How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder
On sale
22nd January 2026
Price: £18.99
A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from The New York Times, Literary Hub, Stylist and many more
‘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 OUR MISSING HEARTS
‘Droll, caustic . . . and laced with wit and compassion’ FINANCIAL TIMES
Summer, 1986. Tween sisters Georgie Ayyar and Agatha Krishna welcome their aunt, uncle and young cousin – newly arrived from India – into their house in rural Wyoming where they’ll all live together. Because this is what families do. That is, until the sisters decide that it’s time for their uncle to die.
To understand why, you need to hear Georgie’s story. It’s one of violence hiding in their house and history, of her once-unshakeable bond with her sister, of being an Indian-American girl in the heart of the West. Her account is cheeky, unflinching and infectiously inflected with the trappings of teendom: pen pal letters, how-to guides, games of MASH and teen-magazine-style quizzes. And the tale she weaves is either:
a) a vivid portrait of an extended family
b) a moving story of sisterhood
c) a playful ode to the 80s
d) a murder mystery (of sorts)
e) a ruthless meditation on history and language, trauma and healing, and the meaning of independence
Or maybe it’s really:
f) all of the above.
‘This thrilling bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
‘A fierce and marvelous book with an utterly unique, brightly burning lifeforce’ MAGGIE SHPISTEAD, author of GREAT CIRCLE
‘Tender, defiant, and formally daring . . . I couldn’t stop reading’ JESSAMINE CHAN, author of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS
‘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 OUR MISSING HEARTS
‘Droll, caustic . . . and laced with wit and compassion’ FINANCIAL TIMES
Georgie and Agatha Krishna killed their uncle, and they blame the British.
Summer, 1986. Tween sisters Georgie Ayyar and Agatha Krishna welcome their aunt, uncle and young cousin – newly arrived from India – into their house in rural Wyoming where they’ll all live together. Because this is what families do. That is, until the sisters decide that it’s time for their uncle to die.
To understand why, you need to hear Georgie’s story. It’s one of violence hiding in their house and history, of her once-unshakeable bond with her sister, of being an Indian-American girl in the heart of the West. Her account is cheeky, unflinching and infectiously inflected with the trappings of teendom: pen pal letters, how-to guides, games of MASH and teen-magazine-style quizzes. And the tale she weaves is either:
a) a vivid portrait of an extended family
b) a moving story of sisterhood
c) a playful ode to the 80s
d) a murder mystery (of sorts)
e) a ruthless meditation on history and language, trauma and healing, and the meaning of independence
Or maybe it’s really:
f) all of the above.
‘This thrilling bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
‘A fierce and marvelous book with an utterly unique, brightly burning lifeforce’ MAGGIE SHPISTEAD, author of GREAT CIRCLE
‘Tender, defiant, and formally daring . . . I couldn’t stop reading’ JESSAMINE CHAN, author of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS
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Reviews
Droll, caustic in its observation of American mores, and laced with wit and compassion
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
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
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
This formally inventive debut explores sisterhood and the everyday legacies of empire with dark humour
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
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
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
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
This thrilling bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng
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
A fierce and marvelous book with an utterly unique, brightly burning lifeforce