This short, sharp debut novel from Nigerian writer Oyinkan Braithwaite, a 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize finalist for "The Driver," follows a nurse who would get along better with her sister if the young woman would stop committing murder.
Korede and Ayoola have little in common. Elder sister Korede is plain, diligent and devoted to Ayoola, who is beautiful, vapid and devoid of empathy. In the opening scene, Korede receives a call for help from her sister, who has stabbed her boyfriend to death, allegedly in self-defense. As this incident marks the third time one of Ayoola's boyfriends has wound up dead after supposedly assaulting her, Korede finds herself less inclined to believe her sister. Nonetheless, she rushes to clean up the scene and dispose of the corpse, as usual.
However, more work remains after destroying the evidence; Korede must manage questions from the police and remind Ayoola that grieving girlfriends of missing men do not immediately begin posting pictures of their food and outfits to Instagram. Korede finds solace only at the hospital where she works. There, she can sneak away to confide her woes to a coma patient because he cannot repeat her secrets, and she can see Tade, a handsome doctor who appreciates her intelligence and treats her with respect. Even this escape is shattered, however, when Ayoola visits the hospital and catches Tade's eye. If Korede wants to save Tade, whom she secretly loves, she may have to betray the sister she has always protected.
Beauty is a beast in this sly, absurd take on the black widow trope. Braithwaite's greatest trick lies in keeping the sisterly relationship believable, with Korede constantly scoffing in disbelief at Ayoola's shallowness and lack of common sense, yet always rushing in to tidy her sister's messes. Readers can sympathize with Korede enough to forget at times that she is an accessory to murder, no matter how noble her motivations.
While the serial killer plot device suggests the horror genre, My Sister, the Serial Killer has frequent overtones of dark comedy brought on by Ayoola's naïveté and lack of remorse as Korede wonders, "Isn't there an option where no one dies and Ayoola doesn't have to be incarcerated?" In the end, readers may question how different the sisters are despite their opposite personalities. This diminutive chiller comes with a surprising bite and a reminder never to underestimate a pretty face--or a plain one. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads
Shelf Talker: Korede will do anything to protect her younger sister, including dispose of the bodies as Ayoola murders a string of lovers.