Murder Your Employer Summary, Characters and Themes
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes, published in 2023, is a darkly comedic novel that blends elements of crime fiction, satire, and academic intrigue. The story unfolds at McMasters Conservatory of the Applied Arts, a secretive institution dedicated to teaching the art of “deletion”—a euphemism for committing the perfect murder.
The novel follows the journey of Cliff Iverson, a disgruntled employee who finds himself at McMasters after a botched attempt to kill his corrupt boss. As Cliff navigates the school’s peculiar curriculum, he learns the intricacies of murder, ethics, and the complexities of his own morality.
Summary
Dean Harbinger Harrow welcomes readers to Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, a manual based on the curriculum of the secretive McMasters Conservatory. The guide is designed to educate readers on how to commit the perfect crime, using the real-life experiences of three students as examples.
Cliff Iverson, one of the featured students, believes he has successfully killed his former boss, Merrill Fiedler, a despicable figure at Woltan Industries, an aviation company.
Fiedler had exploited his power to manipulate employees for sexual favors and compromised the safety of new airplanes, leading to tragedies, including the suicide of a woman Cliff cared for and the death of his mentor, Jack Horvath.
Fired for challenging Fiedler’s unethical practices, Cliff’s revenge plan seemed flawless—until it wasn’t. McMasters faculty, posing as police officers, swiftly apprehend Cliff after his amateurish murder attempt and present him with a choice: jail or enrollment at McMasters.
Cliff soon finds himself at the mysterious McMasters campus, delivered there under heavy sedation and blindfolded. He learns that an anonymous benefactor is sponsoring his education.
As he settles into life at the school, Cliff meets a variety of colorful characters, including Dulcie Mown, who is secretly a famous actress, the clumsy Cubby Terhune, the haughty Simeon Sampson, and Gemma Lindley, who has her own dark past. Despite his growing interest in Gemma, she remains distant, focusing on her own mission of revenge.
Cliff is informed that failure at McMasters means death, which prompts him to try to escape. However, his attempt leads him to an elaborate mock hospital where students practice their “deletion” skills.
Cliff is drawn into the intense educational environment of McMasters, where even mundane tasks like working in the kitchen become lessons in subtle poisonings. He gains popularity among his peers after successfully pranking the arrogant Simeon, but he struggles to connect with Gemma, who remains engrossed in her own plot.
The faculty monitor her closely, concerned about the practicality of her plan to eliminate her blackmailer by befriending them.
The school’s Track Meet, where students simulate deletions, becomes a turning point. Cliff tries to save Gemma from Jud Helkampf, a fellow student with a reckless approach to murder.
When Helkampf attempts to kill Gemma, Cliff intervenes but ends up plummeting into a deep crevasse—a fall that should have been fatal.
However, Cliff lands safely on a crash pad, revealing that the entire mountain is part of McMasters’ intricate training setup. With this, Cliff is deemed ready for graduation.
After leaving McMasters, Cliff sets up Fiedler for a final confrontation, where the corrupt boss ends up killing himself in a botched attempt to murder Cliff. Dulcie, meanwhile, executes a meticulously planned deletion of her target, while Gemma’s plan goes awry, forcing her to improvise.
At the last moment, she saves her pregnant extortioner, narrowly avoiding disaster.
As the novel concludes, Cliff discovers that Jack Horvath’s widow was his mysterious sponsor. Gemma, now a professor at McMasters, reunites with Cliff, and they finally acknowledge their feelings for each other.
Dean Harrow’s closing remarks hint at the consequences of revealing McMasters’ secrets, leaving the reader to wonder about his fate.
Characters
Cliff Iverson
Cliff Iverson is the primary protagonist in Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide. He is introduced as a somewhat naive and unwitting individual who initially believes he has committed the perfect murder.
Cliff’s target is his former boss, Merrill Fiedler, a man whose corrupt and immoral actions have caused significant harm. These actions lead to the suicide of a woman Cliff cared for and the death of his surrogate uncle.
Despite his best intentions, Cliff’s murder attempt is botched, and he is swiftly brought to McMasters Conservatory. There, he is given a choice between imprisonment and joining the school to refine his homicidal skills.
Throughout the novel, Cliff undergoes significant growth, transforming from an inexperienced and impulsive individual into a calculated and methodical “deletist.” His journey is marked by his struggle to reconcile his moral compass with the dark teachings of McMasters.
Ultimately, he finds purpose in the school’s macabre curriculum. By the end of the novel, he has not only successfully executed his deletion but also found a sense of belonging and identity within the school.
