Ours is a Tale of Murder is a domestic thriller by Nora Murphy, and when I tell you I couldn’t put it down, that’s not a lie. I picked it up on a Saturday evening and didn’t put it down until I was finished in the early morning hours.
The story is told from multiple points of view, those of Klara and Troy, who seem to be the main storyline in the beginning, and Mary, an older woman with a son recently released from prison, and Henry, a creepy man living with his parents. It’s difficult to see where these three storylines converge in the beginning, but as time goes on the reader starts to make connections, and the stories start to come together.
Then, just as you think you’ve figured it out, the author throws in a twist that you won’t see coming. I probably would have rated this 5 stars if it weren’t for that one plot twist which made me feel like I wasted my time for the first half or more of the novel. I don’t want to give away the twist so I’ll just say I was heavily invested in the first part of the novel and it made me a bit angry to find out what the twist was.
That said, the rest of the book was just as compelling, and hard to put down. For a change there were actually characters in this thriller that I liked, which was quite refreshing as in recent years it seems that almost every thriller I read has a cast of unlikeable characters and that makes it a little less enjoyable for me. I always like to have someone to root for in a novel.
If you’re a thriller fan, I think you’ll enjoy this one. I don’t think I’ve read Nora Murphy before, but I’ll be watching for more of her novels from now on.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Ours is a Tale of Murder will be available on February 10 2026.
Life, Tea, and Everything 