My Sister, The Serial Killer

I read Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer in one sitting, partly because it’s short but mostly because of all the murders.

The story is set in modern Nigeria, where a chieftain, a rich “sponsor” or a doctor could be good catch for a beautiful woman like Ayoola. Lovely Ayoola constantly attracts men and then when things get out of hand, somehow, she kills them in self-defense, or so she says when she calls her sister, Korede, to come help clean up the blood and dispose of the body. Again.

Korede, when she’s not cleaning up Ayoola’s messes, is an efficient, tidy nurse with a secret crush on her coworker, Tade. He feels warm affection for her too, and it might even be on the way something more, when Ayoola stops by Korede’s workplace. Naturally, Tade falls instantly in love with his work friend’s gorgeous sister, and only Korede knows that each date brings him closer to being her next victim. As she tries to prevent the inevitable outcome for Tade, Korede remembers Ayoola’s previous relationships, their childhood with a cruel father, and the experiences that created Ayoola and their relationship.  I never exactly sympathized with Ayoola, she was mostly heartless and selfish, but I still didn’t want her to get caught and punished, mostly because Korede cared about her so much and worked so hard to keep her sister safe.

For some reason, Korede confides in a coma patient at the hospital.  It’s barely even a spoiler to reveal what happens here, because it’s exactl what you think will happen in a novel where someone whispers their dark secrets to someone in a coma. I liked this as a device (because nothing in this novel goes the way you first expect), but I thought Korede was such a good nurse and so careful in every other way that spilling her secrets this way felt uncharacteristically thoughtless.

Despite the theme, this book wasn’t gory. Like in The Devotion of Suspect X, the plot hinges on murder, but fortunately for me, most of the gore happens offstage. There’s really just blood, lots of blood for Korede to clean up. The story is about the relationship between sisters, and how far Korede will go to protect her sister.

If you liked My Sister The Serial Killer, I also loved Braithwaite’s short story, Treasure.  (It’s available free with Prime Reading) You know I love influencer drama in fiction, and Treasure tells a dark and suspenseful story with aspirational lifestyle influencing at the heart.