wp-1583692873392.jpgWelcome to my stop on the Eight Perfect Murders blog tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours! Thanks to TLC for the invitation!

Check out my review of Swanson’s Before She Knew Him from last year

About the Book:

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.

My Thoughts:

Well, if this isn’t the “perfect” thriller for book lovers? A bookseller lands himself in the middle of an FBI investigation because a killer is using his “best” list of fictional murders.

You see, Malcolm Kershaw, the bookseller, gathered a list of unsolved murders… make that “unsolvable” murders because they would be highly unlikely, if not impossible, to solve. He titled his list “Eight Perfect Murders,” and chose from some of the most well-known fictional works, A Secret History, A.B.C. Murders, and Double Indemnity, among others.

Like many of us, Malcolm spends his nights home alone reading…with the killer watching him.

Mal ends up taking on some leads into the investigation himself. He has to for his own safety. Will this game of cat and mouse ever stop?

Peter Swanson’s books are so psychologically smart. Gosh! It would be easiest to tell you that I loved it all, and I pretty much did. Malcolm’s love for books was pretty darn special. Eight Perfect Murders often felt like a classic murder mystery, and I loved every bit of that.  It was like a story within a story. The ending was extremely satisfactory, and overall, I just plain loved it.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Have you read Eight Perfect Murders, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR