My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

 

Korede gets the call she had fervently prayed she would never get again.  Her sister, Ayoola, needs help and only Korede will do.  When she gets to the apartment, she finds Ayoola's newest lover dead on the floor, stabbed through the heart.  Korede is a nurse so she knows a lot about cleaning and sanitation.  She helps Ayoola clean the apartment and dispose of the body.  This is the third time this scenario has played out.

Ayoola takes it as her due.  She has always been the little sister who is the beautiful one, the favored one at home.  She expects attention and help as her due. Men fall all over themselves to be with her and she always has a man in tow. Korede has been tasked since a child as watching out for Ayoola and so she feels that some of the blame for Ayoola's actions belongs to her also.  

At work, Korede is known as the diligent one, the nurse who goes above and beyond her required duties.  She works closely with a doctor that secretly, she hopes may come to have feelings for her.  But that hope is destroyed when Ayoola stops by at lunchtime one day and the doctor sees her.  Soon, he is sending Ayoola flowers, buying her jewelry and taking her on extravagant dates.  Korede doesn't know what to do.  Her heart is broken and she is worried that the doctor may meet the same fate as Ayoola's other men.  What can she do?

This debut novel exploded onto the scene.  It was nominated for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the Women's Prize For Fiction as well as other honors.  The novel is short and moves with the speed of a hurricane bearing down on shore.  Ayoola is a beautiful monster and Korede is caught up in her destruction, fighting her instinct to find a way to stop her sister and shielding her again and again.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.