How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder

McConigley follows her PEN/Open Book Award–winning collection, Cowboys and East Indians, with a witty and ultimately profound tale centered on two angsty preteens’ plot to kill their abusive uncle. From the beginning, the reader knows the killing will take place, and the bulk of the novel explores the lead-up to the crime. The mixed-race 12-year-old narrator, Georgie Ayyar Creel, agrees with her 13-year-old sister, Agatha Krishna, that the legacy of British colonialism is the reason they feel so out of place in 1986 Wyoming. (“They were the reason we were quiet around most white people,” Georgie reflects about the British.) They blame everything on the British, including the arrival of their Indian mother’s odious brother, Vinny, from India. After Vinnie rapes them, they plot to murder him by putting antifreeze in his drinks. Initially, the scheme strengthens the sisters’ bond, but after they go through with it, Georgie is filled with newfound heartache. McConigley blends the macabre material with clever stylistic devices, such as quizzes in the style of teen magazines (“How Do You Know If a Boy Likes You?”), which mirror the plot as Georgie works herself up to the murder (“Do You Have What It Takes to Kill”). This thrilling bildungsroman is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown. (Jan.)