Will Dean’s series about deaf Swedish reporter Tuva Moodyson is a must read – and this book is his best yet. Because crime fiction is fun and entertaining in a way no other genre can match- and Peter Swanson pushed every one of those buttons- knowing his audience, knowing the elements we avid fans enjoy about crime fiction, and weaving them into this story in subtle, shrewd ways, just the way we like it. The story is told in first person which in this book really worked, though the author does do a little cheat by not telling use everything that the character knows. The plot is complicated but in the more than competent hands of Swanson I was never lost. The author does break the forth wall is several places coming out of the story and talking to the reader. Cool. It burst the ever sought after, Fictive Dream but in this case blended in with the voice and was almost expected. What I thought truly brilliant about this story is how the author disguises an old trope that has yet again risen in popularity, the plot in Strangers on a Train where strangers kill for each other to mire the motive and opportunity. The character is alive and three dimensional and I was with him all the way. The book starts a little slow and continues to spin up in suspense. I thought I knew what was happening and was reassured when the author broke the fourth wall and asked the reader if he/she/they caught the clues given and listed them. Nice.

What did I learn from making this list? That perfect murders, at least the artful kind we find in books, are all about concealment and misdirection. They have a lot in common with well-executed magic: it’s all about fooling the detectives (and the readers), making us look away from where the crime is happening. Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, another book on Malcolm’s list, is a textbook example: it appears as though a psychopath is bumping off victims according to the initials of their names, but the truth is something else altogether. Poirot, naturally, is not misled, and the world can be set to rights.With Johnson’s death, the murder spree veers much too close to Kershaw. She was a particularly troublesome regular at Old Devils Bookstore who’d moved away, thankfully. He hopes to hide this connection from Agent Mulvey, and it’s only the first of his many cleverly disguised secrets, as you gradually realise what an unreliable narrator you have on your hands. Mulvey isn’t telling him everything either, of course, and from the beginning you may have doubts about her and the entire investigation. I thought about all the press conferences I’d seen over the years, parents trotted out for missing kids, killed kids, abused kids,” she says. “We can be sad, distraught, confused, pleading, forgiving. But not furious. Fury is reserved for other people. The worst thing you can be is an angry woman, an angry mother.” But Eve is angry, and now she has nothing left to lose. I have not read any of the books on Malcolm's list. There were a couple that I would like to read but I feel that I already know what the books are about because there are so many spoilers. Lately, there is a very definite trend for murderers who get away with it. Highsmith got there first, offering up Tom Ripley in five books filled with his unsolved crimes. Nowadays, just in the realm of TV, we have Dexter, the serial killer who hunts his own kind, and the cut-off-in-its-prime Hannibal, an artful, imaginative riff on the world of Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter. Then there’s Ruth Wilson’s sly performance as Alice Morgan on Luther, stealing the limelight from Idris Elba, and Jody Comer’s brilliant assassin in Killing Eve, adding a sense of humour to the killing game. There is something so very refreshing about the way this novel is written. None of the plot was filler. I hung onto every word and felt the tension and suspense in every chapter. The narration was one of my favourite parts of this novel - I adored Malcolm who guides us through the story. There was a secretive side to him that kept my curiosity building from start to finish. Malcolm was an extremely likeable character.

The thing that makes this story work, is the same thing that makes all mysteries work. My appetite for a good mystery never wanes. I can never go too long without reading some form of crime fiction. I’m not gonna talk more about the story because it’s so hard to write more about without giving spoilers and I’m not the most trustworthy person who likes to write the murderers’ identities in the middle of each Christie books and send them to my loved ones (You may guess I’m not the most lovable person!) In addition, there will be unrelated eye-rolling. You may hear yourself saying things like “fuh realz?” or “No, no way,” or “You’re kidding me, right?” as a character does this, that, or something else, that seems just dramatically dumb. On the other hand, if you are willing to treat your eye-ball chafing with over the counter products, and use ear plugs to drown out the sound of your own complaining voice, this remains a pretty fun, engaging read. Krenshaw seems likable, and his love of books will make him sympathetic to, you know, readers. Mulvey is intriguing, as we wonder if she is a straight arrow, or up to something. Krenshaw’s wife is a damaged, over-the-top siren, someone I found a bit tough to relate to, which is hardly a crime. But then we are not looking for high lit in a mystery novel. The rest of the supporting cast were drawn lightly, but served their purposes well. Swanson’s clear love of and appreciation for the genre, as expressed in the multitude of references, both in written and cinematic form, is infectious. (a treatable infection, nothing deadly, I promise). Having a shop cat named Nero doesn’t hurt. Now, to be honest, I wouldn’t go into this book with a super serious mindset. If you do, you might miss the all the deliberate little Easter eggs planted here and there, which are meant specifically for mystery buffs to discover. Personally, I thought Swanson did a great job with weaving a mystery around the eight novels on Malcolm’s list, showcasing their magnificence, while supplying a sly dose of irony and satire that often made me smile.This book comes up on GR as Malcolm Kershaw #1, which might be an indication that Swanson intends to continue to write Kershaw mysteries. I hope he doesn’t abandon his standalone, modern mysteries to start feeding the ravenous maw of series obsessed readers, but I do understand the realities of publishing. A well-received mystery series is like the commissions on annuities for a life insurance salesman. I need a Gibberish translator right now! Because this is only language I may fluently speak after reading this book. Fcjeijfiojopi50ov! See! I lost control my thoughts again! I cannot form a proper sentence!

Gwen and Malcolm realise that the killer may not be killing victims in the exact same manner as the author wrote the original murders in the books and the victim themselves may not be targets, but it’s the intent that’s important. But still….So, I was snuggled up on my couch reading and then there was a twist, a revelation, another twist, another revelation and once again, Peter Swanson reminded me why I am such a fan. His plots are well thought out, perfectly paced and intelligent. He knows how to keep a reader engaged and had me glued to my seat. I love trying to figure a book out (the whole whodunit) and had my super sleuth hat on while reading this one (I did not figure anything out) in this book. Needless, to say, I love that he had me guessing until pretty much the end. Plus, now he had me intrigued and wanting to read and re-read some of the books on the "Perfect Murder list". Plus, those who have been to Boston or live in Boston, will enjoy being able to say "I know that place!" or "I'm familiar with that street!" as Mal walks around the city. This is a clever book. It is not fast paced; instead the tension builds slowly, imperturbably. There is only one narrator, Mal, the owner of a bookshop specialising in mysteries. There is a lot of dialogue, something I don't usually enjoy, but it works well here. There is a lot about this book that is different - in the very best of ways. I loved every moment of this read. I didn’t get rejected for this book but I couldn’t let it root at the NetGalley’s pending purgatory so this time I’m thanking myself and my husband’s credit card to buy this book and devour it at one sit! Highly recommending, one of the best thrillers of the year! Of course I should have had this! A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels. Mal isn’t stupid enough to believe that Agent Mulvey has been keeping him near just for his book knowledge – she suspects he knows a lot more than what he is passing onto her. Which is fair enough, as he certainly does. The closer he is to the investigation, the more Mal can ascertain the possible danger to himself.