How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder

A Novel

De: Nina McConigley

A bold, inventive, and fiercely original debut novel that begins with an uncle dead and his tween niece’s private confession to the listener—she and her sister killed him, and they blame the British.

Summer, 1986. The Creel 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.

According to Georgie, the British are to blame. And to understand why, you need to hear her story. She details the violence hiding in their house and history, her once-unshakeable bond with Agatha Krishna, and her understanding of herself as an Indian-American in the heart of the West. Her account is, at every turn, cheeky, unflinching, and infectiously inflected with the trappings of teendom, including the magazine quizzes that help her make sense of her life. At its heart, the tale she weaves is:

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) an unexpected and unwaveringly powerful meditation on history and language, trauma and healing, and the meaning of independence

Or maybe it’s really:

f) all of the above.

©2026 Nina McConigley (P)2026 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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.”—Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts

"A fierce and marvelous book with an utterly unique, brightly burning lifeforce."—Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

“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.”—Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage