Martha G
Written on Mar 4, 2022
From 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 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 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.
- ISBN10 0062838202
- ISBN13 9780062838209
- Publish Date 3 March 2020
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Imprint Collins
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English
Reviews
bearley
Written on Dec 15, 2020
thebookdisciple
Written on Apr 2, 2020
Eight Perfect Murders will appeal to fans of classic mystery. Here, Peter Swanson gives us an unreliable narrator and a cast of characters who all seem secretive. The plot unfolds slowly as you learn about Mal, the narrator, and the people around him.
The story begins with a blog post Mal wrote about "8 perfect murders" in literature. This post was 8 books that he felt had very creative and untraceable murders. Now, he wrote this YEARS before, so he is a bit perplexed when the FBI shows up to ask him for his expertise. Mind you, he is only a bit perplexed because he has secrets too.
I will admit, I was skeptical of everyone we met in the book, including the FBI agent! The murders from the books he mentioned in his post are a mix of well known (Strangers on a Train and ABC murders) to books and authors I had never heard of. This kept things interesting because the murders were quite strange in some cases. What will keep readers reading Eight Perfect Murders is the mystery. You won't really "like" any character in the story; It was nothing like Gone Girl, where I HATED every single person we met, but none of these characters make you feel sympathetic towards them because its all so sketchy!
Obviously, I don't want to say much and spoil it for readers so I'm being intentionally vague about Eight Perfect Murders. If old school Agatha Christie, or obscure cult classic murder mysteries are your thing, you will be swept away in the allusions and name drops and modern twists of Eight Perfect Murders.
- POV: 1st (Mal)
- Triggers: murder, drug abuse
- Series/Standalone: Standalone
Gillian Flynn, Lisa Gardner, Graham Moore...then you will probably like Eight Perfect Murders!
See full review on The Book Disciple
readingwithwrin
Written on Mar 27, 2020
Overall I did enjoy this book. I was able to read it in a day which hardly ever happens anymore. I haven't read to many books that follow actual booksellers or revolve around books so this was a new experience for me. I did like it but I did find some parts of this book hard to believe and I just wasn't able to get past them this time. The part I did like, however, was how Malcolm found ways to figure everything out and how he pieced things together. He had an excellent memory when it came to things like this somehow and wasn't afraid to go and investigate things on his own even though he was being watched by a killer and the authorities because he was a suspect. That does lead to another thing I found rather strange is how the authorities came to him for help and how they were having him do so much of the work. It just seemed a little strange to me and especially made me uneasy at times because of how Malcolm was going about investigating on his own. His investigating did lead to some very interesting times and helped piece the story together and connected all the murders. I was figuring out things right along with Malcolm and I was extremely surprised by who the killer was.
See reviews first on my blog
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Mar 22, 2020
The Old Devils Bookshop sells used, and rare books in the murder-mystery and thriller genres. Mal himself is a collector of murder-mysteries. I loved the setting from the old books to the bookstore cat.
The investigation involves the books on Mal’s lis. It was eerie and fascinating discusses popular and classic murder-mysteries. It was interesting to see which I read, and I may have added one or two to my list!
Twisted and well paced, I was quickly pulled into the narrative. This was my first soiree with author Peter Swanson, but it won’t be my last. Like Ruth Ware, his story quickly pulled me in and set me on edge as we investigated the clues and learn about our peculiar protagonist.
Graham Halstead was perfect as the narrator for this thriller. He captured Mal, the atmospheric moments and gave voice to secondary characters. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer