''My Sister, the Serial Killer'' is a 2018 thriller novel by Nigerian writer Oyinkan Braithwaite. Braithwaite's debut novel was originally published in Nigeria as an e-book with the title ''Thicker Than Water'' in 2017 before being released in the United States by

Doubleday Books Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897. By 1947, it was the largest book publisher in the United States. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and ...

on 20 November 2018.

Plot

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, Korede is a nurse in a close relationship with her younger sister, Ayoola. Ayoola is the more beautiful, favored sister, and possibly

sociopathic Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to st ...

. For the third time in a row, Ayoola has stabbed her boyfriend to death, supposedly in self-defense. Like the previous times, Korede helps dispose of the body and clean away the evidence. Her practicality and concern keep Ayoola from acting suspiciously about her “missing” boyfriend, such as by posting to social media when she should be mourning. Korede feels unappreciated as she constantly dreads that they will be caught and that Ayoola will kill again. She confides in none but a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

tose patient in the hospital she works at. She is in love with Tade, a kind, handsome doctor who does not notice her affection. However, upon meeting Ayoola, he is immediately enamored with her and they begin dating. Korede fears that Tade will be Ayoola's next victim and must reckon with what she is willing to do for her sister.

Reception

''My Sister, the Serial Killer'' was described by ''Deadline'' as a "darkly comedic story, buzzed-about in publishing circles." According to ''

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

'', the book received "positive" reviews based on 20 critic reviews with 9 being "rave" and 10 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed". In '' Books in the Media'', a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.05 out of 5) from the site which was based on 10 critic reviews. On '' Bookmarks Magazine'' Jan/Feb 2019 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews. The novel won the 2019 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller, the 2019 Amazon Publishing Reader's Award for Best Debut Novel, the 2019

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

for Best First Novel, and the 2020

British Book Award The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year. The novel was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize and was the second-highest best-selling title on the list as of July 2019, with 13,052 units sold according to

Nielsen BookScan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by Circana in the United States and NIQ in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Italy, Spain ...

. ''My Sister, the Serial Killer'' has been praised by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

,'' ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

,'' ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' and authors

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (born 29 January 1988) is a Nigerian writer. Her 2017 debut novel, '' Stay With Me'', won the 9mobile Prize for Literature and the Prix Les Afriques. She was awarded The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Cultur ...

and

Edgar Cantero Edgar Cantero (born 27 May 1981 in Barcelona) is a Spanish writer and cartoonist working in Catalan, Spanish, and English. He is best known in Catalonia for his award-winning debut ''Dormir amb Winona Ryder'', and abroad for the ''New York Tim ...

. In 2018, the novel was considered for a movie adaptation by the producers of ''

Baby Driver ''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action crime film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Eiza González, Jon Ber ...

''.

References

{{Reflist 2018 debut novels 2018 Nigerian novels Nigerian English-language novels Novels about serial killers Novels about social media Novels set in Lagos Nigerian speculative fiction novels Novels set in the 2010s Doubleday (publisher) books Novels about sisters