How to Kill Your Family

By: Bella Mackie

Narrated by: Charly Clive, Paul Panting

The number one Sunday Times best seller

They say you can’t choose your family. But you can kill them.

Meet Grace Bernard.

Daughter, sister, serial killer....

Grace has lost everything.

And she will stop at nothing to get revenge.

How to Kill Your Family was number one in the Sunday Times paperback chart on 26/04/2022

©2021 Bella Mackie (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Funny and furious and strangely uplifting. Grace is a bitter and beguiling anti-hero with a keen eye for social analysis - even in her most grisly deeds, you never stop rooting for her." (Pandora Sykes)

"Addictive.... Grace Bernard is one of the most intriguing and bewitching protagonists I've read in years." (Emma Gannon)

"Hilarious and dark." (Elle)

Dark and twisty

Needless to say, this isn’t a cozy mystery. Not with that title. Grace is a psychopath. She may be in jail for a murder she didn’t commit, but that’s not to say she’s innocent. As she’s happy to recount to the reader in all the gory detail, she plotted and executed the murders of her father’s family.
Kudos to Mackie. Grace may not be a sympathetic character, but she was oddly relatable and I was happy to go along for the ride as she dispatched one victim after another. There’s a great dark, snarky humor to Grace that I loved.
The plot was a tad uneven and there were times I felt a better editing job might have helped. But that said, I desperately wanted to see how it would all play out. There was a great twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. This is great entertainment for those that aren’t squeamish.
Charlie Clive did a super job as Grace. She made the character come alive for me.

Fun story, great narrator!!

I really liked this. The ending was surprising. Loved the narrator. I just wish there was a bit more, wrapping up the final bit. I'd like to hear Grace's thoughts on the last chapter (vague due to spoilers(.

Light but interesting

Light enough to not turn into a commitment but nevertheless interesting enough not to feel like a waste of time. The story telling is great even though the wrapping felt a bit forced.

meh

The story started out great but went flat. So for me it was just ok.

definitely ends with a twist

I really did enjoy this book it was not what I expected. Kind of left in the dark though with the ending I want to know what's next? knowing Grace there has to be a part 2

Twisted

Very good! So many twist and turns! I love to fall in love with a character!

Sharp and funny observations indeed

Slow start but grew into it.
Enjoyed the Sharp and funny observations. the narrator is a good fit

O WOW!

Original plot, well narrated and with a devious twist in the tail. I loved it.

Stick with it and you'll be pleased

This is one of the few books I finished in a couple of days; immediately after starting, several hours had passed and I couldn't put it down (so to speak). I laughed out loud on many occasions because of the bluntness of the main character. There is a sudden turn at the mark of the last 2-hours; I initially hated it, but after listening for 10-15 minutes, I became interested again, and I'm glad I stuck with it. I've recommended the book to several friends, and funny enough, to my mother (I had to beg her to not overthink the title, and just let me finish explaining haha).

Drawn out details, but great ending

The ending was a surprise to me, but getting to it was tedious at times, as Grace provided an excess of details, nasty and overconfident, often sounding like a sociopath. I almost stopped listening a few times, but was curious about how it would all end. Glad I stuck with it.