Cliff becomes a professor and forms a connection with Gemma Lindley. His character embodies the themes of transformation, morality, and the consequences of power and control.
Gemma Lindley
Gemma Lindley is another central character who represents the struggle between moral integrity and the necessity to survive in a world of corruption and manipulation. She enters McMasters as a victim of extortion, forced into a position where she must consider murder as a means of escape.
Gemma’s journey is complex, as she initially attempts to approach her deletion with a sense of morality. She hopes to eliminate her target without causing undue harm.
However, her methods are deemed ineffective by the McMasters faculty, who assign her to work closely with the ruthless student Jud Helkampf to learn the harsh realities of their craft. Despite her best efforts, Gemma’s original plan fails, and she is forced to improvise in a dangerous situation.
Ultimately, she chooses to save her pregnant target at the cost of nearly being deleted herself. Gemma’s character arc highlights the tension between ethical principles and the ruthless pragmatism required for survival within the McMasters framework.
Her near-death experience and subsequent appointment as a professor of morality at McMasters suggest a complex understanding of the value of life and the fine line between justice and vengeance.
Doria Maye (Dulcie Mown)
Doria Maye, who assumes the alias Dulcie Mown, is a famous actress who enrolls at McMasters under the guise of an ordinary student. Her character represents the allure of fame and the lengths to which individuals will go to protect or reclaim their identity and autonomy.
Dulcie’s approach to deletion is theatrical and methodical, reflecting her background in the entertainment industry. She meticulously plans and executes her murder with a flair for drama, even going so far as to give her target a final chance before delivering the fatal blow.
Her deletion is characterized by a sense of poetic justice, as she uses her target’s own Oscar to kill him, symbolizing the destructive nature of vanity and the entertainment industry. Despite her success at McMasters, Dulcie’s story ends on a note of ambiguity.
Her desire to return to the school after encountering another corrupt individual in her professional life suggests that her experience at McMasters has left her disillusioned and uncertain about her future. Dulcie’s character underscores the themes of identity, performance, and the often-destructive impact of fame.
Jud Helkampf
Jud Helkampf serves as a foil to the other students at McMasters, representing the darker, more ruthless side of the school’s philosophy. Unlike Cliff and Gemma, Jud is unencumbered by moral dilemmas, viewing murder as a means to an end without regard for collateral damage.
His character is marked by arrogance and a disregard for the rules of McMasters, particularly the Four Enquiries, which stipulate that no innocent people should be harmed in a deletion. Helkampf’s willingness to kill Gemma during the Track Meet, an event meant for simulated deletions, demonstrates his dangerous unpredictability and lack of empathy.
His ultimate deletion by the faculty serves as a cautionary tale within the novel, reinforcing the idea that even in a school dedicated to teaching the art of murder, there are limits and rules that must be respected. Helkampf’s character highlights the potential for power to corrupt and the consequences of unchecked ambition and cruelty.
Merrill Fiedler
Merrill Fiedler, Cliff’s original target, is depicted as a thoroughly corrupt and immoral individual whose actions set the entire plot in motion. Fiedler’s abuse of power at Woltan Industries, including extortion and the endangerment of lives through unsafe business practices, makes him a deserving target in the eyes of both Cliff and the McMasters faculty.
Fiedler’s character is the embodiment of corporate greed and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals for personal gain. His eventual demise, orchestrated by Cliff with the benefit of a McMasters education, is a fitting conclusion to his arc.
His own vanity and hubris lead him to inadvertently cause his own death. Fiedler’s character serves as a catalyst for Cliff’s transformation and underscores the novel’s exploration of justice, power, and the moral complexities of taking a life.
Dean Harbinger Harrow
Dean Harbinger Harrow is the enigmatic and authoritative figure who guides both the reader and the students through the dark world of McMasters Conservatory. As the dean of the school, Harrow is both a mentor and a gatekeeper, imparting the school’s philosophy and ensuring that the students adhere to the strict rules governing their education.
His character is marked by a blend of charm, intellect, and a dispassionate approach to the subject of murder. Harrow’s interactions with Cliff and the other students reveal his deep understanding of human nature and his belief in the necessity of the skills taught at McMasters.
The dean’s role as the narrator adds an additional layer of complexity to the novel, as he is both a character within the story and a guide for the reader. His sudden disappearance at the end of the novel, suggested to be the result of his own deletion, leaves his character shrouded in mystery.
