{"id":1595499,"date":"2020-04-07T11:17:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T15:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/?p=1595499"},"modified":"2020-04-09T14:29:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T18:29:53","slug":"divine-reads-eight-perfect-murders-by-peter-swanson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/divine-reads-eight-perfect-murders-by-peter-swanson\/","title":{"rendered":"DIVINE Reads: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the Book<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre\u2019s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack\u2014which he titled \u201cEight Perfect Murders\u201d\u2014chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie\u2019s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith\u2019s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal\u2019s old list. And the FBI agent isn\u2019t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move\u2014a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal\u2019s personal history, especially the secrets he\u2019s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.<\/p>\n

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn\u2019t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead\u2014and the noose around Mal\u2019s neck grows so tight he might never escape.<\/p>\n

The Review<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A murder mystery inspired by other classics in the genre \u2013 it is an intelligently written book<\/a>, that conjures up images of film noir as you are reading it.\u00a0 Everything about this book is unexpected.\u00a0 From page 1, you never know what is going to happen.\u00a0 It\u2019s like an onion that you have to peel back layer by layer until you reach the very end of the book.\u00a0 The pace is slow and frantic at the same time.\u00a0 It builds chapter after chapter as you learn more about Mal and the murders that he seemingly has become entangled in.<\/p>\n

Every character in this book serves a purpose.\u00a0 No one is extraneous, not even the cat, Nero.\u00a0 This is a book about nuances and character.\u00a0 Peter Swanson either loves the thriller genre or he has done extensive research.\u00a0 Book by book, murder by murder, you have an understanding of why each classic thriller selected was the perfect crime.\u00a0 It is a true homage to classic thrillers, but modern enough to keep the reader interested and engaged.<\/p>\n

The book is hard to put down, and when it ends you will wish that you had read it slowly, enjoying every moment.\u00a0 That won\u2019t happen, because, as in every \u201cWho Done It\u201d, you will need to know how it ends.\u00a0 Eight Perfect Murders<\/a> will have you longing to read every book on Mal\u2019s list, but maybe, just maybe you shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Favourite Line From the Book<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is one of the most chilling lines in the book.\u00a0 It is about the book \u201cMalice Aforethought\u201d, but it is perfect in this mystery.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is infected forever by the act of killing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This exchange gets an honorary mention for being perfect for this book:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Doesn\u2019t exactly sound like a murderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDepends on the type of book that you like to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About the Book Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre\u2019s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack\u2014which he titled \u201cEight…<\/div>\n
View Post<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1595505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[183,182,5461,5462,186,5460,206],"powerkit_post_featured":[3],"class_list":{"0":"post-1595499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews","8":"tag-book-reviews","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-eight-perfect-murders","11":"tag-mysteries","12":"tag-novels","13":"tag-peter-swanson","14":"tag-thrillers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1595505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595499"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=1595499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}