How to Murder Your Family by Bella Mackie

 

If I was the writer of Kind Hearts and Coronets, I'd have read the beginning of this and reached for my phone to give my lawyer some very firm instructions. But then my hand would have hovered two inches above the phone as I  got a couple of pages in. My hand would gradually edge further away from the handset as I turn to the next page and the next ... slowly withdrawing as engrossment settles in.

I mean, the story is very, very similar. The premise is exactly the same. Long ignored and unacknowledged child of super-rich man plots revenge on family and plans for inheritance. The inheritance isn't her main motive, revenge on the evil father is. But it's done really well, gets you hooked right from the off.

Grace's mother had a short relationship with Simon Artemis a super-rich man but, when she gets pregnant, The Evil Impregnator is no longer interested and returns to his wife. Her mother raises her in poverty and then dies when Grace is still very young. After her death, Grace finds out her familial details and plots revenge.

The plot twist is that she writes her life story while in prison for a murder she actually didn't commit. The plot twist on her life, that is, not in the book. No spoilers here! This is all revealed in the first few pages although the "who" of the accusation is not revealed until later on.

It starts with the murder of the grandparents and, honestly, you can't feel any sympathy for them. They're vile. It's all done very cleverly. With it being written "by" Grace, you might think that she will make all the people vile just to garner sympathy, but she doesn't do that at all. In fact, one of the later murders is of someone who is actually ok, if a little bit pathetic. I won't say who, I'll let you find that out! 

The whole way through, you're on her side. Even though she's really not a particularly sympathetic character. She has very little tolerance for people, any people, and clearly thinks herself superior to most human beings, there is definitely some sort of sociopathic or psychotic character traits going on but, still, you enjoy being on the journey with her and even want things to come out to her benefit.

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And then there's the ending. I won't go into details but it is REALLY disappointing. I felt so let down by it. I'm now going to go into spoiler mode so don't read on if you haven’t yet read the book and want too.

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So, of course, there would be others! The whole way through I kept thinking, the flaw in this plan for inheritance is that there's no way old sperm spreader didn't impregnate any other poor innocent young lady, and probably a few other not-so-innocent ones too, so she's definitely not going to be the only claimant, surely. 

And of course, she isn't. I totally expected that. But it's done SO badly. One second, you're reading this great story from her point of view, and then suddenly the whole book is wrapped up, over a couple of chapters, in a crappy reveal letter from a more-devious-than-her half-sibling. And you don't hear from her again!

I honestly can't decide if the writer couldn't think of how to finish it, got bored, or is deliberately angling for a sequel. I really don't know. In some ways, I hope it's for a sequel as it feels so unfinished but at the same time, I feel so cheated of a proper (and satisfying) ending that I might be too cross with her to read it! So there.