Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

How to murder your Boss – McMasters Handbuch zum Morden by Rupert Holmes

24 reviews

angorarabbit's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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TLDR: Very good Golden Age Style Mystery with a few twists. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this mystery novel. The blurb promises entertainment which is delivered mostly in puns in the first half of the book. Then Mr Holmes gets to work with an intricately plotted how-they done-it novel. 

 

The forward is a bit tiresome, but necessary to understanding the setting. The rest of the narrative is an omnipresent narrator and a mix of journal entries from the main character to his patron, reports, and letters. The later being indicated by chapter headings. The style is down to earth with enough description to fill in the blanks but not be flowery. The action is pretty easy to follow and main characters are easy to differentiate. 

 

The characterisation was okay, the minor characters suffered in particular. Main characters were somewhat stereotyped though they acted consistent with their characters throughout the novel. The first part of the novel was rather under peopled though filling a school like it should be is always tricky for both the writer and the reader. 

 

In true Golden Age fashion all the would be deletees were nasty humans. I thought two of them deserved an Orient Express experience to tell the truth. I anticipate there were after the funeral parties. The setting is 1950’s America so at least the author didn’t have to worry about the modern banes of deleters existence DNA and mobile phones. Though one deletion method was old fashioned, the other two were quite novel. 

 

The postscript does make me wonder if the punishment will fit the crime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

peggyluwho's review against another edition

2.75

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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It’s okay, but the schtick got old very quickly.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol

sylvanskezelene's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Gaslighting

queersubtext's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Medical content, Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy

peachmoni's review against another edition

3.5

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

bigheadcam's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Murder Your Employer is like if Harry Potter was written for the macabre, in a good way. It's a fun story with some interesting (if at times, simple) characters as well as a fantastical setting in the form of McMasters and the U.S. in the 1950s. 

It's worth mentioning that I think part of the reason that this book takes place in this time period is because quite a few of the methods mentioned in this book around "getting away with murder" would not be possible due to today's surveillance state and much more accurate and sensitive forensic technologies. Still, a good romp through hypothetical murders and the fantasy by proxy of an evil employer being shown the door!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

dev921's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

callidoralblack's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

jhbandcats's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A darkly humorous approach to getting rid of people who *really* deserve to be gone from this world. Employers are the main focus here but of course these techniques are universal when the goal is murder. 

The book is a fresh look at an ancient idea - how to get away with murder - and it’s cleverly told from several viewpoints so we get a well-rounded story. Each of the murderers-to-be is a sympathetic character, having suffered greatly at the hands of their future victims, and I was rooting for them all. 

I appreciated the clever wordplay the most, but also enjoyed learning about the varied curriculum (Wump = Wardrobe, Makeup, & Prosthetics; the Track Meet = track your prey, meet up with them for the killing) and the many sets (cozy bars and Chinese restaurants, forests, even a mini-castle accessible only via gondola). 

All in all an entertaining book but something about it just wasn’t 5-star category, and I can’t figure out why. This is the type of book that would normally make me swoon - funny, calculating, sick, a bit gory - but I just wasn’t swept off my feet, unlike a murder victim or two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

imds's review against another edition

3.5

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment