I didn’t expect to relate to a novel about a school that teaches you how to get away with murder. But here we are.

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes is one of the smartest, most darkly satisfying books I’ve read in a long time. It’s part satirical thriller, part etiquette manual for the ethically-motivated killer — and somehow, it hits both notes perfectly.

But beyond the clever premise and the razor-sharp writing, what really hooked me were the characters. I didn’t just root for them. I understood them.

The book centers on a clandestine institution called McMasters — an elite, secretive academy where students are trained in the art of committing murder. Not randomly, and not for profit. These are “Delicates,” people who have exhausted every legal, ethical, and emotional route to deal with an impossible oppressor. Their targets aren’t random. They’re the kinds of people who ruin lives with impunity.

Each character is there because they’ve been pushed to the edge by cruelty, exploitation, injustice. Sound familiar?

What I loved most wasn’t the dark humor or the intricately plotted schemes (though both are stellar). It was how real these characters felt, despite the outlandish setting. They’re thoughtful, conflicted, and fully human. They’re not bloodthirsty, they’re fed up.

Holmes writes them with empathy and complexity. You get inside their minds, see their doubts, and understand the weight of their decisions. That inner conflict? Deeply relatable.

We’ve all met our own metaphorical employers: people who abuse power, manipulate others, or quietly destroy those beneath them. The genius of this book is how it gives that feeling a fictional space where justice feels possible — even if it’s not legal.

There’s plenty to love here beyond the characters: the witty prose, the noir vibes, the sly jabs at bureaucracy, corporate culture, and the way society protects the worst people. But at its heart, Murder Your Employer is a fantasy of accountability — where those who harm others don’t just get away with it.

And that fantasy? Feels oddly comforting.

If you like stories that are stylish, smart, and just a little sinister — with characters who feel more like people you know than murderers in a mystery novel — read this. You’ll laugh, you’ll flinch, and you’ll probably start making your own list (just kidding… mostly).

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Works Cited

Holmes, Rupert. Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide. Illustrated by Anna Louizos, Avid Reader Press, 2023 (inside cover).