Wow what a brilliant read!
Started off a bit of a slow burner,but then WHAM the tension began,slowly at first but with every chapter the author turned it up a little more,letting you in bit by bit to the real story of the events that happened.
Did not guess the 'bad guy' at all,completely floored me and the final twist.
Excellent.

I do not believe that I read a book like this one, the narration was spot on, the plot was engaging, full of mystery and BOOKS! Although I feel we only got to skim the surface of some of the characters, the motivations and desires were perfectly understood, the story beautifully written and captivating. 

Peter Swanson is soon becoming one of my fave authors.

I received a copy of this book for an honest review from Netgalley.com. 

With many of my favourite professional readers (Booktubers) desperately championing this book, I had to get my hands on it. However, I had difficulty locating a copy in Australia (I believe that I was looking for a copy on Audible.com.au at the time). I was extra excited to receive this book as it was a "wished" book and I felt as though the publishers came down with their magic fairy wands and granted it for me. Hooray!

I enjoyed the atmosphere that Swanson created at the "Old Devils" bookshop and wintery Boston scenery. I became fond of Kershaw, even with his "Joe Goldbergisms" and felt invested in him. 
Even though, this book was extremely clever at the end, so clever that I had to reread the last few chapters to ensure that I was actually believing what I was reading. I love a good twist and Rules for Perfect Murders provided the goods. 

I just believe that I am not the target audience for such a mystery. Other than the Agatha Cristie text, I was unfamiliar with the books praised and this frustrated me. I am a reader who prefers to enter most books, reasonably blind to what I am about to read. I have no excuse, just ignorant when wanting to enjoy a mystery. 

I am looking forward to enjoying Swanson's extensive backlist and I hope other readers enjoy this book as much as my favourite reviewers do.

We meet Mal, a young, widowed owner of an independent bookshop, as he is contacted by an FBI agent, Gwen Mulvey, in relation to a potential series of murders that she is investigating. They all seem to have more than a few things in common with murders in famous whodunits and, more specifically, titles on a list that Mal had written on a blog years earlier entitled “Eight Perfect Murders”. Mal joins Gwen in digging deeper into these murders, as a kind of “independent expert” on the list’s murder mysteries and the (almost) unsolvable murders they contain. As Mal and Gwen investigate further it becomes clear that the killer is connected in some way to Mal, but why these murders are happening, and how deep Mal’s connection goes, is the real mystery...

I really enjoyed this book. I love most of the titles on Mal’s list and think it probably helps if the reader knows their basic plots. The titles on Mal’s list I didn’t have are now on my ever-growing “to read” pile, and I liked that I was able to discover new books by reading this one. The pacing was really good, and licked along nicely as the author revealed twist after twist. It was a very clever plot and, while I didn’t really find myself drawn to any particular character, I would certainly read more of this author’s work.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

This book captured my attention as it talked about a list of murders being committed that were based on murders that happened in books, other than that I wasn't sure what the book was about. The book starts with us meeting Malcolm Kershaw who owns a second-hand bookshop and he meets one morning an FBI agent. She has come across some murder cases which seem to match a booklist he wrote years ago on a book blog he started for the second-hand bookshop back when he was just a shop assistant. It seems that someone is going through his list of perfect murder scenarios and killing them starting with the ABC Killer. This has our main character, Malcolm, thinking back 5 years ago when he committed his murder in a case that was based on Strangers on a Train after meeting someone on the dark web. He has lived with this dark secret and now with the FBI poking around in his life, he starts to become a bit nervous about it coming back to him and so he contacts an ex-cop friend of his to do some digging of his own. As the book goes on, we notice that the killings are connected to the people that he knew through the bookshop or his personal life - through his wife who also died years ago. Is the killer someone close to Malcolm or is someone wanting to set him up to take the fall or option 3 - is this just some big coincidence? Find out in Rules for Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. As this was a brit lit UK mystery, it is told at a slower pace which they are well-known for rather than the fast American-paced murder mysteries. However, if you are like me and love books and crime - you will find yourself in a comfort zone with Rules for Perfect Murders.

Thank you netgalley, the publisher and author.
I usually enjoy Peter Swanson books but I somehow could not get into this one.
Thank you

Having read one of Peter Swanson’s novels previously and loving it, I was looking forward to reading this one.

