Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novak

For all the true crime aficionados, Murder Bimbo is ready and waiting. None of the characters are ever named, giving the novel a redacted or leaked verisimilitude. We follow Murder Bimbo, a 32-year-old sex worker on the run after having killed extremist political hopeful Meat Neck. She emails popular feminist investigative podcast Justice for Bimbos and explains how she was supposedly recruited and trained by US government agents to take him down. Told in wildly differing sections, the novel plays with an unreliable narrator whose agency, complicity, and volition shift with each version of events.

The most effective strand is the first, where Murder Bimbo is crafting a folk-hero feminist story of righteous justice. The pacing is rip-roaring and it is impossible to tell where the narrative will go next in this thrilling ride. The novel touches on so many fascinating themes in the zeitgeist: political radicalism, true crime culture, perceptions of women and sex work, and malleability of ‘truth’. However, there is an ultimate feeling of wanting more: the surface-level commentary and multiple iterations are sometimes a detriment to the impact of each sensational episode. Murder Bimbo as a protagonist is simultaneously compelling and enigmatic. She is complex, flawed, and ultimately self-interested driving an uneven but entertaining ride.

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Bonnier Books, 10 Feb