The Murder Planner: 'Sharp, cynical and very funny' - G.M. Malliet

by L.C. Tyler

Genres: Crime

Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 22, 2026

About the author

L. C. Tyler grew up in Essex and studied geography at Jesus College Oxford University and systems analysis at City University in London. During a career with the British Council he lived in Malaysia, Sudan, Thailand and Denmark. More recently he has been based in Islington and West Sussex and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, of which he was previously Chief Executive. He is married and has two children and one dog.

Series:
* Elsie and Ethelred Mystery
* John Grey Historical Mystery

Reviews

[Elodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. 

Okay, this had such a fun premise. 😂

A woman secretly running a murder for hire adjacent business, a blackmailer who apparently has a conscience, and enough unhinged banter to keep things moving? Sign me up.

There were so many little moments that genuinely made me laugh. Asking someone if there's any reason they want their husband murdered or if they're just "decluttering" absolutely took me out. 💀 Sable's mom explaining how she stays so fit by getting up to change the TV channel instead of using the remote? I lost it because me too girl 💅🏻

And honestly, Pete and Sables dialouge together  might be my favourite part of this book. A blackmailer who is concerned about his carbon footprint? A woman trying to pitch an illegal murder service as an essential public service, like an ambulance? Folks, what are we doing here? Y'all are wild, but cheers for caring about the environment. 😂 I really enjoyed the banter between him and Sable, and their conversations were some of my favourite parts of the book.

There was also a twist around 26% that genuinely got me. I did not see that one coming, and it completely changed the direction of the story for me. I love when a mystery manages to surprise me that early.

Unfortunately, I started losing some of that enthusiasm around the halfway point.

My biggest issue was Sable herself. She's funny and I liked her overall, but girl... you publish crime fiction. Where is your survival instinct?! Your healthy distrust of everyone!? 😭

She is ✨ so ✨ trusting. She also isn't particularly subtle when she's investigating or knows more than she should. There were multiple conversations where I was sitting there thinking, "Surely someone is going to question why you're being this weirdly specific and defensive right now?" And yet... nothing.

Her brother is literally a detective, and there were moments where I couldn't understand how he wasn't more suspicious of some of the things she said or seemed to know. At one point Sable basically argues that someone is innocent because she's blonde and seems irrational, and I'm sitting there like... you are a crime fiction publisher having this conversation with a detective. Do you hear yourself?😂

But also, on the flip side, where did her brother learn to be a detective? Why you so oblivious my guy!? 

I don't want to give spoilers, so forgive how vague this may be, but I had a time time understanding how quickly Sable came to trust one of the side characters. Within one 20 minute conversation with this stranger, who she meets under not great circumstances, she seems to trust him completely. Suddenly they are besties and he's protecting her at all costs? Even over going to see his MOM!? I just kept waiting for the book to give me a reason for why Sable gave this person so much trust and I never really got it. 

Honestly though, imagine your child is supposed to come home to help you and all a sudden they're like, "Sorry ma, I gotta help this morally gray shady ass lady that I just met out of some trouble! Talk later!" Like, guess who we know is getting cut out of the will 😇

Anyways, this became weird unexplained trust became especially frustrating because there were several moments later on where said character was throwing off some pretty major red flags, and Sable seemed completely oblivious to them. At a certain point I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and yell, "Sable. Please read the room. You literally publish MURDER MYSTERIES. " 

Cue Maggie Smith..." you're a woman with a brain and reasonable ability...." 

The other thing that didn't work quite as well for me was the mystery itself. After that fantastic early twist, I started predicting a lot of what was coming. By the end, several of the twists felt pretty obvious to me. Maybe I've just read too many mysteries and thrillers at this point, but I was hoping for a few more moments where the book completely blindsided me.

One thing I did really appreciate is that the characters were well flushed out and each one came off distinct with their own personalities. However, there was also some repetitive wording that occasionally pulled me out of the story. 

That said, this is definitely a book that doesn't take itself too seriously, and I think that's important to keep in mind going in. It's a cozy, funny mystery with some pretty ridiculous situations and characters, and when it leaned into that, I had a great time.

Also, as a Canadian who took French in school, this absolutely took me OUT. Apparently Pete can't be Canadian because he didn't understand “nom de chantage.”Sir. I am Canadian. I took French. I also had no fucking clue what you meant. Why you gotta clock my shit like that? 😭💀

Ultimately, this started really strong for me. The premise was fun, the humor worked, I loved the banter, and that early twist genuinely surprised me. Unfortunately, the second half didn't quite maintain that momentum, and Sable's complete lack of suspicion about certain people became increasingly frustrating.

Still, it was a quick and entertaining read, and there was one particularly good twist toward the end involving the murder suspect that I didn't see coming.

 Unfortunately, Sable, I needed you to have approximately 40% more suspicion of literally everyone. 😂

P.S Shout out to Sables mom. What a Queen. 