The premise of the novel was excellent and was excited to see how it would pan out. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t live up to the expectations and for me it wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped.

I wasn’t a fan of the writing style (personal preference) and felt I couldn’t connect with the main character at all. I had no sympathy nor anger for him, he just felt somewhat bland throughout the book. Perhaps this was done on purpose but I’m more used to being able to connect with the main character, whether it in a positive or negative way.

The idea of the book was good and I loved the references to old crime thriller books! But I felt that the actual killings in this book  were rushed and that felt wrong to me.

Overall I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen and I hoped things would get better as the book went on, but I just found it rather dull and lacking in excitement or suspense.

Looooved all the references to crime fiction classics! Although it may be bit annoying if you had not read the books it makes reference to, as it would spoil the mystery solving for you! Great concept and great execution!

Thank you Netgalley. I discovered Peter Swanson with his very first book, I love him. It is sad to say but I could not read this one. Sorry but not interested.

Rules For Perfect Murders is narrated by Malcolm (Mal) Kershaw who owns Old Devils; a delightful-sounding bookshop specialising in mystery books.  Several years ago Mal wrote an article for the shop’s blog, positing eight crime fiction novels that he felt featured the most ingenious, foolproof murders.  Early one snowy morning a knock at the bookshop door brings this long-forgotten article crashing back into Mal’s otherwise quiet life, when FBI Agent, Gwen Mulvey, asks for his assistance with a series of unsolved murders.  At first glance, the crimes are random and bear no connection, but with Mal’s blog article as a frame of reference the perspective changes considerably.

Mal is a man of contradictions.  He’s a quiet, bookish man who lives an almost frugal existence at home - multipack cans of beer and takeout baguettes - and yet when he meets friends his tastes change to oysters and martinis.  His social circle is small; day to day he only sees his employees Emily and Brandon, and Nero the bookshop cat, occasionally socialising with Brian, his business partner.  I was drawn to him almost immediately; his love of books and cats created an impression of familiarity - someone I’d choose to befriend in my own life - and it was almost impossible not to feel compassion towards his genuine grief at the death of his wife Claire. 

The role of the narrator is an influential one, and Mal appears to be inclined to share almost all his thoughts with the reader.  Through present day events, and historical recollections, I was carried along with the story Mal was sharing; his suspicions, his revelations, and his portrayal of facts. His knowledge of the mystery genre shouldn’t be underestimated; he’s a suspense aficionado, and his own narrative, whilst seemingly frank and open, is also carefully constructed. 

The first twist punches its way out of the pages quite early in the book. It was unexpected, and it forced me to recalibrate the Mal I was picturing in my mind.  Yet the progression of the story, and the impression that Mal’s skeletons had now been aired, lull me back into my previous sense of security.  I was drawn back in by the easy, unforced relationship that Mal and Gwen struck up, sharing in Mal’s enjoyment at becoming so closely involved in an active investigation.  

As the story developed I became increasingly aware of the sublime interplay between the plots of the perfect murder books, and Mal’s own narrative.  They were artfully subtle; I can’t recall at exactly what point I first became aware of them, but once I did I was tempted to start the book from the beginning and to be more observant.  

The eight books in the list cast a nostalgic golden-age glow over the book. Mal’s list of novels includes iconic crime fiction authors such as Patricia Highsmith, James M. Cain, Agatha Christie and Donna Tart, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Rules For Perfect Murders has an unmistakably noir atmosphere. Whilst I enjoyed the directive role these books play in the plot, I felt at times that Mal’s ruminations occasionally delved a bit too deeply into them; this occasionally became a little repetitive, causing the tension to falter somewhat.  Having said that, Rules For Perfect Murders has presented me with a superb compendium of mystery novel recommendations, successfully bolstering my already burgeoning TBR tower!

Rules For Perfect Murders is a stylish and well-written mystery novel that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of this genre.  Its pace is leisurely, with a quiet sense of unease and tension that intensify without fanfare, towards an ending that brings a fatalistic sense of completion.

This book was different to what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it.

There were lots of twists and turns and I enjoyed the narrator - especially the end.

It was a little obvious who had done it but I enjoyed it never the less and found that I wanted to stay reading it even until late which is always a sign of a good book.

There were times when it was fairly fantastical the fbi simply would not disclose so much information but overall I really enjoyed the premise. 

