Karen: A Brother Remembers by Kelsey Grammer is a so-so personal memoir and tribute to his sister Karen who was murdered. In Colorado Springs on July 1, 1975, eighteen-year-old Karen Grammer went in to pick up her paycheck at Red Lobster and was kidnapped, assalted, and murdered by three men who were planning to rob the restaurant. Kelsey Grammer was just twenty-years-old at this time. Understandably this tragic loss impacted his whole life.

In a stream-of-consciousness style full of many digressions, Grammer recalls Karen and how he struggled throughout his life to deal with his grief over her tragic death and try to focus on the good memories of Karen. The narrative jumps around in time and covers many different events and struggles in his life, some involving Karen, many that don't.

The whole memoir just feels like a tangle of Grammer's memories, is sometimes repetitious, and more about him rather than a tribute to his sister's memory. Many of us have tragically lost a sibling and as one of them any memoir I would write would celebrate her life. Any focus on my struggles with grief and acceptance would be a postscript with places to find help, but then, of course, I'm not famous.

In the final assessment, the no affectation or filter, stream-of-consciousness approach did not result in a cohesive narrative and was a struggle to read. This needed focus, organization, a good editor, and a re-write. Thanks to Harper Select for providing me with a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I found this to be a moving book about Grammer’s sister Karen that he lost at age 18 to a vicious murder. He recounts many of his memories of growing up with her and also interviews friends who knew her. At least the ones who were willing to share their memories and what they might have known of her final weeks. It shows how a great loss like this haunt you for your entire life.

I wanted so bad to enjoy this book of a brother remember his precious sister, especially because I love Kelsey Grammar as an actor. His prose reminds me a lot of his Frasier character. However, reading this is like dealing with an ADHD child hopped up on sugar. I can appreciate that this book is his heart and soul but I kind of wish he had a ghostwriter for it. In any case, it was a sweet sentiment to his sister and a horrifying account of what happened to her.

Karen: A Brother Remembers by Kelsey Grammer is meant as a true crime autobiography of Kelsey Grammer's sister Karen's rape and death. But ultimately reading like a Kelsey memoir as he works through his grief of loosing his siter. And while this could have been great, we unfortunately get a story that is unfocused, meanders in through the course of his life, and provides very little information about his sister. To put the icing on this cake, some of the language he uses to describe women is so dated, that it borders on misogynistic and takes away from the obvious grief he feels for his sister and any sympathy you could feel for him.

Thank you to Harper Select for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3 stars
Publication date: May 06 2025

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I was given this audiobook of Karen, written and narrated by Kelsey Grammer, by NetGalley and publishers HarperCollins, in exchange for an honest review, which will be likely be my longest in quite a while. However, I requested beforehand the book form and feel that I should edit my review accordingly.

Starting as honestly as possible with this honest review, this was a somewhat torturous book, not for the faint-hearted. Grammer’s particularly tragic story is the kind of thing that you discover in passing; an article maybe or a post that has someone comment anecdotally that, for example, sharks killed Grammer’s half brothers. There was heaps of undistilled pain. Heartbreaking isn’t just a word here, it’s a visceral feeling of loss that stops you in your tracks and makes you want to call anyone you know and like and say, I appreciate you, or as the Grammers learned to say, I love you.

It's shattering, how senseless crimes leave scars and wounds that won't heal and at times, Kelsey writes impeccably.

However, this book meanders wildly. Now, it may be time to list the problems I had with this.

• Relevant information: How do we evaluate what goes in an autobiography and what is left edited on the Word document? An editor, usually. This book contains a great mound of information, which leads me to part 2.

• Some of the anecdotes are in Grammer’s words, wrangling and in mine superfluous, hence the need for an editor. Grammer invites us, via Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, to consider how he includes the audience in this process. I don’t like breaking the fourth wall in plays or films. I felt this technique should only have been included in the intro of this book. It takes you out of the narrative action.

• He edits throughout the book. This is an investigation into the heart, mind, body and soul of Karen. As he discovers new things or inaccuracies, he lets the audience know. Couldn’t this be done more engagingly? Maybe a corrections section at the end. It feels like it was written and not revised, even though he tells us in his asides that there have been at least five or six drafts. It feels close to amateurish, even if these discoveries are being made in real time.

• Confused narrative techniques. Karen is a focus, but so are many uncoordinated elements of Grammer’s life. He believes in truth, whether it’s commenting on women’s attractiveness or his love for Goose, the dog who is anecdotally referenced across many chapters. Btw, there are no headers, just chapters. The editor in this book evidently had no say, which weakens and dillutes the story, as we rehash various elements. Grammer should trust that the reader is listening and will retain the information. This non-linear story would have been better served by having chapter focuses on certain characters and other chapters that act as asides. He freely admits throughout asides, btw, that you may be confused. Well, disarm us of the confusion, Grammer.

