SISTER BUTCHER SISTER (Poisoned Pen Books 2025) by KD Aldyn is of the most confronting, complex, layered, sinister, page-turning, unguessable psychological crime thrillers I have ever read. Aldyn has recreated a normal world of loving families and adorable kids doing ordinary jobs and leading conventional lives, then inserted into this narrative the simmering, crackling burn of a serial killer with a black heart, a murderer of such debauched, unhinged, savage and brutal attacks that the evil on the page felt more like an infamous true-crime documentary than a fictional tale. Move over Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy and yes, even Hannibal Lecter – there’s a new killer in town. And she’s a woman.
Who – or what – will SHE consume?
From the opening pages of the novel, we meet the three Rowling sisters. We get to know them and like them. We become invested in their lives, enmeshed in their histories and alert to their dreams, desires, regrets and sorrows. We also know that one of the three women is a serial killer. SHE is terrifying, rageful, vengeful and vicious. SHE has a manifesto that makes sense to her but which – if it was ever made public – would ensure she be regarded by the world as a monster. SHE IS a monster, killing with monstrous intensity and almost orgasmic pleasure. But we don’t know which one SHE is. Which sister? Which sister is, quite literally, the butcher?
The unique aspect of this book is that most of the narrative depicts quiet and ordinary family life. The oldest sister, Kate, is a self-made woman, a successful lawyer who has recently managed to purchase the sisters’ beloved grandfather’s family home, a house they holidayed in often when they were growing up while their jet-setting parents travelled. Kate lovingly restores the interior of the house, and the stunning gardens, proud of herself for recapturing a central feature of their family’s legacy. But all the sisters have secrets, and Kate’s includes the recurring blackouts and strange visions which take her out of her body and into a state which frightens her into silence.
The second sister, Aurora, is (mostly) happily married, with two gorgeous children. Yes, she once had an affair, but she came to her senses and her husband forgave her and now she leads the perfect life. She composes orchestral music and plays the harp. She swims and runs. She is close to Kate but cannot forgive Peggy for the trauma she put the family through years earlier. But even that antipathy cannot last forever. Aurora has her own secrets and fears, and being with her sisters only intensifies them.
Peggy is the youngest and now lives a contented life with her son, Bo. But she has had a troubled history of alcohol and drug addiction, years wasted on abusive relationships, senseless sex with nameless men and a willingness to do anything for that next fix or another drink. She has abused her body and ignored her mind. But perhaps the very worst thing she has done was to accuse one of her family members of child sexual abuse because, as it turns out, the details of that abuse were undeniably proven to be untrue, a result of false memories prompted by an unscrupulous psychiatrist. The anguish Peggy’s lies caused her family, especially her sisters, was unforgivably damaging. None of this is a spoiler as it is all revealed in the first chapters. Kate made her peace with Peggy, but Aurora is reluctant to forgive or forget, even now that Peggy has been clean and sober for years, with an endearing and clever son, and is ever hopeful of making up for her mistakes. Yet Peggy too has secrets; thoughts and feelings she hides even from herself; she would be horrified if anyone else discovered them.
In the Prologue, one of these women – as a 10-year-old child – commits an act of revenge and brutality that echoes throughout the novel. But which sister does it describe? Who is SHE?
Aldyn lulls the reader into a sense of complacency with her tender and warm relationship dynamics, her evocative and atmospheric descriptions of nature, and her engaging dialogue. But interspersed with this normality are the chapters from the perspective of SHE, each one more violent and shocking than the last. The tension grips the reader from the first page and rachets up a notch with every chapter, until by the conclusion, the fear of what we know and the frustration of what (or who) we don’t know is almost paralysing. Be warned: SHE is one of the most evil characters you will meet in a book. She will shock you to your core.
And yet. And yet.
And yet through a complex and nuanced story-building that plunges the reader into the minds and lives and emotions of these women, we do come to understand that evil and the reason behind it. It may not be excusable, but it makes sense. It feels authentic. And while we cannot deny the horror, as readers with access to the killer’s mind, we can certainly comprehend how history and past events collude with mental illness and trauma to create an extremely dangerous combination. Because we have the killer’s interior thoughts, and are allowed inside her head, we see her ruthless and driven manifesto from her perspective.
Readers will feel safe in the hands of Aldyn from the start; the author writes with confidence and assurance, with plot threads firmly grasped, the storyline solid, scaffolding all that is to come. For me, there was not one wrong step in this book. I was gripped at the start and completely engaged all the way through. I carried this novel around with me, loathe to put it down. It was deliciously compelling, utterly shocking and darkly unknowable. That was perhaps the best part. While there were several places in the story where I thought, ‘Aha! It must be her!’, this certainty was dashed every time by the next chapter which upended all my suspicions and made me think I knew nothing. We are gifted many seeds or hints that we suspect might be important, but we have no idea why. Hint or red herring? Clue or distraction? Pertinent information or clever misdirection? The tension is unbearable. And it doesn’t let up until the Very. Final. Page. That’s right, the truth of this mysterious thriller is not resolved until the bitter end. And even then, I was surprised and shocked. I could never have predicted what happens. The storyline is so clever and the characters so well-developed and complex that in my mind, SHE really could have been any one of the three sisters.
And I suppose that’s what is so scary about this book. How well do we really know those close to us? How does our version of the past stack up against our siblings? What dark secrets or lies do we swallow as truth, merely because we trust the person telling us?
And the fact that this author could write this book means SHE could be any one of us. Inside us. Biding her time.
SISTER BUTCHER SISTER is well-crafted, compelling, sinister and page-turning, exploring themes of family violence, revenge, loyalty, feminism, shame, betrayal, collusion, obsession, desire and love. The characters – these three sisters – will stay with you long after you finish the last page. And you might just look a bit closer and think a bit harder about your own loved ones and what they might be capable of, if circumstances and the stars aligned. Haunting, unforgettable, mesmerising.