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Bella Mackie

Author Guide

Books Written by Bella Mackie

Mackie began as a journalist and columnist before writing Jog On, a memoir about using running to manage anxiety, which became an unexpected bestseller. She then pivoted sharply into fiction with How to Kill Your Family, a darkly comic thriller narrated by a woman methodically murdering her way through her wealthy, absent family.

How to Kill Your Family is by far her most widely read book and the natural starting point, though Jog On remains worth reading for a completely different, more personal register.

By Lisanne Swart · 3 books · Dark Comedy Fiction & Memoir · Updated August 2026

Quick answer

Bella Mackie is best known for the memoir Jog On (2018) and the darkly comic novels How to Kill Your Family (2021) and What a Way to Go (2024). How to Kill Your Family is her most widely read book and the best starting point.


01
Dark Comedy · ThrillerStart here

How to Kill Your Family

Bella Mackie · 2021

Grace Bernard is in prison for a murder she didn’t commit, having already methodically killed off the wealthy father who abandoned her and the rest of his family one by one, narrated with sharp, unrepentant wit throughout.

Became an unexpected phenomenon via BookTok years after publication, praised for its unlikeable-but-magnetic narrator and its underlying anger about class and power dynamics between men and women.

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02
Dark Comedy · Family Drama

What a Way to Go

Bella Mackie · 2024

A wealthy, deeply dysfunctional family gathers to scatter their patriarch’s ashes, and the novel unpacks decades of resentment, secrets, and dark comedy among the surviving relatives.

Continues Mackie’s interest in toxic, wealthy families and dark humor, following the commercial success of How to Kill Your Family with a similarly sharp ensemble piece.

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03
Memoir · Mental Health

Jog On: How Running Saved My Life

Bella Mackie · 2018

Mackie’s first book, recounting how she began running to manage debilitating anxiety following her divorce, and how the practice became central to her mental health and recovery.

An unexpected bestseller that established Mackie’s voice before her turn to fiction — worth reading for a much more personal, vulnerable register than her later, darker novels.

Buy on Bol.com →
Buy on Waterstones →
Buy on Amazon →
Listen on Audible →
Buy on Bookshop.org →

Watch: Bella Mackie: The Waterstones Interview

Bella Mackie discusses What a Way to Go, following her anti-hero Grace in How to Kill Your Family, and writing unlikeable characters.


Where to start with Bella Mackie

If you want her defining book

How to Kill Your Family is her breakout novel and the one most readers mean when they mention her.

If you want her most recent fiction

What a Way to Go continues her interest in dark family comedy.

If you want her more personal side

Jog On is a completely different, vulnerable register — a memoir about anxiety and running.

Frequently asked questions about Bella Mackie’s books

How many books has Bella Mackie written?

Bella Mackie has written three books: the memoir Jog On (2018) and the novels How to Kill Your Family (2021) and What a Way to Go (2024).

What is the best Bella Mackie book to start with?

How to Kill Your Family. It’s her breakout novel and by far her most widely read and discussed book.

Is How to Kill Your Family based on a true story?

No. It’s a work of fiction, though Mackie has said it was partly inspired by her own frustrations with class and power dynamics rather than any specific real events.

Written by Lisanne Swart

Lisanne curates books for curious readers at lisanneswart.com, publishing original reading lists, author deep-dives, and honest recommendations since 2021. Read more about Lisanne.


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