New York Times bestseller
"Swanson rips us from one startling plot twist to the next... A true
tour de force." --Lisa Gardner
"[A] multilayered mystery that brims with duplicity, betrayal and
revenge." --USA Today
From the hugely talented author of The Kind Worth Killing comes a
chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller
genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself
at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has
started using his list of fiction's most ingenious murders.
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a
list of the genre's most unsolvable murders, those that are almost
impossible to crack--which he titled "Eight Perfect Murders"--chosen
from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie's A. B. C.
Murders, Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin's
Deathtrap, A. A. Milne's The 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 The Secret History.
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's looking for information about a series of
unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal's old
list. And the FBI agent isn't the only one interested in this bookseller
who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there,
watching his every move--a diabolical threat who knows way too much
about Mal's personal history, especially the secrets he's never told
anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and
sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn't count on the
investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series
of shocking twists leaves more victims dead--and the noose around Mal's
neck grows so tight he might never escape.
