My Murder

A Novel

By: Katie Williams

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND GLAMOUR!

“One of those rare emotionally intelligent books that are also fun reads… Going to keep readers turning pages late into the night.”–The New York Times

“Ingenious…fresh and unpredictable.”–The Washington Post

“Gleefully overturn[s] the age-old ‘woman-in-trouble’ plot…eerie and inventive.”–NPR's Fresh Air

What if the murder you had to solve was your own?

Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She’s also the victim of a local serial killer. Recently brought back to life and returned to her grieving family by a government project, she is grateful for this second chance. But as the new Lou re-adapts to her old routines, and as she bonds with other female victims, she realizes that disturbing questions remain about what exactly preceded her death and how much she can really trust those around her.

Now it’s not enough to care for her child, love her husband, and work the job she’s always enjoyed—she must also figure out the circumstances of her death. Darkly comic, tautly paced, and full of surprises, My Murder is a devour-in-one-sitting, clever twist on the classic thriller.

©2023 Katie Williams (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Williams deftly swirls science fiction and domestic suspense plotlines into this fresh and unpredictable tale. . . Imbued with a sharp feminist consciousness, My Murder cheekily invokes and subverts the conventional serial-killer-stalking-terrified-women plot. . .Bringing together the futuristic visions of speculative fiction with the familiar tropes of domestic suspense and noir, My Murder shakes up the same-old, same-old conventions of every genre it touches and has a ton of fun doing so.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“Somewhere between George Saunders’s biting social satire and Anne Tyler’s tender concern for character and consequence. . .My Murder is one of those rare emotionally intelligent books that are also fun reads, and it even manages to perform two or three plot turns that are so masterly that they would make Ira Levin blush. You can read the ending as happy — or as existential horror, as I do — but in any case it’s a book that’s going to keep readers turning pages late into the night.”—Dan Chaon, The New York Times Book Review

“With this suspenseful, smart sophomore effort—a briskly paced story with charming characters at its core—Williams again imagines a near-futuristic, science-altered reality that offers an intriguing perspective on the push-pull of family and freedom…[A]n intelligent, insightful murder mystery that illuminates her imagined world and our own.”—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

Gaming sci-fi murder mystery

Not my cup of tea but the plot is interesting and may appeal to those who are into gaming. It has definitely a nice twist of events at the end when the mystery of the murder is solved.

Wow

This is such a unique story with wonderful narration. I could not stop listening to it.

A little confusing

You get no real time frame when this story takes place or background of what the main character actually does. Auto pilot cars, a cloning program, and virtual rooms all lead me to believe this is in the future but none of that gets written about. Felt like it was an abridged version with a couple chapters on character development got left out. Has a lot of potential, a great original idea for a book for sure.

Surprised me

This is really nicely done— the writing is strong (great narrator) and it goes beyond the expectations of the genre.

You Should Know

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4! Here are some things you definitely want to understand before deciding to read this book:

- The writing is wonderful! Love her style/voice!
- This is touted as a science fiction murder mystery. It has elements of those things, but you have to realize it is elementally neither of those in full. The sci fi elements are things like the VR, government run cloning, and certain pieces of the world the story is set in. However, it is not a focus. Neither is the focus on the murder mystery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s there, but I was 4 hours and 45 minutes into this 8 hour audio book before it was even mentioned. The MM is very intriguing and well-executed when it gets going, though.
- The focus is on the psychological and existential coming to terms of the main character with her new self — reconciling if she is or isn’t truly the same woman she was before she was murdered. So, be prepared for lots of focused moments on sights, sounds, things she touches, and deep inward thought/feelings to be expressed, all in great detail.
- Because of the former, the first half of the book is slooowwww — beautifully written and thought-provoking but slooowwww. The stakes in the first half are internally driven — self realization and acceptance. Not a lot “happens.” Very stream of consciousness.
- The payoff if you stick with it into the latter half is worth it.

Slow beginning w/ a twisty end

It took awhile for the story to get going & I’m not sure the end really felt worth the slow burn. But the 2 things I did like about the story were (1) that you realize later there were a few clues left along the way and they’re done pretty well which feels gratifying & well thought out & (2) the author did a good job of not falling into cliches. But definitely be prepared for a very slow first half.

Excellent narration, strong writing but...

Katie Williams writes convincingly about a handful of murdered and cloned women, their struggles to readjust to regular life and the more or less tactful reactions of those around them. The book is very strong until the last quarter of it, when another, bizarre plot twist makes it fall somewhat flat. I had to listen to that part several times to make sure I had gotten it right.
Still worth reading, if anything for Rebecca Lowman's excellent portrayal of the main character.

Introspective & beautiful

I paused several times to take notes on some of the quotes in this book. I resonated with it very deeply, as a woman and as a traumatized person. The concept is sooo unique and interesting and was written less like a thriller and more like a thought experiment on what it means to be a woman. And a human. And a mother, which I am not but that’s just how good the author and narrator are - I could feel all those emotions! The prose was beautiful and just… gah! I loved this book. Read it, and read it again. I’m going to buy a physical copy because my notes app is too full of all the sections I want to go back and read again and again.

Really good!

What a writer. Happy I found this one. Great narration as well.
Not really sci-fi

Black Mirror the Book

I enjoyed this read. If black mirror the Netflix series had a book this would be it.