[Denis Wheller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Flowerdew wants to kill her husband and get away with it. Sable Knight supplies a step-by-step plan, because that’s what she does. Actually, that’s not her main business. To the outside world she is one half of “Day & Knight”, a respectable publishing company of mainly crime and detective stories. The sale of bespoke murder plans is a sideline developed by Joe Day, but he is now dead and buried, perhaps, in Portugal, or maybe Spain, whence he had fled because unspecified gangsters were looking for him. The scheme exploited the many unsuccessful writers on the companies books; extremely good at developing murders for their books, extremely useless at writing said books. Sable supplied the plan knowing that none of the previous ones had ever been used. Only this is! Suddenly her life is chaos, blackmailers are after her, Joe’s gangsters are after her, her brother is the DI in charge of the Flowerdew murder, it couldn’t get any worse – or perhaps it could!
This is a sort of caper story, a bit meta, and it is written with a great deal of dry, sarcastic humour mostly from Sable who is our , possibly unreliable, narrator. It mostly unfolds at a good pace, certainly in the first part, but it rather slows down for a while in the middle, and it seemed to me to get a bit lost, before picking up again, and coming towards a sensible ending. And then it springs to life in a tour de force dénouement which I guarantee you will not see coming. Which left me with a dilemma: it’s an interesting idea, it’s really very funny, Sable’s a great character, but it did slow down a lot and made me very annoyed with her for being so stupid about Pete (I didn’t mention Pete in the opening paragraph because I didn’t think the story need him). On balance that would be a three star, but then there’s that ending which is a five star surprise. So I get four as my final rating. Incidentally, I’m using a printed version. Given the style of the writing, an audio version will be a comedic masterpiece.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

[Mona Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of *The Murder Planner* before publication. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

*The Murder Planner* was such a clever idea for a crime novel, and the publishing-world setting immediately made it feel a little different from the usual murder mystery. Sable Knight is a commissioning editor at Day & Knight, but alongside her legitimate publishing work she also runs a far more secretive side business: for the right price, she pays struggling crime writers to come up with supposedly fictional plans for the perfect murder.

Of course, the problem with creating the perfect murder is that someone may eventually decide to use it.

I really liked Sable as a morally grey main character. She knows exactly what kind of business she is involved in, but she also seems to have convinced herself that there is a line between imagining a crime and actually committing one. When one client’s plan to kill her wealthy husband goes wrong, that distinction becomes much harder to maintain.

The publishing angle was probably my favourite part. I enjoyed the idea of crime writers being asked to use everything they know about plotting, motive and misdirection for something far more dangerous than a novel. It gave the story a darkly funny edge as well as plenty of tension, especially once Sable starts realising that she may know too much.

The mystery moves at a good pace, and there is a nice balance between humour, plotting and danger. Some elements are deliberately exaggerated, and a few situations require suspension of disbelief, but I was happy to go along with them because the central concept is so entertaining.

Overall, *The Murder Planner* was clever, darkly funny and very enjoyable. I loved the publishing-world premise, the morally questionable characters and the idea of fictional murder plots becoming very real problems. It felt fresh, entertaining and just self-aware enough without becoming too clever for its own good.

[Bo.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Murder Planner had such a strong premise that it had me at "hypothetical murder plans." What I wasn't expecting, though, was just how often it made me laugh.

Our protagonist, Sable Knight, is an absolute character and ended up being the star of the show. Equal parts mischievous, unapologetic and hilarious, her dark, deadpan humour and unconventional outlook made her an absolute scene-stealer. She's the kind of character who has you just as excited to see what she'll say next as what she'll do next.

This was my first L. C. Tyler novel, and I can definitely see myself picking up more of his work. The humour feels effortless, the conversations feel natural and every character has a distinct personality that makes them feel real. As the mystery deepens, Tyler never loses sight of the book's darkly comic edge, fully committing to the story he set out to tell from beginning to end.

If I could pick at one very small aspect of the story, it would be the brief conversation involving Māori spirituality. It didn't completely gel with me and felt a little oversimplified while leaning into stereotypes. Even so, it never came close to overshadowing everything else the book does so well, and I still had a lot of fun with it.

Cosy, cunning and clever, The Murder Planner is a fantastic choice for readers who enjoy crime fiction with a wicked sense of humour and characters you'll struggle to forget.

Thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

he Murder Planner is one of those crime novels that immediately hooks you with its premise and then quietly tightens the screws as you read. What I enjoyed most is the way the book plays with the idea of crime fiction itself — the glossy publishing world, the “special editorial services,” and the blurred line between crafting a fictional murder and enabling a real one. It’s clever without ever feeling gimmicky.

Sable Knight is such an intriguing centre point. She’s sharp, morally flexible, and always three steps ahead… until she suddenly isn’t. Watching her navigate the fallout of a plan gone rogue is where the book really comes alive. There’s a delicious tension in seeing someone who thinks they understand every angle realise the story has slipped out of her hands.

The tone is darkly playful, with that slightly satirical edge that makes the industry details feel both entertaining and uncomfortably plausible. I liked how the author balances pace with character — it’s brisk, but never at the expense of the quieter, more unsettling moments. And the ethical murkiness is handled so well; you’re constantly questioning who’s manipulating whom, and how far Sable is willing to go to protect her carefully curated world.

