Malcolm Kershaw leads a fairly quiet life. He co-owns a mystery bookstore in Boston, and apart from his employees and the occasional friend, he mostly spends his evenings alone, listening to music and reading, ever since his wife died a few years ago.
One snowy day he gets a visit from an FBI agent about a series of murders which seem to replicate those committed in Agatha Christie’s A.B.C. Murders, as well as one that might be patterned after James M. Cain's Double Indemnity.
It’s not that the FBI agent (necessarily) thinks Mal had anything to do with the murders, but years ago he wrote a post for the store’s blog called “Eight Perfect Murders,” in which he chose eight books in which the seemingly perfect crime had been committed. It appears someone is killing people using Mal’s list as a guide. But not just that, it appears the killer wants Mal to know what they’re doing...and this killer may know some of Mal’s secrets, too!
I tore through this book in one sitting. While it had a few quirks, I thought this was a great mystery which kept me on my toes, and I loved the concept of the plot. I really wasn’t sure whom to suspect at one point, and I suspect everyone when I read mysteries!!
It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Peter Swanson’s books, and I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy the way he writes. (I loved The Kind Worth Killing.) If you like mysteries that make you think, here’s one for you!
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