B
Bella Mackie
Bella Mackie is the author of the bestselling dark comedy, How to Kill Your Family. Her writing is known for its sharp wit and unique take on modern life, making her a distinctive voice in contemporary fiction.
How to Kill Your Family
Synopsis
Grace Bernard has never met her father. Simon Artemis is a billionaire who abandoned her mother before Grace was born, refused that same mother's plea for help years later as she was dying, and has spent a lifetime behaving as though neither of them existed. Grace settles on a response: she will kill him, and she will work through the rest of the Artemis family on the way.
Bella Mackie's debut novel is that plan recounted in Grace's own voice, from the prison cell she occupies for the single murder she insists she did not commit. Between six deaths carefully staged as accidents, she digresses on money, class, wellness culture and the manners of the very rich, with a self-satisfaction that is much of the joke. A darkly comic revenge story that loosely reworks Kind Hearts and Coronets for the age of the influencer.
Vibe
Genres
Characters
Grace BernardProtagonist
The narrator: the unacknowledged daughter of a billionaire, who recounts her revenge on his family from a prison cell.
Simon ArtemisAntagonist
Grace's father, a billionaire who refused to acknowledge her and rejected her dying mother's appeal for help.
Frequently asked questions
Is How to Kill Your Family being adapted for television?
Yes. Netflix commissioned an eight-episode series adaptation in 2024, with Anya Taylor-Joy starring as Grace Bernard and also executive producing. It is being made by Sid Gentle Films, the company behind Killing Eve, with Emma Moran writing. No release date has been announced.
Is How to Kill Your Family part of a series?
No. It is a standalone novel, and it was Bella Mackie's first — she had previously published the non-fiction books Jog On and Jog On Journal. Her later novels are separate stories rather than sequels, so this one can be read on its own.