Eight Perfect Murders

This book by Peter Swanson is my mystery book group's choice for July. I finished it in one day. I read some reviews that found it lagged toward the end or that the ending was predictable, but I have to say, that was not my experience. I had no idea who the murderer was. The premise is that widower Malcolm Kershaw is co-owner of the Old Devils bookstore in Boston. Years ago, when he was just an employee, he posted an article on the store's blog called "Eight Perfect Murders" which described those mysteries in which "the murderer comes closest to realizing that platonic ideal of a perfect murder." They were 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. Years later, Malcom is contacted by FBI agent Gwen Mulvey who feels someone is imitating--at least in spirit--the murders in this list of books, and she is hoping Malcolm can shed light on who it might be. Both Gwen and Mal have secrets from each other and neither entirely trusts the other initially. Malcolm reveals one of his secrets to the reader fairly early on, and it quickly becomes clear that, not only is the killer using his list, but the victims are connected to Malcolm as well and Mal needs to find out who it is before anyone else dies and before his remaining secrets are revealed. 

The Library Journal concludes, "The wintry New England setting and eerily cool narration, together with trust-no-one twists and garish murders, will satisfy thriller readers..." And Publishers Weekly agrees that "Classic whodunit fans will be in heaven." Kirkus notes that "the pleasures of following, and trying to anticipate, a narrator who’s constantly second- and third-guessing himself and everyone around him are authentic and intense.....The perfect gift for well-read mystery mavens who complain that they don’t write them like they used to."