Notes on an Execution Summary and Study Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

You can also read the ending explained page for a focused analysis.

For a quick recap, see the chapter summaries or the Q&A page.

If you're ready to test your knowledge, try the quiz or explore essay prompts.

This guide is designed to help you understand the novel's structure, themes, and characters, and to support your own reading and analysis.

We'll start with a quick overview, then dive into a full summary, character and theme breakdowns, and a chapter-by-chapter table.

Let's begin.

Quick Facts

Short Summary

Notes on an Execution follows Ansel Packer, a serial killer on death row in Texas, through the final twelve hours before his execution. The novel interweaves his countdown with the stories of three women whose lives he irrevocably changed: his mother Lavender, who escaped an abusive relationship but lost her sons to foster care; Saffy Singh, the detective who spent decades pursuing him; and Hazel Fisk, the twin sister of his final victim, Jenny. By centering these women, the novel subverts the true crime genre, shifting focus from the killer to the victims and survivors. The narrative explores themes of violence, trauma, and the moral weight of witnessing, culminating in Ansel's execution and an imagined glimpse of the futures the victims never had.

Full Summary

Notes on an Execution opens with an epigraph from artist Jenny Holzer: “I am awake in the place where women die.” This sets the tone for a novel that deliberately reframes the serial killer narrative. The story is structured around two timelines: the present-day countdown of Ansel Packer’s execution, and flashbacks that reveal the lives of the women connected to him.

The Present-Day Countdown

The novel begins on the morning of Ansel’s scheduled execution at Polunsky Unit in Texas. He wakes with roughly eleven hours and twenty-three minutes remaining, and we follow his final hours in real time. Ansel is a convicted serial killer, known in the media as “The Girly Killer,” who murdered three girls in the 1990s and later his ex-wife, Jenny Fisk. As he prepares for his transfer to the Walls Unit, he reflects on his past, his relationships, and his attempts to control his legacy.

A key element of the present-day sections is Ansel’s relationship with a corrections officer named Shawna. Over weeks, Shawna has become sympathetic to Ansel, and he manipulates her into helping him plan an escape. She hides a pistol in the transfer van, draws a map of the surrounding woods, and prepares supplies. However, when Ansel reaches for the pistol during the transfer, he finds only broken jumper cables—Shawna has betrayed him. This failed escape attempt underscores the novel’s critique of the justice system and the futility of Ansel’s attempts to evade accountability.

As the hours tick down, Ansel is strip-searched, fingerprinted, and placed in a holding cell. He receives visits from his lawyer, Tina Nakamura, who files appeals that are ultimately rejected. He also reflects on his “Theory” notebooks—a manuscript he has written over seven years, in which he attempts to justify his crimes through a philosophy of moral grayness and the multiverse. He hopes to have the notebooks published after his death, but they are returned to him by Shawna, and he realizes his legacy will die with him.

Lavender’s Story

Interspersed with the countdown are chapters from Lavender, Ansel’s mother. In 1973, Lavender is a seventeen-year-old who runs away with an older man, Johnny Packer, and becomes trapped in an abusive relationship on his isolated farm. She gives birth to Ansel and later a second son, but Johnny’s control escalates into violence. After a particularly brutal incident, Lavender manages to call 911 from a gas station, and Johnny flees. The boys are placed in foster care, and Lavender never sees them again.

Lavender’s chapters trace her later life: she finds refuge at a commune called Gentle Valley, where she lives for decades. In 2002, she learns that her younger son, Ellis, was adopted and is now a successful photographer with a family. She meets Ellis’s adoptive mother, Cheryl, who asks her not to contact him. Lavender begins writing unsent letters to Ansel, expressing her guilt and longing. In 2019, she receives a letter from Blue Harrison, Ellis’s daughter, and they begin a correspondence. Lavender visits Blue at the Blue House restaurant, where she learns Ansel is on death row. She gives Blue her mother’s locket and asks her to witness Ansel’s execution so he won’t be alone.

Saffy’s Story

Saffy Singh first appears as a twelve-year-old foster child in 1984, living at Miss Gemma’s home in the Adirondacks. She develops a crush on Ansel, who is eleven, but is disturbed when she finds him arranging dead animals in the grass. She later discovers a fox’s remains in her bed and is transferred to another foster home. This early encounter shapes her future.

As an adult, Saffy becomes a detective with the New York State Police. In 1999, she investigates the discovery of three girls’ remains—Izzy Sanchez, Angela Meyer, and Lila Maroney—who disappeared in 1990. She suspects Ansel, but a homeless man, Nicholas Richards, is wrongly arrested and convicted. Saffy is reprimanded for her obsession, but she continues to tail Ansel for years. In 2012, she learns that Jenny Fisk has been murdered in Houston, and Ansel is a suspect. Hazel Fisk brings Saffy a ring that links Ansel to the earlier murders. Saffy flies to Houston and interrogates Ansel, playing Nina Simone’s “I Put a Spell on You” and presenting the trinkets taken from the victims. Ansel breaks down and confesses to all four murders.

