Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson Is A Love Letter To The Crime Fiction Genre

 

Description

Title - Eight Perfect Murders
Author - Peter Swanson
Publication - March 3rd, 2020 by William Morrow
Genre - Mystery, Thriller
Pages - 270
Rating - ★★★★/5
Links - Goodreads |  Amazon |  Book Depository

Blurb

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.

Review

"It's nice to think I'll leave a mystery in my wake."

 Eight Perfect Murders promises to be a "chilling tale of psychological suspense". I don't know whether I would call it 'chilling', but it definitely was dark, grim, and absolutely gripping. With an unreliable narrator, an obsessed serial killer, and a hearty discussion of the crime genre, it was an extremely rewarding read. And after the trainwreck that was my experience reading Stephen King's The Outsider, this book felt godsend.

The book begins with Malcolm Kershaw (the narrator), a 30-something mystery aficionado, and the owner of the Old Devils bookstore that specializes in mystery and thriller books. Central to the plotline is an old blog post he wrote, titled "Eight Perfect Murders", featuring some of the best mystery books to ever exist - The Red House Mystery, Malice Afterthought, TheA.B.C Murders, Double Indemnity, Strangers On A Train, The Drowner, Deathtrap, and The Secret History. These books contain, in Malcolm's opinion, the most "perfect", unsolvable, uncatchably brilliant murders.

And now years later, an anonymous quasi-vigilante is on a mission to commit murders that seem eerily similar to the murders featured in Malcolm's list. Soon, an observant FBI agent pays him a visit, and he gets embroiled in the investigation, part suspect, and part aid. But as the story progresses and Malcolm tries to piece together the puzzle, we come to learn all the dark secrets that he himself is hiding and how all this might just have begun because of him.

"In other words, if I'd been a better company, a whole bunch of people would never have been murdered."

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't very hard to figure out who the real culprit was since there simply weren't enough options for possible culprits. But that doesn't take away any of the fun because watching the cat-and-mouse game between the narrator and the killer is tremendously satisfying. 

One of the best aspects of the book is the relationship between the two. I mean, it's very rare to find such a dedicated nemesis who'll upend their whole life and go on a killing spree just so they can be your new bestie. (because that's basically what happened in a nutshell)

The other aspect that I absolutely loved was the exploration of the mystery/crime genre- from classics to modern to obscure, and the repeated remarks on what books mean to avid readers. That they're not just stories we read; books can be life-changing, they can be our saviours when we're at our lowest, and books can be our greatest inspirations (for good or bad). 

Be warned though, Eight Perfect Murders is chockful of spoilers for all the books featured in the titular list along with other classics like Christie's Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Verdict

In conclusion, I would like to give this book 4 stars and a tight hug for all the book and poetry recommendations I got out of it. This one goes to my Best-Of-the-Year shelf.

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