4 out of 5 stars. Thank you for the arc.

I started off really enjoying this book. However towards the end I started to dislike it. I really liked the storyline and I think it’s a very clever and unique idea. I liked the writing style and would like to read some more of Peter Swanson’s books. However, the first thing that I didn’t like is that halfway through the book, the wrong name was written for a character. Nicholas all of a sudden became Scott, and this one time mistake did annoy me. Although it was an ARC copy that I was reading, it still really threw me off as there’s no character in this book called Scott. It’s a pretty big error so that really put me off. I also found it really hard to like Malcolm as a character. It really annoyed me how completely unbothered and blasé he was about murder. I found his attitude towards things very odd so struggled to connect with him as a character. I think the ending could have had more action, as it seemed to be over very quickly. However I was definitely surprised by the twist and I hadn’t predicted it. I would like to read some more of Peter Swanson’s books as I’ve heard great things about his writing, but unfortunately I didn’t love this one as much as I was hoping to.

‘The thing is, and maybe I’m biased by all those years I’ve spent in fictional realms built on deceit, I don’t trust narrators any more than I trust the actual people in my life.’

As some of you may know I’m a total bibliophile and I also love reading crime thrillers, so Rules for Perfect Murders/Eight Perfect Murders (I think it’s a UK/USA difference) sounded right up my street! The book focuses on 8 classic crime thrillers such as Ira Levin’s Death Trap and A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery. I was at a slight disadvantage here as I was only actually familiar with two of them: Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders and Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. The other ones do have their plots spelt out a number of times throughout the book though, so that doesn’t matter so much although perhaps best to avoid if you don’t want a few spoilers along the way!

Rules for Perfect Murders has one of the best uses of an unreliable narrator that I have read. I had started off at about 20% thinking smugly that I knew what the big twist would be at the end only for the author to show his hand early and then the twists just kept coming. It gets to the point where you honestly are unsure what is true or not which was done in a perfect way – not too frustrating and just enough of a reveal each time to keep you off balance. I was a little sad to see that Goodreads has this listed as ‘Malcolm Kershaw #1’ as I don’t think a sequel is needed but the author has clarified that this is a mistake so don’t be fooled – it’s a great standalone story.

My main problem with this book was that I actually found it quite unrealistic that even an FBI agent would make a link between these crimes and the plots of the stories. These are not straight up copycat killings and a few of the links are tenuous at best. For example, in the ABC murders the victims are chosen for having alliterated names that match the place they are killed in and the order descends through the alphabet (eg: Alice Ascher killed in Andover then Betty Barnard killed in Bexhill etc). The linked crime in this book however, is that the killer is killing victims with names that link to birds (Jay, Robin etc) and not even in alphabetical order. The other crimes are also oddly linked – I would have perhaps found it more realistic if the author had kept the crimes linked more faithfully to the books.

Overall, Rules for Perfect Murders is a perfect read for crime thriller fans and a great homage to the novels that kick-started the popularity in the genre. The narrative techniques displayed are clever and keep you guessing all the way to the end and beyond. Thank you to NetGalley & Faber & Faber for granting my wish and allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well I was VERY glad I'd read all the mystery/crime books referred to in this book because otherwise I would either have been bored, or irritated by spoilers. If you love the crime genre and you've read the books referenced, then this is a fun way of presenting a detective novel. I liked it.

Malcolm Kershaw, a middle-aged widow managing a semi-famous Boston bookshop called Old Devils, discovers that a years-old listicle he wrote for his shop’s blog about eight perfect literary murders has become the inspiration for a serial killer, who is now working their way through the list, enacting each murder out. But is Mal more involved than he thinks - does the killer know him… and could he be a future target…?

Peter Swanson’s Rules For Perfect Murders (published as Eight Perfect Murders in the States - no idea why it got retitled for the UK market as Eight Perfect Murders is a much better title) is a pretty decent thriller. The premise is intriguing and the first half of the book flies by effortlessly, as Mal and FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey investigate the crimes and start joining the dots.

The second half is where the book loses momentum, in part because Mulvey moves out of the picture and it’s clear she was the driving force behind a lot of the plot development. The second half doesn’t have quite the surprises of the first and it’s mostly just Mal puttering about waiting for “Charlie” (the nickname for their blog post killer) to make a move.

