- this edition printed by Atlantic Books 2018
- ISBN 978-1-78649-762-8
- 226 pages
- source: my local library
When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other...
My take
Korede knows that she shouldn't be helping Ayoola to dispose of the bodies of the men that she "accidentally" kills, but she is good at it. After all she is a senior nurse at the local hospital. She keeps hoping each body will be the last. Their mother is amazingly unaware of what is going on as Ayoola's boyfriends go missing.
But then things get really serious when Ayoola begins to drop in to the hospital for lunch and meets Korede's colleagues, in particular a male doctor that Korede has her eye on.
Korede begins sharing her secrets with a patient who is in a coma, and then he wakes up and remembers some of what she has told him.
An interesting read. Really about so much more than murders.
This is really one novel where you need to look at the chapter headings because they tell you the focus of the chapter.
My rating: 4.4
About the author
Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo, a Nigerian publishing house, and as a production manager at Ajapaworld, a children’s educational and entertainment company. She now works as a freelance writer and editor.
In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top-ten spoken-word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam, and in 2016 she was a finalist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria.
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019
Winner of the LA Times Award for Best Crime Thriller, 2019
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