My Murder
What if science could bring people back to life complete with memories created prior to premature death? Surely such abilities would be fraught with ethical questions and ramifications. What if a serially killer targeted young women alone in the dark? What would the tipping point be at which the public would rally for these women to be brought back? These are some of the questions from which Katie Williams’ novel My Murder (2023) stems. Williams’ novel takes readers to a not-so-distant future when technology—medical and otherwise—changes certain fundamental certainties in life. Most notably, My Murder is set during a time when death need not be forever.
The protagonist and storyteller, Lou, is a thirty-something, married mother of a young daughter. She is a recent survivor of a serial killer. The term survivor, however, suggests she lived, which she did, but first she died. As she settles back into her marriage and the monotony of young motherhood, Lou recognizes that she is different from the Lou that lived before. She must grapple with the strange, uncanny questions that settle around her about her murder, her rebirth, her marriage, and her maternity.
What follows, reads much like a classic thriller (there is even a serial killer) but it does not follow the standard trajectory. In fact, as Lou (and the reader) unravel the thread of mystery surrounding her murder and resurrection, things tend to lead places she did not anticipate. In the end there is a big reveal, and it will either satisfy the reader or leave her feeling a little disappointed, perhaps scratching her head. So it goes with every big reveal at the conclusion of a mystery-laced tale. Whether the resolution sits with the reader or not, this novel explores plenty of fascinating questions.
My Murder dives into the theme of maternity (from postpartum depression and young motherhood to mothering a murderer). It also laps through sci-fi infused themes of innovation and the ethics associated with any new technology. Ultimately, My Murder is a novel about the choices we make and the ways our paths can change drastically in an instant. It certainly begs the question: What would you do with your one precious life, if you got a second chance?
Bibliography:
Williams, Katie. My Murder. Riverhead Books: 2023.
A Few Great Passages:
“Mystery is essential, they say. Mystery. Well, I was in one of those right now, and I couldn't say that I liked it very much.”
“Do you ever think about how tears undo themselves as they run down your face, how that's what crying is, tears unrolling themselves until they are nothing?”
