I really enjoyed this story of a lonely bookstore owner who is drawn into a murder investigation as a result of an old blog post listing perfect murders from various mystery novels. As a librarian, I loved how the characters spent a lot of time discussing books. It made me want to track down some Patricia Highsmith and Agatha Christie titles. It turns out that the murders are connected to the main character and he has to come to terms with something in his past to find the killer. I thought the ending wasn't as exciting as it could have been, but otherwise I liked it.

The book is an introspective of many of the great murder mystery novels of the past 80 to 90 years. Peter Swanson is obviously a fan of the genre and exhibits a deep knowledge of those books that have been accepted as classics in the field. Malcolm Kershaw, the principal protagonist and the first person narrator of the events has grown up with a deep love of mystery stories and over his life has read most of those considered classics. He has worked in the bookstore trade since he started working and currently is the working partner in a two owner book store called the "Old Devil" The store has a reputation and makes a living in a field that has narrowed over the years with the advent of competition like "Amazon". One of Malcolm's projects was to compile a list of eight fictional murders which he termed "Eight Perfect Murders" as they all were not solvable with the list developing interest in the store.
Malcolm did get married but his luck did not carry outside of the bookstore he worked at. He found that his wife was cheating on him but did not know how to handle the situation. Fate intervened when his wife left a pot party drunk and was killed in a one car accident while driving home. Malcolm in thinking about the accident placed the blame on the man that was her escort and possibly her lover. The problem was, of course, that if her escort was murdered as Malcolm dreamed of the police would automatically put the blame on him. His solution was one that was written about by Patricia Highsmith in her 1951 book, "Strangers on a Train". The novel postulated two men meeting accidentally on a train they were both on. Each had a person that he wanted to kill but not to take any blame for it. The solution arrived at was that each, at different times, would kill the person the other man wanted dead while the first one set up an alibi completely away from the murder location.
Entranced with the idea Malcolm went on a web site and broached the idea for anyone needing help and familiar with the novel. The query was answered by someone and the murder pact agreed to. On the date that his wife's lover was killed Malcolm was away from the area with an iron clad alibi . Than in doing his part he found that the act was far from disagreeable. Consumed with curiosity Malcolm began trying to locate and talk to the man that had killed his wife's lover.
While the action involving Malcolm was playing out a series of murders started to occur which seemed to follow the crimes committed in the books shown on the "Eight Perfect Murders" list. Malcolm was made aware of this when an agent with the FBI visited him claiming she had noted the similarity to those described in the books and asked Malcolm if he would help her. He jumped in and became fascinated with the situation.
The novel is a draw with the added attraction that it produces an education into the leading books written within the Murder Crime genre and for those readers wanting to take their interest in that direction a superb guide. If the lists of books are not important Peter Swanson has presented an excellent trip into another world with a glance into twisted minds and a definite all nighter.

Eight Perfect Murders is a suspense novel based around "perfect" murders found in literature. Peter Swanson's books can always be relied upon for being compulsively readable with interesting twists. I didn't care for the "whodunit" in this one, but the revelations about the narrator made up for that disappointment. This book is definitely going on my short list of books to recommend to readers who want bookish/bookstore murder mysteries. Who knew that was a whole subgenre?

Is there such a thing as a perfect murder? In years past Mal Kershaw compiled a list of 8 classic mystery books with perfect murders. Now Mal finds himself in the middle of a real-life hunt for a killer who is basing his murders on Mal's list. Is Mal involved? Will the FBI be able to track the killer before Mal is targeted? Full of twists and turns, this is a quick and fun read.

I read this novel in a few hours. It was fun, exciting, interesting and easy to devour over a short period of time. It is the first Swanson novel I’ve read, so I’m stoked there are plenty more books by him to enjoy.

A fantastic whodunnit (and whydunnit) with tons of red herrings and a seriously unreliable narrator. Occasionally felt choppy and I had to put it down, but I always came back and I flat out loved the ending.

Peter Swanson is one of the authors whose books I automatically pick up and read; the summary on the back could say just about anything and I'd still read it! While I enjoyed Eight Perfect Murders, it wasn't one I'll look back at and recommend to readers who haven't read his prior novels. Set in the framework of a memoir, we quickly realize that Malcolm lives a relatively quiet life; he manages and co-owns a mystery bookstore, has a minimal amount of friends and employees, and his wife died from a car accident. Then FBI agent Gwen Mulvey enters his life; she believes someone is committing murders in the area based on the "perfect crime" novels Malcolm chose for one of his blog posts. Then, slowly, readers start to realize that there are many more layers to this man; he's made a fair amount of questionable choices. Unfortunately, his character and his choices didn't evoke a lot of fear or anger as I was reading, nor was I rooting for him and his future successes.

Not as good as A Kind Worth Killing( one of the best books I have ever read) but a suspenseful take with a few good twists

Mal is a bookstore owner and a lover of mystery fiction. For his own entertainment, he has kept a list of the hardest to solve fictional mysteries. An FBI agent has a particular interest in that list as is would appear a killer is mimicking the murders on the list, and she’s not the only one watching Mal; the killer is keeping a close eye on him as well. I really enjoyed this unique mystery that puts a mystery reader and book lover in the crosshairs of a killer because of his love of the craft

What a perfect book for a gloomy rainy New England day. This new novel by Peter Swanson was amazing! I finished it in one reading. This one had me guessing until the very end what was truth and what was not! I have enjoyed all of Swanson's books - love the characters, the New England/Boston settings, the writing style.....simply fantastic and entertaining. Thank you for the advanced copy. I will be recommending to everyone!