There is a world where this debut novel never made it to shelves. After all, its protagonist, a 32-year-old lesbian sex worker, just killed a right-wing politician. In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it must have been a very serious possibility that this, Rebecca Novack’s sixth attempt at a novel, might never have seen the light of day. But now more than ever, this witty, wry and deeply unpredictable novel speaks to the chaos and violence of America in 2026.

Spanning just three days in three acts, this novel – and its protagonist – is slick and unpredictable, funny, flawed and furious. Whatever Novack did in her first five novels, the work shows here. We meet our protagonist on the lam, as she reckons with her actions, her choices, and her chance of a future – if she plays her cards right. She reaches out to the only two women who can help her: a journalist with a feminist podcast who might help her shape the narrative, and the woman she hasn’t been able to forget, who planted the seeds of her political awakening. The only one who’ll understand why she went along with a plan that felt like it was spiralling out of control before it even began.

Brimming with twists, turns and unexpected empathy, Murder Bimbo is a masterclass in stories – the ones we tell ourselves and craft so that others will see what we want (or need) them to. So timely as to be almost dangerous, it delves into the hypocrisy of performative progressives, the poisonous arrogance of wannabe vigilantes, the mundanity of capitalism and the power of an underestimated woman.