My Sister, the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite

Our first book of 2022 is My Sister,the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. When I was looking for books for Cover to Cocktails, I found a bunch that I wanted to read, but the wait list at the library was really long for some of them. They will hopefully make it into the reading list as we go through the year! Then I remembered this book that I had come across in 2021 while looking for books to read. I looked it up again and saw that it was described as a dark comedy, and I thought, why not. It’s January and freezing cold, let’s bring in some humour.

This novella was a quick and easy read that kept us both interested. It was kind of choppy to read with chapters jumping around to different times of the main character's life. We were not really sure where the comedy was though. Neither one of us had any laugh out loud or even laugh at all moments. Not to say that the story wasn't enjoyable. We both enjoyed reading about Nigeria and the culture. We both enjoyed the character and story development. Both of us felt that the book ended without any closure, it just suddenly stopped and left you in suspense.

This book centres on sisters, Korede and Ayoola. Korede is the responsible one, Ayoola is anything but responsible. Korede is tall and not what anyone would call pretty, Ayoola is petite and devastatingly beautiful. Korede has been told from childhood to look after Ayoola, and that’s what she does, even if it means covering up murder. I found Korede difficult to like, she was very stand-offish at work, even when other nurses would try to talk with her, she would either walk away or be snippy with them. She also had an extreme need to keep things clean, even criticizing the cleaning staff at the hospital (now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with keeping things clean, she just took it a bit too far, though I guess if you're always cleaning up after your murdering sister, maybe you have a right to feel like this). I felt that Korede was very jealous of Ayoola and how she seems to breeze her way through life, but still felt a need to protect her, going so far as to cover up murder. But Korede also dreamed of turning in Ayoola so she would finally face consequences for her actions, but also knew that turning Ayoola in would result in going to jail herself.

Ayoola seems to be the complete opposite of Korede and doesn't seem to be very smart. Korede actually had to stop her from posting on social media after her last murder so she would look like a concerned girlfriend, something Ayoola couldn't seem to understand. But as the book goes on, we noticed that she seems to be a master manipulator. She believes men are only out for one thing and she is determined to protect herself at all costs, once she gets what she wants from them of course! She also knows how to get what she wants from her mother, and I think she even has Korede wrapped around her finger too. Ayoola plays the innocent ditzy sister very well.

We both enjoyed the character development in this book beyond Korede and Ayoola. There was the hospital cleaner dating two women at the same time and the fallout when they found out. The other nurses were entertaining, though at times they seemed incompetent.

Tade was a disappointment to both of us. Ayoola told Korede that he would be just like every other man and Korede refused to believe it. Initially he seemed to be an interesting, caring man, but as soon as he saw Ayoola he wanted the beautiful girl, just like Ayoola predicted. Tade quickly becomes an annoying character as he fell more in lust with Ayoola. It was frustrating to see him ignore Korede and her feelings and it was hard to feel sorry for him in the end.

We both really liked Muhtar and Korede's relationship with him. He seemed like such a good person and we wondered if he wanted more with Korede in the end. He had become a confidante for Korede while he was in a coma and even after. She helped him when she could with his family and he kept her secrets. We wondered what might have happened between the two of them had Korede called him.

SPOILER ALERT - The next section will go through the story. If you have not read the book yet and want to, stop reading here and jump to the bottom of the post!

The book opens with Ayoola calling Korede to her boyfriend’s house because she killed him. Korede shows up and instead of calling the police, she helps her sister clean up and then dispose of the body. We can tell that this is not the first time Korede has cleaned up after her sister. They have it down to a system now. This boyfriend was Femi, the third one Ayoola has killed. She claims Femi attacked her, but Korede knows better, the knife wound is in the back. After cleaning up and disposing of the body, they go home. Ayoola is ready to get on with life and seems indifferent to the killing. Korede is more affected and realizes her sister has now entered serial killer territory.

Korede’s personal life is lacking. She works as a nurse at a hospital, but has no friends. She doesn’t get along with any of her co-workers and is happy to bark orders at them. It seems a couple of them try to get closer to her, but she shows no interest in making friends. There is one person at the hospital she would like to get to know better though, and that is Tade, a doctor at the hospital. Korede is in love with him, but Tade has never noticed her.

Korede becomes more consumed with guilt over Femi. She finds his Facebook profile online and a blog where he has posted poetry. She begins to question if she should be taking care of Ayoola or if she should let her be caught. The only problem with this is Korede would also end up in jail as she helped dispose of the bodies. She has no one to talk to except a comatose patient, Muhtar. Muhtar has been in a coma for months and visits from his family have dwindled. Korede finds comfort talking to Muhtar. Because it is unlikely he will ever wake up, she feels safe talking about Ayoola and her new serial killer status.

