Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of graphic violence and death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What effect did Holmes’s approach of framing murder as a skill have on your reading experience? Did the novel’s dark humor make the subject matter more palatable or more disturbing?

2. The book begins by addressing readers as people considering murder and framing this assumption in a positive light: “So you’ve decided to commit a murder. Congratulations” (1). How effectively does this opening establish the novel’s unusual tone and perspective?

3. Compare Murder Your Employer to Holmes’s earlier novel, Where the Truth Lies. What similarities and differences do you notice in his treatment of morally ambiguous characters?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Which of the three student “deletists” did you find yourself most sympathetic toward, and what does your choice reveal about your values?

2. Have you ever encountered a situation where traditional avenues of justice seemed inadequate? If so, why?

3. Consider Holmes’s exploration of The Moral Complexities of Justice, specifically the “Four Enquiries,” as an ethical framework for determining whether murder is justified. Which question do you find most compelling, and why?

4. When have you chosen compassion over achieving a goal that seemed important to you, similar to Gemma’s sacrifice to save her target?

5. What motivates you to take significant action in your life?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel is set in the 1950s. What aspects of the characters’ justifications for their actions might differ in today’s world of social media exposure and corporate accountability?

2. In what ways do the power imbalances depicted in the novel parallel contemporary movements addressing workplace harassment?

3. What does McMasters’s rigorous moral test for justifiable deletion suggest about society’s relationship with vigilante justice?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Analyze specific examples where Holmes’s use of humor makes the dark subject matter more approachable.

2. What does each character’s use of disguise reveal about their personal growth throughout the story?

3. The novel uses the first-person point of view from multiple perspectives. What impact does this narrative choice have on your sympathies for various characters?

4. What purpose do Dean Harrow’s witty aphorisms serve beyond humor, and how do they reinforce the novel’s themes?

5. Holmes structures the novel as an instructional guide including journal entries and reports. What does this format contribute to the book’s tone?

6. The three students experience dramatically different outcomes at the novel’s end. What message does this convey about The Moral Complexities of Justice as a theme?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you were admitted to McMasters, what specialized skill would you develop that could be useful in committing the perfect deletion?

2. Design your own “deletion” scenario using McMasters principles for a notorious fictional villain. After designing your scenario, what challenges might you face in adhering to the Four Enquiries?

3. Write a short epilogue explaining who deleted Dean Harrow at the novel’s end, and why.

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