Book Summary and Reviews of How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson

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labmom55

The rare five star mystery
What a fun premise! A “successful” serial killer, in other words, one not caught and still operating, has written a how-to book titled “How To Get Away with Murder”. Meanwhile, Samantha, a DI who had been on a 6 month mental health leave, returns to help investigate the murder of a 14 year old girl. The girl’s body has been staged and there is a connection to the book and its author, Denver Brady.

The book within a book idea isn’t new, but it works superbly here. Sam is tasked with reading the book to see what the connection is - is the author the killer, is there a copycat operating or is the book a work of fiction. The story alternates between the investigation and chapters of HTGAWM. Sam was a well developed main character, suffering from PTSD and on shaky ground. Even though her job is to peruse the killer’s manifesto, she struggles to get more than a chapter done at a time. Luckily, she’s been assigned a trainee who while totally posh has plenty of brain cells.
Kudos to Philipson for the dark, sardonic humor here. I found myself chuckling through major portions of Brady’s advice.

As others have noted, this book is a debut but certainly doesn’t come off as a debut. It’s extremely well polished and well executed. I just adored the ending. I rarely assign 5 stars to mysteries, but this one richly deserves each one.

I listened to this and the two narrators, Michael Geary and Tamsin Kennard, both did a fabulous job.

My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

Janine_S

Great thriller
From the very beginning I was hooked. A book within a book, this cleverly plotted novel with a compelling lead character delivers to the end. I loved it! Alternating between Denver Brady, the author (and serial killer) of the best selling How to Get Away with Murder, and excerpts from his book, and DSI Samantha "Sam" Hansen, this book packs dark humor and clever plot twists.

Sam has been on leave from the police force suffering from PTSD when 14 year old Charlotte Marsden is found murdered. Sam who's been putting off a return to her job is instantly acquisitive and returns to find Charlotte's murderer. However everybody is focused on finding Denver Brady whose book was found on the dead girl's body (and everybody is now required to read). What follows then are the police searching among clues in the book for Denver. The search brings out Brady's narcissism. But Sam keeps her focus on Charlotte's murderer - who may or may not be Denver. And then as the denouement unfolds you get a wonderful conclusion- you might figure it out, but even if you do it is so snarky you can't help but love it.

I liked Sam. She's a bit quirky and sometimes irritating but I liked her tenacious focus on finding Charlotte's murderer. I also liked that the author tackled Sam's mental health struggles - her godfather Harry represents those who feel these kinds of struggles don't exist "just get on with it (he would say). Denver Brady is dislikable not just because he seems to think he's the "best serial killer ever," but because he thinks he's smarter than everyone.

This is superior thriller.