Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

11 reviews

peroxide_princes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I will admit, when I first picked up this book I was slow in the uptake, especially when trying to navigate a lot of the 50’s slang. However, once you get into the meat and potatoes of the story, this is a really fun and well-executed (pun intended!) book. I really enjoy seeing the reflections on each of the students personal stories, and how their experiences are so similar and yet vastly different from one another. The world of McMasters is well thought out, and it feels as though every detail mentioned fulfilled its purpose, even if the payoff isn’t until much later in the book. Each character’s ending was not the most gratifying I will say, but I think it helps add to the realism of the story. I did enjoy it and I’ll definitely consider coming back for the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aprilb_reads's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dkamada's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

TLDR: Very good Golden Age Style Mystery with a few twists. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this mystery novel. The blurb promises entertainment which is delivered mostly in puns in the first half of the book. Then Mr Holmes gets to work with an intricately plotted how-they done-it novel. 

 

The forward is a bit tiresome, but necessary to understanding the setting. The rest of the narrative is an omnipresent narrator and a mix of journal entries from the main character to his patron, reports, and letters. The later being indicated by chapter headings. The style is down to earth with enough description to fill in the blanks but not be flowery. The action is pretty easy to follow and main characters are easy to differentiate. 

 

The characterisation was okay, the minor characters suffered in particular. Main characters were somewhat stereotyped though they acted consistent with their characters throughout the novel. The first part of the novel was rather under peopled though filling a school like it should be is always tricky for both the writer and the reader. 

 

In true Golden Age fashion all the would be deletees were nasty humans. I thought two of them deserved an Orient Express experience to tell the truth. I anticipate there were after the funeral parties. The setting is 1950’s America so at least the author didn’t have to worry about the modern banes of deleters existence DNA and mobile phones. Though one deletion method was old fashioned, the other two were quite novel. 

 

The postscript does make me wonder if the punishment will fit the crime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

sylvanskezelene's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

audiobookish's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Pros: Lighthearted and humorous tone, charming fictional setting with a dark academia/more "grownup" Hogwarts vibe, the bits of the story that focused exclusively on the schooling and classes were the most fun and intriguing!

Cons: The plot wasn't particularly strong and felt somewhat bland at times for a novel centered on "how to murder someone" fictionally of course. I only found one of the three main characters highly likeable, the other two were unremarkable. The resolution at the end left something to be desired in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Set in the 1950s, so sexism is prevalent in heavy doses alongside sexual harassment. Brief racism encounters mentioned also.

bigheadcam's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Murder Your Employer is like if Harry Potter was written for the macabre, in a good way. It's a fun story with some interesting (if at times, simple) characters as well as a fantastical setting in the form of McMasters and the U.S. in the 1950s. 

It's worth mentioning that I think part of the reason that this book takes place in this time period is because quite a few of the methods mentioned in this book around "getting away with murder" would not be possible due to today's surveillance state and much more accurate and sensitive forensic technologies. Still, a good romp through hypothetical murders and the fantasy by proxy of an evil employer being shown the door!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The dry, witty sense of humor in this book is my cup of tea. Listening on audio was hilarious! So many death puns. The concept was original and I loved the first half of the book. I did feel like we knew Cliff better than the other two characters highlighted in the book, and I wish we had learned more. I honestly was not a fan of Gemma as a person or her storyline, so when her storyline was a more prominent part of the book, I enjoyed reading this book a bit less. I found her a bit pathetic and uncreative in her deletion thesis, whereas I was totally on board with both Cliff and Doria’s plans, executions, and contingencies. The only other gripe I have is that the setting in the 1950s was pretty subtle for most of the book, so I had to remind myself what the culture was at that time to understand the book. Overall, this book was so fun to read, witty and smart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

imds's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Wryly humorous, darkly satisfying, and only a bit too clever for it's own good, MURDER YOUR EMPLOYER is an ambitious and entertaining murder mystery turned inside out. Readers of this case study guide to homicide follow three would-be student assassins in the 1950s as they study, train, and enact their final murderous theses to successfully matriculate from McMasters Conservatory of the Applied [Homicidal] Arts. McMasters is a [poison] Ivy League-calibre "finishing school for finishing people off." The course work is high stakes but each student has such a deserving thesis subject that we can't help but root for high marks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Pregnancy

Blackmail, assisted suicide, organized crime, vigilante justice, and a scene that plays too dangerously close to homophobic/transphobic for Reasons (those being context, motivation, and era)