BOOK REVIEW | My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

TITLE: My Sister, the Serial Killer
AUTHOR: Oyinkan Braithwaite
PAGE COUNT: 226 pages
PUBLISHER: Doubleday Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 17 July 2017
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller & Adult Fiction

SYNOPSIS: When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other…

My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker – and more difficult to get out of the carpet – than water…

It has been a while since I read a thriller. The genre was always one of my favourites but over the past year, I fell out of love with it. I have been wanting to get back into it and decided to read this one.

I am so, so happy I picked it up. This book captured my attention so much that I ended up finishing it in one sitting—which I never do. I flew through the pages and despite it being kind of gruesome, I could not get enough. The two sisters are something out of a nightmare, really, but I could not help but feel for the oldest sister.

This is a book that I wish more thriller lovers would read. It was a really easy book to get into and as the chapters are quite short, one cannot help but fly through it.

One thing that surprised me in a not-so-pleasant way was the decision the oldest sister, Korede, made in the end. I thought the story would end a lot differently but part of me is glad it did not end in a type of cliché, if that makes sense.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it brought my love back for this genre. I highly recommend!

The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.

It’s because she is beautiful, you know. That’s all it is. They don’t really care about the rest of it. She gets a pass at life.

I know better than to take life directions from someone without a moral compass.

Is there anything more beautiful than a man with a voice like an ocean?

It takes a whole lot longer to dispose of a body than to dispose of a soul, especially if you don’t want to leave any evidence of foul play.

That’s how it has always been. Ayoola would break a glass, and I would receive the blame for giving her the drink. Ayoola would fail a class, and I would be blamed for not coaching her. Ayoola would take an apple and leave the store without paying for it, and I would be blamed for letting her get hungry.

You can’t sit on the fence forever.

You know, men are very fickle. Give them what they want and they will do anything for you. Keep your hair long and glossy or invest in good weaves; cook for him and send the food to his home and his office. Stroke his ego in front of his friends and treat them well for his sake. Kneel down for his parents and call them on important days. Do these things and he will put a ring on your finger, fast fast.

I dare you to find a flaw in her beauty; or to bring forth a woman who can stand beside her without wilting.

Love is not a weed, It cannot grow where it please…

If hospitals had a flag it would be white—the universal sign for surrender.

I am more haunted by her actions than she is.

Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him.

What led me to confide in a body that still had breath left in it?

You never knew with men, they wanted what they wanted when they wanted it.

The more he talks the more I realize I am a maga- a fool who has been taken advantage of.

OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo, a Nigerian publishing house, and has been freelancing as a writer and editor since. In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top-ten spoken-word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam, and in 2016 she was a finalist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

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