The BookBrowse Review

Published December 4, 2024

ISSN: 1930-0018

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Contents

In This Edition of
The BookBrowse Review

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Editor's Introduction
Reviews
Hardcovers
Recommended for Book Clubs
Book Discussions

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Publishing Soon

Literary Fiction


Historical Fiction


Essays


Poetry & Novels in Verse


Mysteries


Thrillers


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Biography/Memoir


History, Current Affairs and Religion


True Crime


Travel & Adventure


Young Adults

Literary Fiction


Historical Fiction


Mysteries


Thrillers


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Graphic Novels


History, Current Affairs and Religion


Science, Health and the Environment


Extras
  • Blog:
    First Impressions Favorites: 2024’s Best Reader-Reviewed Books
  • Holiday Wordplay:
    Solve all 15!
Book Jacket

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage
A Novel
by Asia Mackay
14 Jan 2025
352 pages
Publisher: Bantam Books
Genre: Thrillers

Two former serial killers trying to keep their past buried realize that old habits die hard in this "wildly original, razor-sharp thriller" (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark).

I wasn't smashing the patriarchy; I was killing it. Literally.

Hazel and Fox are an ordinary married couple with a baby. Except for one small thing: they're murderers. Well, they used to be. They had it all. An enviable London lifestyle, five-star travels, and plenty of bad men to rid from the world. Then Hazel got pregnant.

Now, they're just another mom-and-dad-and-baby. They gave up vigilante justice for life in the suburbs: arranged play dates instead of body disposals, diapers over daggers, mommy conversations instead of the sweet seduction right before a kill. Hazel finds her new life terribly dull. And the more she forces herself to play her monotonous, predictable role, the more she begins to feel that murderous itch again.

Meanwhile, Fox has really taken to being a father. Always the planner, he loves being five steps ahead of everyone and knowing exactly what's coming around the bend. Plus, if anyone can understand Hazel needing one more kill, it's Fox. But then Hazel kills someone without telling Fox. And when police show up at their door, Hazel realizes it will take everything she has to keep her family together.

"Wildly entertaining ... Mackay brilliantly exaggerates the stifling aspects of parenthood through the eyes of her charismatic killers, wringing both laughs and pathos from her deliciously outlandish premise. This is sensational." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Sexy, stylish, thrilling, and funny ... Asia Mackay rips up the rulebook in this wildly original, razor-sharp tale of marriage and murder, mundanity and mayhem. I loved it."—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark

"Murder has never been so funny. If you liked Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you'll love this original and darkly funny thriller." —Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of Hostage

Asia Mackay is the author of two novels published in the UK. After a career in television in China, she returned to London, where she worked for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their round-the-world motorbike documentaries. She started writing her debut novel, Killing It, on maternity leave—it was the runner-up in Richard and Judy's Search for a Bestseller competition and runner-up and exceptionally recognized for the Comedy Women In Print Prize. Asia lives in London with her husband, four young children, and two dogs.

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