I was intrigued by the premise of this book, partly because I’m a book blogger, and partly just because it involves books and a bookstore. It’s about a a bookseller, Malcolm (Mal) Kershaw, and a blog post he wrote years ago in which he listed the top eight books featuring a perfect murder. It was his first post, and one he may have fudged just a little bit, but still most of the books are ones he’d stand by. Even if he hasn’t read them – or pretty much any other books – in years. The book begins on a snowy day when he heads into the store so his staff won’t have to, not expecting any customers. He’s just about to close up for the day when a woman enters. She identifies herself as an FBI agent who’s looking into a series of seemingly unconnected murders. Except she thinks she might have found a connection – and it’s the books on Malcolm’s list.
So begins a twisty turny story in which more and more people are murdered, and the two are trying to find all the victims, how they’re connected and anticipate where the killer might strike next. The matter isn’t helped by the fact that Kershaw and the FBI agent don’t entirely trust one another – or that if the connection to these murders really is Malcolm’s list, that puts him square at the top of the suspect list.
As we follow their growing suspicions and their investigation, we start to learn more about Malcolm’s life and history. He’s relatively solitary, except for a bookstore cat. He’s widowed, because his wife died in a car accident. But we slowly learn more and more about his back story, and it’s actually much darker and more traumatic than it seems at the outset. The more we learn, the more confusing the story gets, and the harder it is to figure out who to suspect or what will happen next.
I enjoyed the setting and the bookish element to the story. But it wasn’t a great one for me. I didn’t much like the characters, and I also didn’t feel like they’re particularly well developed, other than Malcolm. And he’s not very likeable. I think I would have liked it more if it had been a split narrative between him and the FBI agent, because then we could have gotten information he didn’t have, and it could have given us another, possibly more interesting, character to get to know. It had some decent twists and turns, and the connections between characters are interesting to make, but it wasn’t super suspenseful through most of the book, and though it comes together in the end, I was left… not really caring all that much? I had trouble with this one, because it should have been a great read, and I should have really liked it, but something was just missing from it. I didn’t have much investment or an emotional connection to the characters, and for me, even in a thriller, I need that. So while I’m glad I gave it a try, I don’t think I’ll be trying his other books right away. Fine if you just want an interesting thriller, but if you’re looking for more to connect to, maybe not the one for you.
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’sA. 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. – Goodreads
Book Title:Â Eight Perfect Murders
Author:Â Peter Swanson
Series:Â No
Edition:Â Audiobook (Libby)
Published By:Â William Morrow
Released:Â January 1, 2020
Genre:Â Fiction, Thriller, Murder, Suspense
Pages:Â 270
Date Read:Â March 9-12, 2025
Rating: 4 or 5/10
Average Goodreads Rating:Â 3.63/5 (88,793 ratings)