Hazel’s Story

Hazel Fisk is the twin sister of Jenny, Ansel’s ex-wife and final victim. In 1990, Hazel is a ballet dancer recovering from knee surgery when Jenny brings Ansel home for Christmas. Hazel is immediately wary of him, and she witnesses him digging a hole in the backyard. In 2011, Jenny calls Hazel to say she has left Ansel, and Hazel helps her escape to a hotel. Jenny reveals that a detective has been investigating Ansel for the girls’ deaths. Hazel later finds a ring in her glove compartment that Jenny gave her.

In 2012, Hazel learns that Jenny has been murdered. At the funeral, she retrieves the ring and digs under the maple tree where she saw Ansel digging years earlier. She finds a buried jewelry box containing a beaded barrette and a pearl bracelet—items she has never seen before. These become evidence that links Ansel to the earlier murders.

The Execution

The novel’s present-day sections culminate in Ansel’s execution. He is strapped to a gurney, and the witnesses are revealed: Jenny’s mother, Hazel, and Blue. Ansel’s last words are a plea for another chance, but the lethal injection is administered. As he dies, he experiences a moment of clarity and love.

The Final Chapter

The novel ends with an imagined alternate reality in which Izzy, Angela, Lila, and Jenny are alive, living ordinary lives. Izzy is on a sailboat with her family; Angela travels the world; Lila has a daughter; Jenny delivers babies. This chapter emphasizes the loss of potential and the erasure of victims’ personhood, reinforcing the novel’s central critique of true crime culture.

Author’s Note

In the back matter, Kukafka explains that she wrote the novel to challenge the cultural obsession with serial killers, which often erases victims and the women connected to them. She dedicates the book to women who survive.

Main Characters

• Ansel Packer – The condemned serial killer whose execution countdown structures the novel. His past crimes and relationships with women are explored through multiple perspectives.

• Lavender – Ansel’s mother, whose chapters trace her escape from an abusive relationship and her lifelong guilt and attempts to connect with her sons.

• Saffy Singh – The detective who first suspected Ansel as a teenager and later extracts his confession, dedicating her career to pursuing him.

• Hazel Fisk – Jenny’s twin sister, who witnesses Ansel’s execution and uncovers buried secrets about his past.

• Jenny Fisk – Ansel’s ex-wife and final victim, whose relationship with Ansel and death drive much of the narrative.

• Blue Harrison – Ansel’s niece, who corresponds with Lavender and agrees to witness Ansel’s execution, representing a connection to his family.

For more detail, see the character pages.

Themes

• Victim Erasure and Women’s Voices – The novel deliberately shifts focus from the serial killer to the women affected by his actions, challenging true crime’s tendency to glorify perpetrators.

• The Fluidity of Morality and the Nature of Evil – The book interrogates the idea of evil as a fixed identity, instead presenting morality as fluid and contingent on choices and circumstances.

• Ripple Effects of Violence Across Generations – The narrative traces the enduring consequences of violence across generations, emphasizing that the killer’s story is not the only one that matters.

• Critique of the Justice System and Capital Punishment – The book critiques the criminal justice system’s failures, including wrongful convictions and the spectacle of state-sanctioned death.

• The Moral Weight of Witnessing – The novel explores what it means to truly see another person, and the moral weight of witnessing violence and its aftermath.

For deeper analysis, visit the themes pages.

Symbols

• The Blue House – A restaurant in Tupper Lake that symbolizes an idealized, peaceful life and the possibility of family connection, recurring as a place of refuge and memory for Ansel.

• The Locket – Lavender’s mother’s locket, passed to Blue, represents maternal legacy, love, and the hope of breaking cycles of violence.

• The Theory Notebooks – Ansel’s handwritten manuscript on moral grayness and the multiverse, symbolizing his attempt to justify his crimes and control his legacy.

• The Screaming – A phantom baby’s cry only Ansel hears, symbolizing his guilt, the haunting memory of his brother, and the inescapable past.

For more, see the symbols pages.

Ending Overview

The novel ends with Ansel’s execution. He is strapped to a gurney, and the witnesses—Jenny’s mother, Hazel, and Blue—watch through glass. Ansel’s last words are a plea for another chance, but the lethal injection is administered. As he dies, he experiences a moment of clarity and love. The final chapter imagines alternate futures for the victims, showing the lives they could have had if they had not been murdered. This ending reinforces the novel’s central message about the erasure of victims and the importance of remembering them as full people.

For a detailed analysis, see the ending explained page.

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

For detailed chapter summaries, visit the chapter 1 summary and follow the links for each chapter