergraduates how to murder someone without getting caught, the story was an original and filled with fun characters. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the plot, and the descriptions were very imaginative. I found myself eager to see where the tale would go, as it's both a mystery and an instructional guide of sorts (thru journal entries and educational prose). It follows 1 main character and 2 other potential murderers as they take their courses and learn how to correct past mistakes. The beginning very much felt like a Harry Potter-esque tale (minus the fantasy elements) where you are whisked away to an unknown place by someone claiming to be your sponsor / secret guardian. And when it all unfolds, you think... wow, what type of craziness is this! Mostly, the content was interesting but it was about 20% too long, which I only mention because there were pages of background that while helpful and important detracted from the pace and action. Also, sometimes it got too wordy and technical, which had some charm and merit but it also caused a reader to feel tossed out of the imaginary world and forced into a sense of... "wait, what is going on here and who is this person again?" I think it would make a very cool movie or television series for that reason tho, so kudos to the writer for the concept and execution on many levels.

Great concept, but way too much in love with using as wide a vocabulary as possible, which likely contributed to its nearly 400-page length. I enjoyed the arch attitude, but I just couldn't commit that much time to what ultimately moved very slowly, particularly given that I wasn't very interested in the first case premise. The characters were too familiar and not individual enough.

The plot had me intrigued and invested the whole time. I loved the setting of the school, from classes to the assignments given to through the eyes of our main characters. Witty dialogue and banter helped the book to maintain a consistent flow instead of feeling stunted. A story with humor that's not overdone, details and "twists" were logical and keeps you on your toes along with characters that aren't the ordinary papier-mâché stereotypes.

The writing drew me in from the beginning and the personalities of the characters were established rather quickly and easily. These are the morally grey characters that are fun to read about. Cliff was definitely my favorite. He was a gullible doofus at times but I was rooting for him the whole time and felt proud of him as his skills approved. It's a little odd to say this when murder is involved but there was a wholesome nature to it. Also, it was a bonus that I kept imagining the schools dean as Keith Michell's character of Dennis Stanton in <i>Murder, She Wrote.</i> 😂 It just made sense. 🤷🏾‍♀️

If this were to become a duology or series then I'll definitely read it. I would consider this to be a dark academia novel that fits more along my tastes. I genuinely had a fun time from beginning to end.


Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing a copy for an honest review.