In Karen, Kelsey Grammer delivers a deeply personal and haunting tribute to his beloved sister, whose life was tragically cut short. The book is part memoir, part true-crime meditation, and fully rooted in grief, memory, and enduring love.

Karen lives within Grammer, and with him, every day. The narrative floats between past and present, capturing snapshots of their childhood, the warmth of their bond, and the unbearable weight of living without her. Grammer recounts their lives with a reverence that feels both raw and poetic, working backwards through memory and loss.

Co-written with Winfred Proffitt and Daniel Van Loon, the book offers a structure that mirrors grief itself—fragmented, searching, and emotionally vivid. It’s a story about growing up, about the unbearable aftermath of trauma, and about learning to manage life without the person who made it feel whole.

Karen is a powerful, vulnerable, and beautifully written tribute that invites readers not just to understand what happened, but to feel what was lost.

Unfortunately, this book simply did not work for me. The story is tragic, for sure. I was deeply interested in Kelsey's life experiences and the stories he had to tell. I enjoyed the little snippets of daily life that he shared. The actual writing and editing is what lost me. The stories jump all over the place and are so disjointed that it was extremely difficult to follow. It appeared that Grammer was going for a stream of consciousness style of writing; however, it simply did not work for me. While you could feel the emotion behind some of the things he was saying, the writing needed a lot more editing to truly be able to follow and not get taken completely out of the story. I loved Frasier and was excited for this one but it just was not well-written enough to work for me.

Kelsey Grammer pours his heart out into this memoir and true crime drama. The things he describes that happened to his sister are un fathomable and gut wrenching. For a purely emotional telling of the lives lived and the life that was gruesomely taken away, get ready for Karen.

This is a tough review to write since I really enjoy Kelsey’s acting and listening to his voice. But I cannot say that I enjoyed this book - not just because it is (somewhat) about the brutal murder of his younger sister Karen, but because of the way it is told. The book jumps back and forth in time as he is writing the story, and it is sometimes difficult to know if he is talking about people from his past or present life. He tells many stories about his family life growing up and also tells stories about many people who have passed through his life in many different ways, like teachers, friends, roommates, lovers and colleagues. It’s similar to being in a one way conversation where the speaker is just talking about whatever comes into his head. He claims that all the information he is sharing is related to the story of his sister’s short life, but I have a hard time connecting many stories to her.
I want to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins Focus for access to the audiobook.

I really enjoyed this. Such a heartbreaking and heart warming memoir: a brothers love for his sister who suffered a horrible death. I can’t even imagine how life would be after this tragedy. It was heartwarming to hear him speak of Karen and to see how his family, friends, and faith helped him through it. I have not been a big fan of Kelsey Grammer’s acting, but I am glad I had this opportunity to understand him as a person. Sometimes we forget that celebrities are people too. Their lives aren’t all sunshine and roses

Before I begin, my review is harsh I’m aware of this. I want to stress that there is no rating that could match the empathy and respect I feel for Kelsey Grammer finding the strength to not only write but share with the world the detail of his beloved sisters brutal murder. His honesty in how it’s haunted his life and his determination to try to find solace and catharsis in the exercise is inspirational. I have to really lay all of that to one side though and remember this is a book review.

Clocking around 14 hours this was never going to be a quick listen, but I figured that a great actor with a story to tell would at least be entertaining. I feel awful writing this. Unfortunately it was chaotic, repetitive and extremely confusing almost all of the way through. Almost like a continuous stream of consciousness. Retelling of the same stories, an endless stream of names that come and go and the whole thing felt like a bout of vertigo which was at times almost intolerable. I can’t even fathom how this reads in text format I assume it’s even more difficult.

