The Six Murders Of Daphne St Clair by MacKenzie Common

 

When Warren Ackerman dies at a senior living facility no one is surprised, until his elderly girlfriend Daphne confesses to his murder. The country is shocked when she declares that Warren wasn't the first man she'd murdered.

Female serial killer novels are a very popular genre at the moment and most of them are firmly tongue-in-cheek and filled with dark humour. With a tagline of "Meet Daphne St Clair: glamorous ninety-year-old grandmother, care home resident, and your new favourite serial killer" I fully expected The Six Murders Of Daphne St Clair by MacKenzie Common to be in the same vein. What transpired was something much more sobering and mysterious.

Word of Daphne's crime, and her admission that she has killed before, spreads quickly around her local area. Encouraged by her granddaughter Daphne agrees to tell her story for a podcast, a podcast that proves to be extremely popular, Most of the listeners have the same question. Why would a ninety-year-old, having gotten away with numerous murders, suddenly confess?

In charge of the podcast is Ruth, a struggling local journalist. As Daphne recounts her story we quickly learn that both Daphne and Ruth are unreliable narrators. Daphne's start in life was bleak. I found the details of the Dust Bowl in 1930s Canada informative and distressing. Considering her early life of desperation and abuse, Daphne's first two murders are almost understandable. By her fourth we learn that she relishes the sense of power she has, deciding who lives and who dies. In her heyday she was beautiful, clever, flirtatious and inscrutable, all of which made her attractive to rich men. However, she could be mean, malevolent and greedy, her only concern in life being her own well-being. The information she is prepared to share with Ruth, and the general public, is carefully curated.

Ruth's involvement initially seems obvious, she's desperate to enhance her flagging career. As Ruth delves deeper into Daphne's past it soon becomes clear that she has an ulterior motive.

I enjoyed the way in which the popularity of the podcast, and Daphne's crimes, were discussed on message boards, with ridiculous theories and desperation to know where Daphne lived. We also see some of the more bizarre behaviours on social media with Daphne merchandise becoming popular and even an influencer giving advice on how to dress like Daphne during the time period in which she committed each murder.

The overarching question remains though, what is the motive behind each woman's actions? The mystery surrounding Ruth eventually clears but what she hopes to achieve is still vague. As for Daphne's motive, you'll just have to read the book yourself to find out.

The Six Murders Of Daphne St Clair by MacKenzie Common will be published on 19th June 2025 in hardback and ebook. The audiobook will be published on 26th June 2025. My thanks to NetGalley and Headline for a review copy.

Author Details

Dr MacKenzie Common works in the field of digital rights and is an expert on human rights issues in social media content moderation. She also has a background in international law and worked at a war crimes tribunal at The Hague. She is a Canadian who has lived so long in England that she has acquired a British husband, two British children, and a love for bleak British comedy. The Six Murders of Daphne St Clair is her debut adult novel.