Keeps you in suspense.
Martha is a librarian and married just a year to Alan who works away, when he comes home with blood on his shirt she is suspicious and starts looking up where he had been over the last year and discovered unsolved murders at each place he'd been.
Is he a serial killer?
Martha gets an old friend to investigate.
A brilliant twist to the end.
Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

Another dark and twisty installment to the Henry Kimball series, A talent for murder is a great thriller with a plethora of evil characters. And I was so happy to find Lily and Henry again!

Swanson is really the master when it comes to very dark motives for killing and to create morally twisted characters. Once again in this book, we are faced with pure evil. Lily looks like an innocent lamb in comparison.

A nicely executed mix between amateur sleuths and a whodunnit, if you love this kind of book this is definitely for you. I recommend reading the whole series as a lot of things make a lot more sense knowing the history of the characters.

4.5⭐️

Lily Kimbal book 3

It’s best to read The kind worth killing, and The Kind Worth saving first for Lily’s back story.

Martha is beginning to think that her husband could be a seri@l ki11er, she doesn’t want to do irreparable damage to her marriage by involving the police, so she calls on her old friend Lily to help her investigate as Lily helped her out with a previous relationship problem.

I wish that I could have read this book in a tighter time frame for better appreciation. It’s a belter of a plot, expertly blended between a whodunnit crime with amateur sleuths (Martha and Lily) and a whydunnit with the pov of the antagonist giving great psychological content. This is my favourite genre combination.

It’s tightly plotted for a good pace with maximum impact. The characters are well constructed with Lily being my favourite.

I highly recommend this book.

Fabulous read, completely compelling. This is part of a series, but works well as a standalone. Honestly unputdownable, don’t start reading it when you have somewhere else to be.

I loved this shorter novel - you don't need to have read the prior 2. It's a bit left field, but I guess anything can happen.

A popcorn serial killer thriller, following Martha who is suspicious of her husband who travels for conferences.

There are multi POVS in this one and I think very easily identifiable who's who in the writing.

I thought the "cannot put it down" vibes died off in the latter part when the POV changes to a new character (no spoilers) but still a good read.

Would recommend this one. Please check TWs online.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A fast paced, dark twisted thriller featuring characters from the authors previous novels. I advise readers to visit the two novels in the Henry Kimball series to gain insight into Lilys character, though this novel can be read as a standalone. I enjoyed every page.

I’d like to thank Faber & Faber Ltd and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘A Talent For Murder’ written by Peter Swanson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Martha meets Alan online and they soon marry but while on their honeymoon Martha looks at him and realises that although he’s a nice man she doesn’t really know him at all. Alan is a travelling salesman and it occurs to Martha that everywhere he travels a woman dies in the vicinity. She decides to contact her old friend Lily and ask for her opinion.

On reading the blurb of ‘A Talent For Murder’ I was convinced I was going to enjoy this thriller but unfortunately I found the characters unlikeable and the plot so farfetched it was totally unrealistic. I have no doubt I’ll be in the minority as a lot of readers enjoy it but I’m afraid I’m not one of them. After getting part of the way through I struggled to keep involved and was so disinterested in what was happening that I couldn’t finish the book which is a rare occurrence for me. I apologise for my negative comments this is solely my opinion.

Peter Swanson has done it again! He’s written another twisty thriller full of amoral and psychopathic characters which sucked me in and didn’t let me go until the very last page!
Martha is a librarian, recently married to Alan, a travelling salesman who sells novelty items at educational conferences.
She is perfectly contented with her life but one day she notices some strange things about her husband and suspects he may have an alternative life where he is up to no good. Could he be a serial killer?
Not sure what to do she contacts her old college friend, Lily Kintner, who she has not seen in a while. Lily is slightly unusual- she has appeared in other books by this author and she certainly has the requisite skills to investigate Alan. The two women start to look into his whereabouts when murders have occurred with some interesting results.
This was such a fun read, full of literary references too, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lily is amoral but incredibly likeable and I was hoping she’d be able to sort things out with the help of Henry, her private investigator friend.
The men in the novel were predatory and not pleasant characters- preying on unsuspecting females; I really hoped that Lily would be able to outwit them.
There were many twists in this cleverly plotted novel and even I, a seasoned mystery reader, did not guess the outcome of the story, all credit to Mr Swanson.
This book comes highly recommended as a delicious mystery full of unusual and engaging characters but don’t expect to like many of them!,
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

This book took me longer to read than normal, I think it's because it was quite slow to get going. However, it really picked up pace in the second half! It was a nice easy to read thriller and I'd definitely recommend it!

It was a good story but I'm not sure this needed to be a series. I enjoyed it but definitely enjoyed Other books from this author more.

Peter Swanson is a hit or miss author for me and unfortunately this was another miss. I couldn’t connect to the characters and because of that I couldn’t get gripped. Dnf at 20%

A fast and furious thriller that I may have enjoyed more if I'd read the previous ones in the series. It's highly unbelievable but most are, I just didn't find the characters fleshed out enough for me. But I can see the appeal.