I do greatly appreciate the opportunity to review this audiobook and extend my thanks to HarperCollins Focus, Kelsey Grammer and NetGalley for the ALC 🎧

I love Kelsey Grammer, especially his voice. When I saw he wrote this book about his sister, I was excited to read it since I've heard a little bit about her and thought it would be a really interesting read to hear about her from his perspective. And it was, it is very obvious how much her death has tortured him and it was very thought-provoking to see how far he's come from this. However at times, it could get very self-indulgent and would lose me. I didn't mind the non-linear timeline or Kelsey's random thoughts on his life but it felt like he was writing a memoir but remembering to include blurbs about his sister to bring it back to her and maybe that was just how he was writing it, and left it. But I think it could have been more cohesive. I loved hearing about his family and up-bringing but again this would be more suited as a memoir rather than titling it after his sister and giving the false pretense that it is fully about her. He also knowingly would add his personal thoughts on some heated political topics but brush it off as opinion and then add "the media will grab this as a headline against me." Those moments felt unnecessary and added nothing to the story. Overall (again) I think this should have been a memoir with a chapter titled Karen because that is more how it felt.

I’m honestly shocked that I got all the way through this (audio)book. There were parts of it that I found interesting, but it could have easily been half as long and still told more than enough. Basically a brother working out his feelings of losing his sister by writing them out and remembering experiences and stories from the past. Very important to him, his family, and anyone else involved, but as someone who was not involved it wasn’t very interesting. I hope this process has brought him some peace, as he’s held onto this grief for almost 50 years.

I DNF'd this book at 12% because I felt it was disrespectful to the victim this book is supposed to be about. In just the little bit I read the narration swung wildly from objectifying women, to describing a violent crime committed against the author's sister, to going into graphic detail about a war crime witnessed by a family friend.

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book and a lot I was not such a big fan of. (Also disclaimer I did not know who Kelsey Grammer was before I started listening to this.) I enjoyed getting to hear about the relationship he had with his family. I liked that he still feels close with his sister and feels her presence, despite her being murdered in the 70s. I enjoyed getting to hear about how he learned and grew as he grew up and dealt with the hardships he was exposed to.

What I did not like at all was the random personal thoughts disguised as political beliefs sprinkled in, and I really don't have a problem with people sharing their political beliefs but I do think there is a time and a place for it. A memoir about how your sister was murdered and how that is impacting your life is not the time or place to share that you do not believe white privilege is a real thing or that people who speak out about assault are making things up.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.


This must be listened to. This is something that can not be read. You can hear the emotion in Kelsey Grammer voice. I had not known of his sister and I enjoyed getting to know her, even though it was a sad reason.



Karen by Kelsey Grammer delves into the deeply personal and tragic story of the author's sister, Karen, who was brutally murdered at the age of 18. Kelsey was just 20 years old and studying theater at Juilliard in New York when his younger sister, a recent high school graduate, moved to Colorado Springs, where she was kidnapped by several men who had intended to rob the Red Lobster where she worked. They instead kidnapped Karen, raped her repeatedly, and ultimately stabbed her to death.

Through this memoir, Grammer poignantly recounts the memories of his sister and the impact her loss had on his life and family. With raw honesty, Grammer explores the profound grief and devastation that followed Karen's death, as well as the long and arduous journey toward healing. He bravely confronts the pain of losing a loved one to senseless violence, offering readers a glimpse into the complexities of coping with such a profound loss.

Karen also serves as a testament to Grammer's resilience and determination to transform tragedy into a source of inspiration and empowerment. In sharing his story, Grammer aims to help others who have experienced similar loss, offering them solace and encouragement on their own paths toward healing.

Karen is not merely a memoir of loss, but a powerful testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit and the capacity for hope in the face of such overwhelming and devastating loss. This book is a moving tribute to a life cut tragically short, a testament to the enduring bond between siblings, and a message of hope at a time when we need it the most.

I’ve heard Kelsey Grammer talk about his sister’s tragic murder before and the toll it took on his life, but Karen: A Brother Remembers digs much deeper. While it covers the terrible events of her death, it also gives a raw, honest look at how that trauma shaped the rest of his life — especially his relationships.

Grammer opens up about how his sister’s murder left him with deep guilt and grief, which had a huge impact on his love life. You can really feel how that loss made it difficult for him to trust, connect, and feel deserving of happiness. The book also sheds light on how a violent crime doesn’t just affect the victim’s family in the immediate aftermath — it leaves scars that linger for decades.