This reinforces the novel’s themes of secrecy, danger, and the ever-present threat of retribution.
Themes
Morality and Ethics
One of the central themes of the novel is the exploration of morality and ethics, particularly in the context of murder. The narrative is structured around the idea of committing the “perfect murder,” and the characters are students at a school where this is the sole curriculum.
The novel questions the boundaries of morality by placing the protagonists in situations where they must justify their actions, often blurring the line between right and wrong. For instance, Cliff Iverson’s decision to murder his former boss, Merrill Fiedler, is initially driven by a desire for justice.
Fiedler’s actions have caused harm to many, including the suicide of a woman Cliff cared about. However, the story complicates this moral stance by forcing Cliff to grapple with the ethical implications of his desire for vengeance.
The Four Enquiries of McMasters—particularly the rule that no innocent people should be harmed—further complicate the moral landscape, as they introduce a code of ethics within the context of an inherently immoral act.
Power and Corruption
Power and corruption are recurring themes in the novel, particularly through the character of Merrill Fiedler, whose abuse of power sets the story in motion. Fiedler’s exploitation of his employees, both sexually and professionally, reflects the corrupting influence of unchecked authority.
The novel critiques how power can lead to moral decay, as Fiedler’s actions result in the loss of lives and livelihoods. Moreover, the McMasters Conservatory itself can be seen as a microcosm of power dynamics, where the faculty wield control over the students, guiding them on how to commit murder without facing consequences.
This theme is also evident in the way the school operates, with its secretive nature and strict rules, suggesting that power within the institution is maintained through fear and manipulation.
Identity and Transformation
The theme of identity is intricately woven into the novel, particularly through the character arcs of the three main students: Cliff Iverson, Gemma Lindley, and Doria Maye (Dulcie Mown). Each character undergoes a transformation as they progress through their education at McMasters, reflecting the novel’s exploration of how identity can be shaped by external influences.
Cliff starts as an unwitting and somewhat naïve individual, but as he becomes more entrenched in the school’s teachings, he evolves into a more calculating and determined person, willing to embrace the school’s dark philosophy. Similarly, Gemma’s journey involves grappling with her sense of self, especially as she contemplates the moral implications of her actions.
Her eventual decision to sacrifice herself to save her extortioner’s baby signifies a profound transformation, suggesting that her sense of morality ultimately transcends the school’s teachings. Dulcie’s struggle with her identity as an actress versus her role as a “deletist” highlights the conflict between personal ambition and moral integrity.
This culminates in her realization that she cannot escape the darkness that the school has instilled in her.
Satire of the Self-Help Genre
The novel also serves as a satire of the self-help genre, using its format as a “guide” to murder to critique the often oversimplified and formulaic nature of self-help books. By framing murder as something that can be learned and perfected through education, Holmes lampoons the idea that complex life issues can be addressed with a step-by-step approach.
The character of Dean Harbinger Harrow, who narrates the guide with a mix of enthusiasm and detachment, embodies this satirical tone. He presents morally reprehensible advice with the same earnestness one might find in a typical self-help manual.
The book’s structure as a “how-to” guide for murder ultimately exposes the absurdity of applying such a format to ethical dilemmas, making the reader question the validity of the advice given in self-help literature.
The Consequences of Violence
The theme of the consequences of violence is explored through the outcomes of the characters’ actions. While the novel is centered on the concept of committing the “perfect” murder, it does not shy away from showing the repercussions of such violence.
Cliff’s life after his successful deletion of Fiedler is marked by a sense of emptiness, as his purpose for living has been fulfilled, leaving him adrift. Gemma’s failure to execute her plan as intended leads to a near-fatal outcome, highlighting the unpredictability and inherent danger of violence.
Even the faculty at McMasters are not immune to the consequences of their teachings. Dean Harrow’s fate suggests that revealing the school’s secrets to the public has ultimately led to his own downfall.
The novel suggests that violence, even when meticulously planned and justified, carries consequences that cannot be fully controlled or predicted.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Bias and Gender Dynamics
The text also engages with themes of gender dynamics and anti-LGBTQ+ bias, particularly anti-transgender sentiments, though these are presented in a problematic manner. The inclusion of these biases serves to highlight the darker aspects of the characters and the environment they are in.
However, it also raises questions about the author’s intent and the impact of such representation. The portrayal of gender and sexuality in the novel may reflect societal prejudices of the time period in which the story is set, but it also risks perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
The novel’s engagement with these themes is complex and requires careful consideration of the implications of such portrayals in contemporary literature.