Eight Perfect Murders
A Novel
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3.9 • 633 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestseller
“Swanson rips us from one startling plot twist to the next… A true tour de force.” —Lisa Gardner
“[A] multilayered mystery that brims with duplicity, betrayal and revenge.” —USA Today
From the hugely talented author of The Kind Worth Killing 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 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Every mystery fan knows that it’s nearly impossible to pull off the perfect murder…but it’s not impossible. When bookstore owner Malcolm Kershaw writes a blog post about the eight most perfectly executed murders in crime fiction—from Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History—he has no idea that a deranged killer will use his list as inspiration. As the FBI investigates these real-world murders, they dredge up dark secrets from Malcolm’s own past, forcing him to take matters into his own hands and put himself in the murderer’s crosshairs. Peter Swanson is clearly a huge fan of classic mysteries. He fills his thrill-a-minute tale with clever clues that refer back to the books on Malcolm’s list, like Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity. Both an affectionate celebration of the crime thriller genre and a taut whodunit in its own right, Eight Perfect Murders reminds us of how much fun it is to be a mystery buff.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2004, Malcolm Kershaw, the narrator of this outstanding fair-play crime novel from Swanson (Before She Knew Him), began working at Boston's Old Devils Bookstore, where he posted a list on the store's blog of eight mysteries in which "the murderer comes closest to realizing that platonic ideal of a perfect murder." Years later, FBI agent Gwen Mulvey tells him she's investigating multiple killings that she believes may have been influenced by his blog post. For example, Mulvey is probing the deaths of three people apparently connected only by having a name related to birds, a setup similar to Agatha Christie's The A.B.C. Murders, one of the books on the list. Mulvey is also looking into a murder that mirrors the circumstances of James M. Cain's Double Indemnity and hopes that Kershaw can give her a lead as to who might be using his list for a campaign of bloodshed. The stakes rise when Kershaw admits he knew one of the victims but chose not to share that with Mulvey. Swanson will keep most readers guessing until the end. Classic whodunit fans will be in heaven.
Customer Reviews
8 perfect murders
Hard to put down. Some great surprises!
This will keep you guessing until the very end
Wow! The twists and the turns in this book were phenomenal and the ending was an incredible shock! Bookstore owner is questioned by FBI about a blog he wrote years ago that listed his 8 books with the perfect murders because there’s been a similarity between a few unsolved cases that seem to be mimicking the murders in his recommendations on the blog. You will not believe the outcome!
Am I the only one?
Am I the only one that found this book extremely boring and hard to get through? I was so excited to read this since it’s so popular. I kept on forcing myself to finish it in hopes that there would be some crazy twist but nooooooothing