• Grammer is from a different generation, this I get, but the book expounds this. It functions at times as a Kelsey Knows Best or...

• A Help Guide: The World According to Kelsey. Where the book most suffers, however, is that Grammer...

• is obsessed with including his opinion in moments that don’t require it. For example, his righteous anger towards his sister’s assassins invites us to say that he feels that they need to stay in prison. He then says to us that if you disagree, then you have no heart. You see, I think if we’d picked up this book, we’re already connecting to the emotional substance of it all. It’s not helpful to have him leading, as he does several other times with other current issues. Trust that the readers can make their own takeaways without negotiating with us about how to think and feel.


In so many ways, this affected the book. I’m rounding up the whole thing to 3 stars (generously, I argue) partly because the end – about how Grammer’s faith had helped him reach a higher ground in dealing with this terrible tragedy – was profound, inspiring and a true step towards his healing.

Btw, if you were wondering if he referred to the negative connotations towards the name Karen, he covers that too. I agree that the term is an assault towards the Karens of this world (it turns out a Reddit post from an ex-husband ragging about his wife, Karen, was a significant factor but Grammer’s attempt to subvert this current more is unneeded, after all we had Karen Carpenter, who was known to be an Angel and a Saint of the Karen variety.

In conclusion, Grammer is a singular talent (he sang People beautifully, he tells us sometime in the 70s) with an incredible voice, a definition of bonhomie. For that reason, his lust for life and nostalgia for everything in his life also gave this some charm amongst so much tragedy.

This is a tragic story and demonstrates how violent crime impacts the families of victims as well as the victims themselves. The author did a great job of sharing this sense of ongoing harm and how important it is that the justice system and the perpetrators are not allowed to forget the damage they have done. I enjoyed the stream of consciousness style taken by the author, with the end result demonstrating how much his sister’s murder permeated so many aspects of his life throughout the years. The end result seemed almost journalistic.. I found some of the opinions put forward by the author quite troubling, while recognising he is entitled to them, and also was surprised at the amount of space taken up by cars, motorbikes and his own sexual exploits.

Raw, heartbreaking, and deeply personal, Karen is Kelsey Grammer’s tribute to his sister, who was tragically murdered at 18. With unflinching honesty, he shares the pain, grief, and healing journey that shaped the rest of his life. This memoir is both a powerful story of loss and a moving reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. It’s a gut-wrenching yet hopeful tribute to sibling love and survival through unspeakable tragedy. A must-read.

A powerful, heartbreaking tribute to the sister Kelsey Grammer lost far too soon. Karen is raw, real, and full of hard-earned hope. One of the most emotional reads I’ve picked up this year.

Kelsey Grammer's memoir about his sister Karen is devastating and tender. A story of pain, resilience, and the kind of love that doesn't fade with time. This one will stay with me.
#Karen #NetGalley

I’m a fan of Kelsey Grammar as an actor, but less of a fan of his writing. I found the writing disjointed, and so, hard to follow. Nevertheless, his sister’s death has affected Mr. Grammar deeply, and the result is a very emotional read.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I have read some background to this and feel this is a very brave reflection

Absolutely loved this book. It is heart-breaking and beautifully written

A gorgeous tribute

This author shares pain that should never be experienced by anyone, but he does it in such a compassionate way that almost anyone would benefit by it. I am sure I will be reading this again.

This was a tough one.

Writing a review for something so heartfelt, open and honest seems somewhat improper. Grammer writes beautifully about his beloved sister and how she was taken from the world far far too soon.

His writing style is somewhat erratic, jumping from thought to thought without any apparent link, at least initially. However, I found this to be a very realistic and an accurate portrayal of his grief and his attempts to process it. The fact that he still wrestles with it to this day - and the grace and dignity in which he does - is heartbreaking. Truly a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Select for the ARC.

A difficult book to read…lasting and reflective…the death of a sister…murder…this author has written a story of his family and how they survived losing a loved one. Honest…grief…stunned at what happened…honest and forthcoming…emotional.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I will probably be in the minority but I had a hard time getting through this book. It's beautifully written and I'm sure most people will love it. But I don't know if it's my ASD or what but the storyline was too all over the place. I can tell that Kelsey has worked through a lot while writing this book. His sister's murder is a huge tragedy and he doesn't hold back his feelings for how his life has gone since the murder.

Kelsey Grammer's poignant book 'Karen' will leave all but those with the hardest of hearts feeling the grief he has lived with for decades. What is clear by her brother's work is that while Karen was the victim of cruel acts of violence, she should never be defined by how her life ended. Have your tissue handy.