A Kirkus Best Fiction Book of the year“Swanson rips us from one startling plot twist to the next… A true tour de force.” —Lisa Gardner“Fiendish good fun.” —Anthony HorowitzFrom the hugely talented author of Before She Knew Him comes a chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an … and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, A. A. Milne’s The Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. MacDonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.
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This book was listed on many best books lists that I decided to pick it up. It is a mystery that references many other famous mystery books and I felt that I would enjoy that, however I hadn’t read many of the books and wished that there weren’t so many spoilers. The mystery did keep me guessing who the guilty party was, and I was surprised by the ending.
A perfect book for lovers of mysteries and classic mystery books. Once upon a time, book shop owner Mal Kershaw wrote a blog listing the books he thought contained perfect murders–the ones that were difficult or impossible to solve. The list includes Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, A. A. Milne’s The Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. MacDonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.
The only disappointing thing to me was I’ve only recently stumbled across and purchased Milne’s mystery and haven’t read it yet. If you’re a mystery aficianado, you will have read or heard of most of these books, whether in written form or as a movie. If you haven’t, SPOILER ALERT, the plots are described in this book.
An FBI agent visits Mal because she thinks someone is following his list as a plan for committing multiple murders. From there, they try to determine whether that’s the case and if so, the who and the why. Suffice to say, I found it an unputdownable book.
Each time I thought I figured it out I had not.
I’m sure many of you will love it, just not my cup of tea. I didn’t find this book as interesting as I thought I would. It came highly recommended so maybe my expectations were too high. I found the characters one dimensional and felt I didn’t know or understand them enough to decide if I liked them or not. The list of books that the plot was based on were mainly books I had never read so that may have played a part in my liking the book. It had suspense and mystery, but just not as much as I usually read, so with that it was only a 3 star read for me.
This novel is like pulling a stray thread in a seemingly simple sweater- the more you pull, the more detail emerges, the more you tug, an unexpected surprise is in store. I loved the characters, they are so much more than they seem at our first meeting. After reading this novel I read several other books by this author and each one so far has been entertaining and intricate.
This book felt tailor-made for me — an homage to classic crime novels, set in Boston, focused on a book seller. Great mystery and twists. One of my favorite books of 2020.
Nothing like a good murder to solve on a cold day. First time in reading this author with this also being first in a series. It seems Malcolm put together a list of “perfect” murders. I remember in school in a comp class talking about the perfect murder. At one time though FBI comes a calling when a copy of these seem to be happening. He is also being stalked by the killer with knowing way too much no how. So this one will have you by the scruff and slowly taking over. Good beginning also for this character to keep us wanting more from him.
Loved the originality of this storyline. The references to mystery books was interesting and I intend to read a few of them.
3.5 stars
Malcolm Kershaw runs and co-owns a bookstore. Long ago, he created a blog post where he listed 8 perfect murders found in books. When an FBI agent shows up at the bookstore asking questions about the list and the idea that someone is murdering people based on it, Malcolm quickly realizes he needs to figure out who the mysterious murderer is before his own secrets are revealed.
I really liked the idea behind this book. I was intrigued with the novels Malcolm selected for his perfect murders list. I had read several of them, but was unfamiliar with others. I liked the way Swanson manipulated the book murders to fit the story that he created. With that said, after some time I started to feel more like I was reading a series of book reports rather than a murder mystery. I felt like the material became repetitious and the story dragged a bit.
On a positive note, I thought Malcolm was an interesting character and cleverly constructed. Swanson manages to elevate the unreliable narrator a notch or two. I also loved the ending. It was unpredictable and left you rethinking the entire novel and the events that took place within it.
I would recommend this book to others but be warned that the plots and endings of quite a few books are revealed.
Peter Swanson not only pays homage to the greats, he emulates Agatha Christie in this wonderful story.
It was very realistic. Very predictable. Characters were good about a man who works at a book store and his wife dies.
Terrible book. No suspense. Nothing like swansons other books!
Seriously, Peter Swanson cannot write a bad book.
Didn’t like this at all, SPOILER! I don’t care for narrator being the killer.
For a full review please visit https://tinyurl.com/y8atzmts.
Listened to the audio book. Not a bad plot – seemed to be slow and repetitive in places.
Very original.
Ok.
Ok book
Swanson’s a more-than-capable writer, and the book does contain some interesting twists. However I felt that he gave the game away a bit too early, and I didn’t find the protagonist particularly likeable.