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.
Rating: 4/5 stars
My Review:
Firstly, I'd like to thank Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the eARC of this book for an honest review.
This isn't my first Peter Swanson book. I read Before She Knew Him a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it! I was definitely expecting good things! I thought that the idea behind this book was very unique with the murderer following a blog post of '8 Perfect Murders' written by the MC, Mal. I enjoyed following Mal's narrative and listening (audiobook) to how the story panned out. I loved that a lot of the book was set in the book shop Old Devils. It sounds like such a great place and with Nero the cat that lived there, even better.
I found that I always wanted to read this book. It didn't take me long to get through it as I was so intrigued to see how it would end. I liked how the narrator spoke to the reader and by the end we know why. I thought that the ending was really good. I didn't expect who it was. Also I was left with a lot of thinking when I finished this one. Peter Swanson always creates such brilliant unreliable narrators and Mal is another great one!