What made this even more powerful for me was Kelsey narrating it himself. Hearing his voice tell the story makes it feel so personal and intimate, like he’s letting you in on parts of his life he’s kept tucked away for years. It adds another layer of emotion you wouldn’t get from the page alone.

The storytelling jumps around a bit, which was sometimes a little confusing, but overall, it’s an emotional and important read. It’s a sad, heartfelt reflection on grief, resilience, and how some losses never fully leave you.

3.5*

Kelsey Grammer is not a trained writer and it shows in this novel. His writing style is very much a conversation with the reader and as he remembers his sister's life, he bounces all over his own. In fact I think there was more in this book about his life than his sister, Karen's. This was marked as true crime, which I typically love, but the true crime element of this book was few and far between.

Karen : A Brother Remembers is about Kelsey's Grammer's sister's murder according to the book description. Much of the book however is Kelsey discussing events through his life in no particular order or sense. He speaks of a past girlfriend's abortion as a murder. The past girlfriend has since passed and this is how he honors her and their love? He also speaks negatively of transgendered people. He repeats stories throughout the book and acknowledges that he does. It's very confusing and he speaks of his sister as being in love with her in a way that gives me an ick, skin crawling feeling.

I do not rate memoirs.

Thank you to #netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this ARC for an honest review. I cannot recommend this book.

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.

Starting as honestly as possible with this honest review, this was a somewhat torturous audiobook, 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. This audiobook was listening at times to pure, 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 audiobook 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.

Although I've seen Kelsey Grammer in many things, I never knew much about him as a person. Although Karen is supposed to be about his sister Karen, Kelsey makes the story mostly about himself with his sister as a side-note, and he constantly references the paranormal as if Karen herself told him to write this book. I DNFed this after only a couple chapters.

If you're a Frasier fan like me, there's something uniquely moving about hearing that familiar voice narrate such a deeply personal journey. What really got me was how Grammer grapples with the ownership of tragedy. Does Karen's story belong solely to her, or also to those left behind picking up the pieces? You can hear raw emotion crack through his narration at times before he composes himself, which I believe adds a layer you just wouldn't get from the print version. Also, the stream-of-consciousness style works perfectly as an audiobook, though I suspect it might be a bit much on the page. It would likely feel a bit erratic.

When he discusses his rage at the possibility of Karen's killer receiving parole, you feel that impossible tension between forgiveness and justice. No easy answers there, which feels refreshingly honest.

Karen's simple mantra — "If we love each other we should say so" — might be the takeaway that sticks with me most.

This one is Worth your time if you've followed Grammer's career, but might not hit the right notes for people not familiar with him.

In Karen, Kelsey Grammer presents a deeply personal and emotionally raw tribute to his sister, whose tragic murder in 1975 left an indelible mark on his life. Through the audiobook—narrated by Grammer himself—the listener gains intimate access to the weight of grief and trauma he continues to carry. His voice, tinged with sorrow and reflection, adds an authentic and haunting depth to the narrative.

Grammer does an admirable job of honoring his sister’s memory, providing insight into her life while unflinchingly confronting the horror of her death. His storytelling is honest, heartfelt, and clearly shaped by decades of emotional processing. It’s a powerful testament to sibling love, loss, and the enduring scars left behind.

One structural critique, however, lies in the book’s non-linear storytelling. The decision to jump back and forth through time may resonate emotionally for some, reflecting the nature of trauma and memory. However, for others, a more chronological approach—from birth to death—might have strengthened the narrative flow and made Karen’s life story more cohesive and impactful.

Ultimately, Karen is a courageous act of remembrance by Grammer. It’s a moving, if at times uneven, memoir that succeeds in illuminating both a beloved sister’s spirit and the long shadow her death has cast on a grieving brother’s soul.

This felt more like Kelsey Grammer talking about the bodies of women he encountered instead of focusing primarily on his sister's story. It felt icky. So I couldn't get through the book without rolling my eyes over and over.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook.
I have been a huge fan of Kelsey Grammer for MANY years.
This book absolutely broke me. You can hear and feel the pain in every word he spoke. Karen will be in my heart and in my mind every single day for the rest of my life.