Apr 28

Apr 28 Eight Perfect Murders

Score: 3.5/5 Bookmarks

I read Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson for our #threefriendsbookclub (join us some time) and I was glad to have a group of smart and funny ladies to discuss it with.

The first half of the book had me hooked right away. Life in a bookstore, a serial killer working from a list of books the main character had put together and posted to the store’s blog….sign me up!

There is, unfortunately, a but. While I was SO into the idea of this story, the execution fell a little flat for me. I can’t tell you exactly what happened that made me roll my eyes and lose interest in the book…because that would be giving away a pretty big spoiler. I’ll just say that the second half of the book didn’t hold together as well as I would have liked. I had such big hopes for this book, and had read so many positive reviews before picking it up, so perhaps I had a case of anticipointment.

In our book club we talked about the fine line between paying homage to other authors’ work, and just ripping it off and smashing several books together. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether Swanson achieved the former or the latter.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I did quite enjoy the narration by Graham Halstead. Plus the book is a very quick read at only 270 pages, so whether you love it or hate it, it won’t take up a lot of your time. Grab your own copy by clicking the button below, or get the audiobook here.

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Synopsis:

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 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 Death Trap, A. A. Milne's 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 A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookshop 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.