How to Kill Men and Get Away With It: A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted debut psychological thriller, about friendship, love and murder by Katy Brent

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is a wickedly dark, funny, and fast-paced psychological thriller about revenge, friendship, secrets, obsession, and one woman whose life changes after a shocking encounter.

Kitty Collins appears to have the kind of life many people would envy.

She is stylish, socially connected, and surrounded by a world of parties, relationships, and appearances.

But one night, everything changes.

After leaving a nightclub, Kitty realizes that a man is following her and refusing to leave her alone.

A confrontation follows.

She does not intend for him to die.

But he does.

And somehow, Kitty appears to have escaped the consequences.

What should have been a horrifying one-time event becomes something far more complicated.

Kitty discovers that she is not overwhelmed by guilt in the way she expected.

Instead, she begins seeing what happened through the lens of revenge.

From there, How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent develops into a twisted story about morality, friendship, danger, dark humour, and the dangerous line between justice and obsession.

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent – Book Overview

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent introduces readers to Kitty Collins, a protagonist who is far from a traditional heroine.

She is sharp, complicated, confident, and morally questionable.

After the accidental death of the man who followed her home, Kitty begins to realize that certain men in her world behave in ways that make her angry.

Instead of simply ignoring them, she becomes increasingly drawn toward taking matters into her own hands.

This creates the central tension of the novel.

Kitty may believe she is targeting people who deserve consequences, but that does not automatically make her actions right.

The story invites readers into her perspective while still leaving room to question the choices she makes.

That moral uncertainty is one of the reasons the book is so compelling.

Meet Kitty Collins

Kitty is the heart of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent.

She is clever, observant, sarcastic, and socially confident.

She understands how appearances work.

She knows how people present themselves publicly and how different reality can be behind closed doors.

This makes her an interesting narrator.

Kitty is not simply reacting to events.

She is analysing people constantly.

She notices behaviour.

She forms judgments.

She remembers how people treat others.

And once she begins crossing serious moral boundaries, she starts justifying those choices to herself.

Readers are therefore placed inside the mind of someone who can be entertaining, relatable, disturbing, and unpredictable at the same time.

Dark Humour and Thriller Energy

One of the strongest features of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is its tone.

The book deals with serious subjects, but it often uses dark humour.

Kitty’s narration can be sharp and entertaining even while the events around her become increasingly dangerous.

This creates a reading experience that feels different from a traditional crime thriller.

The story is not relentlessly bleak.

Instead, humour sits beside tension.

Friendship sits beside murder.

Romance sits beside suspicion.

That contrast helps make the book fast and addictive.

Readers who enjoy thrillers with personality and wit may find this style especially appealing.

Revenge as a Central Theme

Revenge plays a major role in How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent.

Kitty begins interpreting certain situations through her own sense of justice.

She sees harmful behaviour and starts believing that ordinary consequences are not enough.

This creates an important moral question.

When does anger become obsession?

When does justice become revenge?

And what happens when one person decides that they have the right to judge and punish others?

The novel does not present these questions in a dry philosophical way.

Instead, it explores them through Kitty’s increasingly dangerous choices.

That makes the theme feel personal and immediate.

Friendship Matters

Despite the thriller plot, friendship is an important part of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent.

Kitty’s social world matters to her.

Her friendships provide emotional connection, support, humour, and a sense of normality.

This becomes increasingly important because Kitty is hiding a side of herself that the people closest to her may not fully understand.

The contrast creates tension.

Can someone maintain ordinary friendships while hiding extraordinary secrets?

How long can a double life remain separate?

And what happens when people you care about become connected to the consequences of your actions?

These questions give the story emotional depth beyond the central crime plot.

Secrets and Double Lives

Secrets are everywhere in How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent.

Kitty has secrets.

The people around her have secrets.

And appearances often hide uncomfortable truths.

This fits perfectly with the novel’s social setting.

People may look glamorous from the outside while behaving very differently in private.

Kitty herself becomes part of that contradiction.

To many people, she appears to be living a normal life.

But beneath that surface is a much darker reality.

This double-life element increases suspense because every social interaction carries risk.

One careless comment could reveal too much.

One unexpected witness could change everything.

One emotional mistake could destroy the carefully controlled image Kitty maintains.

Morality and Vigilante Justice

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is also a story about moral boundaries.

Kitty begins convincing herself that some of her actions can be justified.

But once someone accepts that logic, where does it stop?

The novel plays with the idea of vigilante justice without pretending the issue is simple.

Readers may understand Kitty’s anger while still questioning her decisions.