Overall, it’s a smart, stylish crime novel with a fresh hook and a protagonist who’s messy in all the right ways. I had a great time with it.

With thanks to LC Tyler, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Murder Planner by L.C. Tyler is built around a clever idea: editor Sable Knight sells “pure-theory murder outlines”, all good fun until one turns horribly real. It’s classic wry publishing-world satire, and there are some genuinely funny moments.

So, why isn’t it scoring higher?

I found myself losing enthusiasm for the story around the halfway point and, from then on, I was reading more to find out what happened than because I was particularly invested in the characters or the mystery. Things became a little silly, which made it harder for me to take the plot seriously, particularly the fact that her brother is a detective, yet seemed completely unable to work out what was going on.

I appreciate that characters in mysteries aren’t supposed to figure everything out immediately, but this felt increasingly implausible as the story progressed. I found myself thinking, surely he must have put two and two together by now!

There were definitely parts I enjoyed, and I can see why this style of cosy mystery would appeal to readers who like their crime with plenty of humour and eccentricity.

Overall: An easy to read, humorous and cleverly conceived mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

[Marcie McPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆?

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.

I've spent hours trying to figure out how to explain what this book did to me, and each time I thought I'd found the right words, they felt too ordinary.

I've never read another story like this. Every single part of it is utterly original. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. And somehow L. C. Tyler delivered on every single level from beginning to end. There is so much heart behind every page, and you can feel it.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

She is morally flexible, frighteningly capable, and effortlessly funny. She completely stole my heart.

𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽.

The humour is deliciously sharp. Every few sentences there was another line that made me laugh, stop, reread it, or simply admire how brilliantly it had been written.

By the time I reached the ending, all I could do was sit there grinning. It was audacious, ridiculously cool, completely satisfying, and the perfect ending to a book unlike any other.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

It recalibrated my expectations of what a five-star read should be.

𝗔𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁'𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸.

Thank you to L. C. Tyler, Allison & Busby and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Meagan Irving · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for the ARC of this book.

Sable Knight runs a small publishing firm that publishes crime novels. However, she also has a side hustle. When clients want to commit murder, they come to her. She has one of her authors do "research for a book" and wrote a plot detailing how the client can successfully get away with murder.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect going into this. The plot was really good and kept me engaged. When things started to taper off, another twist would happen.

I can't say too much without giving away the ending, but Sable's relationship with one character just didn't make any sense to me. I also feel like there were certain subplots that didn't make a whole lot of sense and the book would have still been great without them. But overall, the story had a good flow and the banter was witty. I definitely recommend.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It’s a refreshing twist on the typical murder mystery I’m used to.

The protagonist, Sable, absolutely makes the book. She’s direct, sarcastic, sharp, and blessed with a wonderfully dry sense of humour. She’s exceptionally smart and her morals are shaky. Easygoing and reckless—perhaps a little too reckless—Sable keeps you wondering: Who can she trust? And does it really matter?

The banter between the characters was enjoyable to read. Overall, the book was clever, funny, witty, and thoroughly entertaining. Sable is a fantastic character, and I thoroughly enjoyed finding out what she would do next.

Thank you to Alison & Busby, L.C. Tyler and Netgally for this advanced copy.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle crime tale, The Murder Planner (2026) by L. C. Tyler is a humorous take on organised murder. Sable Knight owns an unusual small publishing firm that pays authors to plot the perfect murder. Her business partner died and was buried in Portugal. Eileen, meanwhile, takes care of her mother, who is sharp-tongued, housebound, and an avid TV watcher. When Sable is blackmailed, she meets Peter, who agrees to keep her secrets. Then, a second blackmailer threatens to reveal the lucrative other side of her business. An enjoyable tale of a twisty crime mystery with a big twist ending that makes for a three and a half star read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

[Hannelore Cheney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Allison and Busby for the eARC.
This was a book that had me chuckling quite a bit, at times it was hilarious.
The protagonist, Sable Knight, is strong, smart and very likeable.
The book's premise is a hoot, the 'special service's her publishing company offers is a tad unusual and very lucrative.
I had a big smile on my face when I finished this read and I hope to meet Sable again!

[Dogeared · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars, rounded down. Usually is round up, but ultimately although this had a decent plot and twists, it was a particular tone of eccentric comedy that is a really fine line to tread. And it just tipped it to rounding down for me.

It’s an enjoyable enough read, and a creative plot - you just need to be a fan of eccentric comedy writing, then this will be absolutely your cup of tea!

I receive a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really excellent story that I think has the potential to be a series - and I really hope that happens, because I LOVED it! The characters, the plotting, the pacing - all were very well managed and caught and held my attention from the opening gambit.

I always love a behind-the-scenes publishing story, and loved the central construct - how many authors have been tempted, I wonder, to see if their brilliant planning could *actually* work?? I really enjoyed the concept here. It felt fresh and original, and even when parts of the storyline traveled a more traditional and well-trodden path, I thought Tyler did a great job keeping things just off-kilter enough (and darkly funny enough) to keep me engaged - and guessing!

This was a great read - fun, smart, funny, and twisty - and I really do hope to see more not only from the author, but from this particular world!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.