‘Takes all the expected stories about growing up Indian American, slices them open with razor-sharp wit, and turns them inside out‘ CELESTE NG, author of LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE

‘A true original’ TAYARI JONES, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

‘Laced with wit and compassion’ FINANCIAL TIMES

Georgie and Agatha Krishna killed their uncle, and they blame the British.

In the summer of 1986, tween sisters welcome an aunt, uncle and young cousin from India to their house in rural Wyoming. And the sisters decide it’s time for their uncle to die. To understand why, you need to hear Georgie’s story – cheeky, unflinching and infectiously inflected with teenage trappings. And the tale she weaves is either:

a) a vivid family portrait
b) a moving story of sisterhood
c) a playful ode to the 80s
d) a murder mystery (of sorts)
e) a ruthless exposé of the violence hiding in her house and history

Or maybe it’s really:

f) all of the above.

‘Droll, caustic . . . and laced with wit and compassion’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Fierce, marvellous and utterly unique’ MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD, author of GREAT CIRCLE

‘Tender, defiant and formally daring . . . I couldn’t stop reading’ JESSAMINE CHAN, author of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS

‘Fierce, funny . . . tackles weighty themes with the lightest of touches’ DAILY MAIL

‘An intriguing tale . . . that’ll totally confound your expectations’ STYLIST

Praise

An intriguing tale of murder, of sisters, of growing up as an Indian American girl in the 80s and a love letter to teen magazines that’ll totally confound your expectations
Stylist

Droll, caustic in its observation of American mores, and laced with wit and compassion
Financial Times

This formally inventive debut explores sisterhood and the everyday legacies of empire with dark humour
The i

Tender, defiant, and formally daring, Nina McConigley’s stunning debut novel How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder is ‘not the expected brown person story’ but rather a tale of sisterhood and survival, a child’s yearning for safety and protection, and the search for wholeness in a world that wants to split you in half. I fell in love with McConigley’s fierce, wry narrator Georgie Ayyar from the first page and couldn’t stop reading. A powerful, groundbreaking book
Jessamine Chan, author of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS

A fierce and marvelous book with an utterly unique, brightly burning lifeforce
Maggie Shipstead, author of GREAT CIRCLE

Nina McConigley is a true original. With a wit so sharp that it makes you bleed as soon as it would make you laugh, she slices through the postcolonial dilemma with all of its complexities and absurdities. Heart-mending and heart-breaking – as only the truth can be
Tayari Jones, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

I have been waiting for Nina McConigley’s debut novel for years and it’s even better than I could have imagined. How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder takes all the expected stories about growing up Indian American, slices them open with razor-sharp wit, and turns them inside out. A moving portrayal of sisterhood and a much-needed examination of how power is abused – over girls, over countries, over cultures – and the possibilities, and costs, of reclaiming that power
Celeste Ng, author of OUR MISSING HEARTS

Part thriller, part coming-of-age, part magazine quiz, Nina McConigley’s inventive and captivating How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder boldly examines the often hidden and scary parts of childhood. Full of heart and soul, this is a knockout work that deftly tackles the complex bonds of friendship and family – offering up compelling questions for our notions of what it means to truly love
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of WORLD OF WONDERS

Spirited and witty, stylish and audacious, How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder is gorgeously in possession of itself. Its avid curiosity about the world, its alertness to history, and its enormously fun storytelling – with a twist at the end – held me in their spell
Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING

Witty and ultimately profound . . . McConigley blends the macabre material with clever stylistic devices . . . This thrilling bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Framed like a funny, ferociously allusive grown-up version of a YA whodunit, McConigley’s debut novel carries deeper, knottier mysteries than the curious crime at its center. Wittily observant and achingly tender
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Refreshing . . . In addition to describing growing up Indian American in 1980s Wyoming, McConigley’s debut novel artfully shares universalizing details of Georgie’s and Agatha’s everyday lives, like cheerleading and watching TV . . . McConigley’s impactful work will linger. Interspersed with details of the U.S. in the late 20th century, this is a book for all collections
Library Journal (starred review)

How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder is the story of a fractured family and a portrait of an era and place, but it is also a deeply thoughtful meditation on the lingering effects of colonial violence . . . The Ayyars, the Creels, the working-class Wyoming families, the displaced Arapahoe – all of them are hurt by colonial violence, a legacy claiming that might is right and one that inserts itself even in seemingly innocuous situations. McConigley offers no easy answers or neatly wrapped solutions, but some wisps of hope emerge . . . [A] wise, insightful novel
Washington Post