I like that Swanson made Mal a protagonist of dubious alignment - that he wasn’t some innocent caught up in something terrible - and the reveals of his involvement added spice to the story. The flashbacks were kept to a minimum and didn’t drag. That said, any plot that requires me to believe someone planned to literally scare someone to death by wearing a spooky mask is going to take me out of the narrative because that’s just too damn silly to take seriously. And, while the killer’s reveal was unpredictable, the ending itself was uninspired and somewhat anticlimactic.

Still, Rules For Perfect Murders takes a kinda daffy concept and develops it into a fun story that’s fairly entertaining - not a bad read!

As this book is based on the main character’s list of his ‘8 Perfect Murders’ it seems only fitting that I review this book using my own list!

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8 THINGS I ENJOYED
1. Swansons’ style of writing is just like water. It flows so well and you can’t help but be swept up in his words.

2. The concept of a story that is based on 8 others or rather, the endings of 8 others will lead to the truth of 1.

3. It has a touch of nostalgia to its style of writing which is refreshing to read.

4. The totally bookishness of the main character. Who doesn’t relate to a book lover than loves nothing more than to get lost in the thrill of others words?

5. That you’re never quite sure of the why’s and the how’s. A whole lot of clues all muddled together and like ‘The ABC Murders’ only one of them is the main focus.

6. The pace of the novel was mostly break-neck (excuse the pun!) speed. It kept me engaged and on my toes. I read nearly half in just one sitting.

7. The relationship between his mum and dad vs his relationship with Claire. I felt so sorry for Mal knowing he was pretty much rein-acting what he had witnessed as a child. It kind of sets the scene for Mal’s character in that he, himself is nothing but a blank canvass in which he replicates others’ stories. This is both a plus and minus point for me (see disliked point 2)

8. The concept! Just brilliant. 

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8 THINGS I DISLIKED
1. First and foremost this book references 8 crime novels and is spoiler-tastic! Having not read many of these books, I was actually looking forward to reading them afterwards to experience why Mal thought they were perfect. Alas, now there is no point as Mal tells you all the plot spoilers.

2. None of the characters are truly developed enough for the reader to connect with them. I don’t feel I ever got to grips with who the main character was nor that of the FBI agent. I wanted Mal to be more than well read, I wanted to know him and what made him tick. Not just his reaction to others.

3. The concept of ‘Strangers on a Train’ was covered already by Swanson in his ‘Kind Worth Killing’. I felt he was covering well trodden ground with this plot.

4. The story was a little predictable. I guessed very early on who the killer might be.

5. I didn’t like the sudden appearance of a love interest. It felt a bit jarring and pointless.

6. The FBI agent hadn’t looked for any other links between the victims other than Mal and his list. She was completely winging it based on her gut. I think it would’ve helped to at least explore what connected (other than the books) the ones that she knew of.

7. The ending was a bit lack lustre. I wanted a bit more ‘explosive’.

8. I thought it was unfair to reveal the ‘truths’ at the end. I prefer to have all the information and figure it out as I read along.

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Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Whilst I read I read this book i thought it was similar to the Agatha Christie novels which seemed to be a deliberate strategy. Whilst it was easy to read and well written, I just didn’t particularly like it and found it tedious and old fashioned. Other readers may disagree completely.

I thought the premise of this book was excellent: a murder mystery lover who compiles a list of 8 Perfect Murders in literature is visited by a detective who has a theory that somebody is attempting to replicate each of the murders on the list. I was so engrossed in the first third that I was ready to give it 5 stars then and there. However, the second half of the book unfortunately fell flat for me. I just couldn't get on with the direction that the story took, I really didn't enjoy the twist and found the ending quite disappointing.

So many books in this genre follow a similar formulaic style of writing.  Not this one though.  Very unique in its style, the narrator of this story, delves into 8 fictional murders taken from classic books, to find out what you need to do to get away with the perfect murder.  Be warned, there are spoilers of some classic books in here.   Thank goodness that all the books mentioned, I'd already read. 

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

This book was a slow burning thriller, and an intelligent tickle. I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, so I naturally  loved this one, even though it, of cause is nothing like a classic Agatha mystery. The ending will for sure be a real divider. 

I have read most, but not all the books on Malcolm's list. This is really a book for mystery book lovers. And I really enjoyed it. And I can recommend it to any for a good time and a half.