Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

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Most importantly, remember the McMasters golden rule: "Do in others as you would have others do you in." I felt Gemma was a completely unnecessary character to add and served nothing to the story. If another volume has been produced reviolving her, I'm sure I would've care about her story. As it is, she was a largely unimportant character until over halfway through the story. Suddenly she's a POV and we're supposed to learn about her life and goals and a bunch of other stuff I didn't care about. It's a diservice to her character to toss her alonsisde Cliff's storyline.

Stedge was a short, muscular man inadequately contained by the seams of his rayon suit. He sported an identical tie to the captain’s, indicating either that he was having an affair with Dobson’s unloving wife or that they’d bought their ties at the same store from a display labeled “None Over a Quarter.” The handle of a police revolver peeked from behind his left lapel where it nestled uneasily in an ill-fitting shoulder holster.A new novel from the man who wrote Swing (2005), Where the Truth Lies (2003), and “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” Foremost in my mind was that Fiedler was still living, but also living in ignorance of my desire to kill him. If I refused to do what these ex-cops said, they could turn me in, and that would be the end of that. Better to give Dobson and Stedge the impression that I was cooperating, find a way to break free, and take a second stab at killing Fiedler, perhaps literally. I drank the potion with the abandon of a Dr. Jekyll who’s just learned that a fortune has been bequeathed to any man named Hyde. Who hasn't wondered for a split second what the world would be like 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. It all went a bit downhill when the book moved on to following three students through three murders. The murders were hugely overplanned, in a way that sounds clever at first glance but entirely depended on a whole lot of people unknowingly doing things exactly as hoped, and detailed so lovingly that the book slowed to an absolute crawl. And also, they were three entirely unrelated murders! I wanted to see them woven together, or for something to bring the various characters and plots together (ideally in a way that would give them a bit more actual character work), but it was just three chopped up accounts of three unconvincingly elaborate plans to kill people, and by the end I will admit to skimming.

Duclie had a similar treatment done to her but she's largely more fascinating. I really enjoyed her character and was intrigued by her story. But it did suffer from comparison with Cliff's POV. Full of endless puns, dry humor, and nostalgia for a bygone era that evokes the early 1950s, Murder Your Employer chronicles the experiences of students at McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a finishing school that teaches one how to “finish” people off. Kudos, Mr. Holmes, for a unique book and perspective on things. I will have to see if there are other books in the same vein to do some comparisons. Those of a certain age ( ahem) may remember him for 1979’s earworm “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”I turned to see Dobson with an identical .38 trained on me. Dobson explained, “The sergeant likes to make his empty gun a tempting prospect. Trying to steal an officer’s weapon is further evidence of guilt.” Despair set a place for itself at the table. Was it always this easy to catch a murderer? One sentence in and we were already at the opportunity stage. “At the newsreel movie theater in Grand Central.” As I finally sit down to start typing this review, I still haven't decided if I'm going to round up or down from my 4.5 star rating, so I guess we'll see what I talk myself into by the end of these several paragraphs. 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.

I reflexively looked down at the gun as Dobson interjected, “No, the sergeant’s pulling your leg. Revolvers don’t have safety catches.” Even though this book largely takes place in an academic setting and the entire plot is about learning how to properly murder, I wouldn’t classify this book as dark academia at all since it’s actually pretty lighthearted and there’s not really any mystery element involved. With dry humor and an eye for hidden clues, Rupert Holmes imagines a secret Hogwarts-like school that teaches the fine art of pulling off the perfect (and perfectly deserved) murder. An utterly creative and deliciously diabolical read.” — Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Find Me Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, Vol. 1 is the clever brainchild of author, playwright, composer, and singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes. Have to table this audiobook. Every time I turn it on I just want to turn it off. I think I’ll switch to the book at another time.I reached for the receiver, reassuring myself that absolutely no one on earth knew I was registered at this hotel, so the call could not be personal. “Yes?” I found myself inspected by a charcoal-faced man in a slouch hat and gray suit. His cheap tie looked like an obligatory birthday gift from an unloving wife. He showed me a billfold designed solely for the purpose of displaying a badge bearing the seal of New York City. “Captain Dobson,” he said, saving me some reading. “This is Sergeant Stedge.”