It seems life will continue as it always has, until Ayoola comes to the hospital to take Korede for lunch. Korede doesn’t want her sister to visit her at the hospital, but she shows up anyways. Everyone who works with Korede can’t believe she could be related to the beautiful Ayoola. Then Tade meets her and instantly falls in love. Korede is crushed, but even when Ayoola asks her how she feels for Tade, she doesn’t say anything, almost giving Ayoola permission to date him. Tade begins showering Ayoola with gifts and her mother is thrilled that Ayoola might marry a doctor. She even feeds Tade little lies about Ayoola’s homemaking skills (she has none!).

We also begin to find out a bit about the family history. The girl’s father was not a nice man. He was willing to cheat at business to get ahead and he was violent with his family. He even brought his girlfriends home. One day he realizes how beautiful Ayoola is when a regional chief is visiting. The chief shows interest in Ayoola so he makes a deal with the chief, basically trading Ayoola for the deal. When the day comes that Ayoola must go to the chief, Korede won’t allow it. They know their father will be so angry he could kill them, but Korede says “Not if we kill him first.” This leads me to believe that she was the mastermind behind killing her father, which may have lead Ayoola down the path to serial killer.

Korede is determined to keep Tade and Ayoola apart. She loves Tade and wants to save him. But Ayoola points out that he is like all other men, he just wants her for her beauty, he isn’t deep at all. Korede refuses to believe it and at one point even tells Tade that Ayoola has killed before and that he is in danger. He doesn’t believe her and calls her a bad sister.

Ayoola cheats on Tade with a married man who takes her to Dubai for the weekend. The married man ends up dead. News reports say it is food poisoning with no mention of Ayoola. Was it really food poisoning or was this victim #4?

Meanwhile, Muhtar wakes from his coma and remembers hearing Korede talking to him. He even remembers most of what she said, even though she tries to convince him that coma patients have all kinds of dreams. Muhtar knows the truth, but doesn’t want to turn in Korede. He does suggest she save Tade and turn in her sister. Muhtar also has an interesting family dynamic. No one came to visit him in recent months and when they do show up once he wakes up, it seems that his wife has taken up with his brother. His son cancelled his engagement and now wants to marry the governor’s daughter to help with connections. Muhtar refuses to give his blessing and eventually tells his wife he is divorcing her. He gives Korede his number in case she ever wants to talk, but I wondered if he might have been interested in more, despite him being near her father’s age.

After Korede is made head nurse, her fears about Ayoola and Tade come true. She gets a call from Ayoola’s phone and races to Tade’s house. Tade answers the door and tells Korede that Ayoola tried to stab him. Korede finds Ayoola with the knife in her stomach, bleeding out and goes into nurse mode to save her. Tade, the doctor, does nothing but defend himself. Ayoola is rushed to the hospital and is saved. Korede gets Ayoola to tell her what happened and realized that Ayoola has always been on her side. Even though Ayoola did try to stab Tade, she did it because he was telling her how horrible Korede had been. After Ayoola tells everyone that Tade stabbed her, Korede has to make a choice, her sister or Tade. The choice becomes clear, Tade was never interested in Korede, but her sister has always been there for her in her own way. Korede decides to keep quiet and take care of Ayoola, as she always has. The book ends with another man showing up at the house looking for Ayoola. Could this be the next victim?

We both enjoyed this book and were left us with some interesting questions:

• How far would we go to protect our family? Korede drew the line at cleaning up murders, which to us is way too far!

• Did Ayoola's murderous behaviour start with the killing of their father? And who killed their father, Korede or Ayoola, or maybe their mother?

• Is Ayoola's opinion of men coming from her experience with her father? Does she believe all me are scum so she feels okay with getting rid of them when she no longer needs them? Does she think the men deserve it?

• Did Ayoola kill the man in Dubai? Jen thought so. We wondered who she paid off to keep her name out of the news, or did she have to pay anyone off at all, did she just use her beauty to get her way?

• How long can they go down this road before the police, corrupt as they are, begin to piece it together?

I didn’t love this book. It wasn’t really humourous, though there were some fun scenes. I liked how it started, but found it became less interesting/readable as it went along.

Both Jen and I felt like the book left us without closure. The ending left you wondering, but the characters didn't really change, Ayoola will keep dating and killing men and Korede will keep cleaning up after her.

Be sure to let us know how you enjoyed the book and the post! Until next time, have a cocktail, read a book, and be happy!