This tension is part of what makes her such an interesting protagonist.

She is not presented as perfectly heroic.

She is not a straightforward villain either.

She exists somewhere uncomfortable between the two.

That makes the story particularly appealing to readers who enjoy morally gray characters.

Psychological Tension

The psychological side of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent becomes increasingly important as Kitty’s behaviour changes.

At first, the accidental death can be explained as one extreme event.

But after that, Kitty begins thinking differently.

Her sense of risk changes.

Her understanding of consequences changes.

She starts making decisions that would have seemed impossible before.

This progression creates psychological tension because readers begin wondering how far she is willing to go.

The danger is not only whether she will be caught.

The deeper question is what her choices are turning her into.

A Fast-Paced Reading Experience

Another major strength of How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is its pace.

The novel is designed to keep readers moving quickly.

There are secrets to uncover.

Relationships to question.

Dangerous situations to survive.

Suspicious behaviour to interpret.

Kitty’s voice also gives the story momentum.

Her sarcasm and sharp observations keep scenes entertaining even when the plot becomes darker.

This makes the book especially suitable for readers who want a thriller that feels energetic rather than slow or heavily procedural.

Social Media, Image and Modern Life

The novel also reflects a very modern world.

People carefully manage appearances.

Social circles matter.

Reputation matters.

How someone looks publicly may be completely different from who they are privately.

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent uses this gap between public image and private behaviour to create both humour and suspense.

Kitty understands the importance of appearance.

That helps her navigate her social world.

But it also makes the danger greater.

A polished image can hide disturbing behaviour.

And Kitty’s own life increasingly proves exactly that.

Female Anger and Frustration

Female anger is another strong theme in How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent.

Kitty repeatedly encounters behaviour that frustrates, disgusts, or frightens her.

The book exaggerates those frustrations into dark fiction.

That gives the story a cathartic quality.

Readers are not being given a real-world solution to social problems.

Instead, the novel takes anger and pushes it into an intentionally extreme fictional scenario.

This allows the story to explore how resentment can grow when people feel repeatedly ignored, dismissed, or unsafe.

The result is provocative, dark, and often intentionally uncomfortable.

Morally Gray Characters

Readers who enjoy morally gray protagonists are likely to find How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent especially interesting.

Kitty can be funny.

She can be loyal.

She can be sympathetic.

She can also make deeply disturbing choices.

That combination makes it difficult to judge her in a simple way.

The novel constantly encourages readers to shift between understanding her and questioning her.

This kind of character-driven tension is one of the book’s biggest strengths.

Part of the Kitty Collins Series

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is the first book in the Kitty Collins series.

This makes it the correct starting point for readers who want to follow Kitty’s story from the beginning.

The first book establishes her personality, friendships, moral boundaries, and the events that transform her life.

Readers who enjoy Kitty’s dark humour and unpredictable decisions can continue with later stories featuring the character.

Why Read How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent?

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent is a strong choice for readers who enjoy:

• Psychological thrillers
• Dark comedy
• Morally gray protagonists
• Revenge stories
• Female-led thrillers
• Fast-paced fiction
• Friendship drama
• Secrets
• Suspense
• Crime fiction
• Dark humour
• Twisted justice
• Unpredictable characters
• Modern social commentary

The book blends crime and comedy in a way that makes it feel different from a conventional murder mystery.

Who Should Read This Book?

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent may especially appeal to adult readers who enjoy:

• Dark psychological fiction
• Thriller novels
• Black comedy
• Female antiheroes
• Revenge plots
• Crime stories
• Morally complicated characters
• Fast-moving mysteries
• Books with a sharp narrative voice
• Stories involving double lives
• Darkly funny fiction

Publisher descriptions have compared its appeal to readers of books such as My Sister, the Serial Killer and How to Kill Your Family, as well as fans of Killing Eve.

A Dark, Twisted and Addictive Thriller

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent begins with one shocking accident and gradually develops into a much darker story.

Kitty Collins does not intend to become a killer.

But after discovering that she can escape consequences, her relationship with violence and revenge begins to change.

What follows is a twisted journey through friendship, secrets, attraction, anger, social expectations, morality, and increasingly dangerous choices.

The novel’s biggest strength is its contradiction.

It is funny while dealing with disturbing events.

Kitty can be sympathetic while behaving terribly.

Her motivations can feel understandable even when her actions cross serious boundaries.

For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with dark humour, morally gray heroines, revenge, secrets, suspense, and an unforgettable central character, How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent offers a sharp and addictive reading experience.

Learn more about How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent on the official HarperCollins website.

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