The talented crime writer Peter Swanson once again writes his trademark twisty, intriguing, and captivating mystery, featuring the wonderfully complex amd chilling Lily Kintner, living with her parents, and PI Henry Kimball. It all begins with Josie at a teacher's conference...... Martha Ratcliff lives in New Hampshire, a director of a public library in Kittery in Maine, comfortable in her single status which she does not forsee changing. So it comes as a surprise when she meets travelling salesman, Alan Peralta, liking him and charmed by him sufficiently to marry him, but does she really know him? A question that is to preoccupy and consume her.

Martha catches the marked shift in the expressions on Alan's face, prior to entering their home after being away at a conference, and then there are the curious blood stains on his shirt. An uneasy Martha embarks on looking at where he had been in the past, the city locations, where it appears there are deaths, could her husband possibly be a serial killer? As she ponders this thorny pressing issue, Martha remembers a graduate library science course she had attended long ago, a course in she had found herself trapped in an emotional quagmire, a nightmare in which another student, Lilly, had played a key role in extricating her from. Martha had not been in touch with Lilly since those days, but she has no hesitation in asking for her aid now in her present predicament.

Lilly agrees to help, only to find herself caught in a unexpected web of twists and turns that have her bringing in limerick loving Henry and have her facing the gravest of challenges and dangers. This is an intense, dark, gripping and exciting thrill ride that will appeal to the author's huge number of fans and to new readers alike, although I would urge new readers to read the others in this astonishingly good series. A brilliant read! I look forward with great anticipation to whatever Swanson writes next, hopefully the next in this series. Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Swanson’s books never disappoint. Murders and plot twists mount up and Lily Kintner and Henry Kimball arrive on scene to sort things out. Full of quirky characters, this thriller will hold your attention until the bitter end. Not for the faint hearted!

After thoroughly enjoying the two previous books featuring the ruthless avenging angel that is Lily Kintner, along with her friend, former police officer turned PI Henry Kimball, I was intrigued to learn what Peter Swanson was going to do next with this quirky pair.
What he’s done doesn’t disappoint!
The book opens with a murder at a teacher’s convention, then switches to Martha Ratliff, an old college friend of Lily who is concerned her husband might be a serial killer. Years before Lily had rescued Martha from an abusive relationship so Martha decides to try and get in contact with Lily for advice.
Once Lily starts investigating she realises someone else from their past may well be involved too.
I couldn’t put this book down, it’s occasionally grim particularly in the second half when it delves into the mind of a sociopath, my blood truly did run cold at times. It’s also entertaining with multiple threads and twists and turns and just when I thought it was all resolved the author comes up with yet another mind boggling ending.
A clever book fully deserving of 5 stars, can’t wait for the next one.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Faber and Faber Ltd for an ARC

A Talent for Murder is the 3rd book in The Kind Worth Killing series. While it could be read as a standalone thriller, I highly recommend reading the books in order so you can fully appreciate the characters and storyline arcs.

Lily is one of my favorite characters in modern literature, and once again she shines in this book! The ending felt a little bit rushed but I do appreciate how it closed up the story and would recommend this!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up
 
Having thoroughly enjoyed both The Kind Worth Killing and The Kind Worth Saving, it was fun to return to Swanson’s fictional world for a third installment.
 
I don’t want to say anything about the plot so as to not spoil the first two books, but what I will say is to read this if you enjoy the following: a fast-paced thriller full of twists and turns, multiple points of view, great characters, slick writing, short chapters, and a tense plot.
 
Some people are reading this as a stand-alone, but to really enjoy it, I would say it’s essential to have read the first two books, The Kind Worth Killing and The Kind Worth Saving, beforehand! In my opinion, A Talent for Murder is the weakest of the three, but it was still a fun, fast thriller, and I liked revisiting two ultra-cool characters.
 
Thank you kindly to @netgalley and Faber & Faber for letting me read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this but thought the ending was quite abrupt.

I just finished A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson, and I must say, I was thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. Swanson's writing is exceptional, drawing you in with ease and holding your attention throughout. The shifting perspectives of the various characters add a dynamic layer to the narrative, and I enjoyed the ebb and flow as their stories intertwined and evolved.
Nothing in this book was predictable; every twist and turn kept me guessing and eager to find out what would happen next. Even after finishing it last night, I find myself still thinking about the plot and its intricacies. Swanson has a talent for creating characters who are strange in the most intriguing ways. They are complex, flawed, and utterly fascinating, which adds depth to the already unique plot.
The story is fast-paced and thrilling, yet it maintains a dark undertone that sets it apart from typical thrillers. It's a fun ride, but with a shadowy edge that keeps you on your toes. Overall, A Talent for Murder is a standout read that I highly recommend for anyone looking for a gripping, well-crafted, and thought-provoking novel.

Firstly thank you to NetGalley and Faber for allowing me to read “a talent for murder” early!

Hearing we wore getting another story with lily and Henry involved was the most excited I’ve been about a thriller book!
Both lily and Henry are quickly becoming some of my favourite characters of all time!!

I absolutely loved the fact that we got a little preview of this story in “kind worth saving” and then get to have the full story!!

I’m greedy so I really hope we get some more stories with lily and Henry!!
A solid 5 star read!!