Welcome 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
You had my interest at ‘perfect’… just my cup of tea!
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It was a chilling mystery!
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Sounds fun! I’ve read five of the eight, plus seen the film of Double Indemnity so now I have an urrgent desire to seek out the other two… 😀
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It was so much fun! I think you should, FF! It definitely made me want to read them all.
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This sounds so good. I love your photo by the way.
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Thanks so much, Colline! It was a great read!
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So glad you loved this unique mystery story. It was so very clever I thought. Wonderful review, Jennifer!
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Thanks so much, Marialyce! It really was so clever!
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This sort of reminds me of an episode of Bones where a serial killer was reenacting all of Brennan’s fictional murders😁
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Oh, that sounds so fun, Tammy! I’ve always meant to rewatch Bones!
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Loving the Boston setting, of course. But this seems like this thriller would be quite the page turner with Malcolm seeing potential suspects all around him!
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It was such a great page-turner, LP, and the setting was fun! This author usually uses settings in NE and I love that!
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I have this on audio and can’t wait to read it!
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I loved this one too. Fab review, Jenni!
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I really like the idea of modern crime fiction with a classic flavour referencing existing crime novels! Ideal for a lover of the genre!
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It really is ideal, stargazer! Such a fun and exciting premise for a thriller.
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Thanks for being on this tour! Sara @ TLC Book Tours
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Loved your review, Jenn! I’m really happy you liked this book, and I am intrigued to check it out myself!
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Thanks so much, Stephen! I could imagine you enjoying this one!
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Great review, Jennifer! And what a treat for book lovers it seems! I’ve had my eye on this one ever since I saw other bloggers’ reviews and it seems like a pretty solid thriller so I’m definitely looking forward to reading it.
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Thank you, Darina! It is more of a murder mystery than thriller, emulating those great murder mystery books, but it has a good amount of suspense, and I just loved it. I hope you do too! ♥️
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Great review, Jennifer! I’ve been looking forward to this one for months!
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Thanks so much, Kyra! YAY! I hope you love it and look forward to your thoughts on it!
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Great review Jennifer. I just finished listening to this one and am not sure about it. I loved the last half, but found the first part a bit slow for me. I am ruminating before I write my review.
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Thanks so much, Carla! I understand and I look forward to what you ultimately decide in your review!
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Hopefully tomorrow.
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