This wickedly entertaining novel debut blends pitch-black humour with biting social satire. Set in contemporary London, How to Kill Your Family introduces us to Grace Bernard, a stylish, bitter anti-heroine with revenge on the brain. Journalist-turned-author Bella Mackie expertly transforms Grace into a force to be reckoned with, simultaneously repugnant and compelling. 

From the opening chapter, it’s clear that this is not your average crime novel. Grace isn’t stumbling into violence or lashing out in a fit of passion… instead, she’s organised, deliberate, and unshakably cool-headed. Her voice is sardonic, often hilarious, and brimming with loathing for the world she was denied access to. Yet there’s something magnetic about her that draws us in, even as she pulls the trigger.

If you like twisted, nuanced narrators, this one’s for you.

In case it’s not clear from the self-fulfilling title, Grace intends to kill her family. Her desire for revenge against the people who left her bereft and abandoned is set out, scalpel-sharp, by Mackie within a matter of pages. 

The Artemis family is obscenely wealthy, emotionally bankrupt, and wants nothing to do with Grace or her mother. Without financial or emotional support, Grace watches from afar as her absent family lives out a life of luxury. The injustice simmers, and then boils.

When she discovers that her dying mother’s wish for reconciliation was callously denied by her billionaire father, Simon Artemis, Grace’s frustration turns cold. What follows is a thrilling, carefully choreographed series of killings, each with its own detailed backstory and motive.

Mackie doesn’t just list off crimes one by one – no, she layers the narrative with social critique and personal insight. Each murder is anchored not just to Grace’s revenge, but to her worldview, commenting on society’s obsession with wealth, its tolerance of narcissism, and its endless hypocrisy.

Cleverly delivered in a dual-timeline structure, Mackie alternates between prison confessions and the gory past.

How to Kill Your Family will soon grace screens in an 8-part Netflix series expected to air in 2026. And it’s no wonder! The novel, theatrical and teeming with sardonic edge, was practically screaming out for a television adaptation.

Casting Anya Taylor-Joy as Grace is a move that already has fans buzzing with excitement. Following her chilling performances in The Queen’s Gambit and Last Night in Soho, Taylor-Joy is poised to capture Grace’s icy charm and cold-blooded calculation.

Don’t be fooled, though, Mackie’s first novel isn’t all blood, guts, and gore. There’s a real story here, and a critique of modern bourgeois sensibilities runs throughout. Influencer culture, hapless husbands, vapid socialites – they’re all under fire. Grace’s narration, full of dark humour and unapologetic contempt, is at once cutting and hilarious:

“Does anyone have a father that doesn’t disappoint in some low-level but ultimately incredibly damaging way?”

What we love about How to Kill Your Family is how deftly it manages the nuance of a morally-skewed narrator. Yes, Grace is precisely and coldly picking off her family one by one. Yes, that is, well, rather grim. Yes, you still root for her throughout. 

As the body count grows, so does the anxiety we feel for Grace, whose master plan threatens to collapse from within. While Mackie ensures she never earns our full sympathy, her charisma is so intoxicating that it leaves you questioning: can a killer fulfil the role of heroine? 

Our only gripe with this book was that some chapters were subject to rambling, and not always in service of the narrative. There seems to be an element, here, of trying a smidge too hard to be witty, which loses us from time to time. Ultimately, though, a few lengthy rants didn’t detract from the thrill of this novel.

Suffice to say, we’re excited to see the TV adaptation just so we can experience Grace’s world again. And if you’ve not yet had the pleasure, we’re jealous you get to dive into this wicked revenge romp for the very first time!

Other works by Bella Mackie

How to Kill Your Family might have been Mackie’s first fictional novel, but there’s more of her work to explore:

• Jog On: How Running Saved My Life (2018)

• Jog On Journal: A Practical Guide to Getting Up and Running (2019)

• What a Way to Go (2024)

Discover your next thriller at Victoria Freudenheim

If you’re drawn to provocative thrillers with cinematic flair, How to Kill Your Family is an addictive pick. 

At Victoria Freudenheim, we love spotlighting bold, genre-bending reads that resonate. So if you’re craving another standout thriller, browse our top-rated novels to find your next obsession. For now, you can get your bookish fix over on our blog!