(1) Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (2020, 270 pages) (crime/mystery/drama). Audiobook, reread. Years ago, bookshop owner Malcom Kershaw published a blog post listing “Eight Perfect Murders” from literature–murders that he, as a crime/mystery aficionado, believed to be the most airtight in terms of what a person could actually get away with. Now, years later, it seems someone is using the blog post as a to-do list, and the police want his help to identify the killer.
I don’t 100% adore everything by Peter Swanson BUT when he’s at his best in this genre, it’s really something. I remembered this book being smart and riveting the first time around but, as often happens, re-reading something where I already know what happens gives me extra bandwidth to appreciate all kinds of little brilliant details that I missed the first time around. Anyone who loves a good mystery/crime thriller/psychological thriller will enjoy this one, especially if you’ve read a lot of classics of the genre.
(2) The Liar’s Room by Simon Lirac (2018, 352 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Paper book. Therapist Susanna Fenton meets a new client for a session and quickly learns that he is not what he seems. If she wants to save her daughter’s life, she must figure out how her own darkest secrets dovetail with his.
I could have done without this one. The premise was really just wildly out there and theatrically overwritten in a way that kept me from ever feeling engrossed in the story. The characters and dialogue made it feel like a kind of farce. A very, very, very dark farce with a weirdly lighthearted ending.
(3) Without A Trace by Carissa Ann Lynch (2019, 241 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Paper book. A small-town police officer responds to a call from a young mother fleeing her abusive husband. She claims her husband has kidnapped their four-year-old daughter, but soon the officer begins to wonder whether the little girl in question ever really existed.
This…was not a good book. Not only were the writing and characters painfully cliche but 10 pages in I was keeping count of the number of ellipses (a lot), especially the number of paragraphs that ended in ellipses (seriously, a LOT), and the number of sentences that ended with ‘...?’ (is there ever a reason for this? I’d argue no).
(4) The Secret Place by Tana French (2019, 541 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Audiobook, reread. A year after a local teenage boy’s murder has gone unsolved, Holly Mackey–daughter of a Dublin murder detective–finds evidence that someone at her all-girls’ boarding school knows what happened. The story cuts back and forth between the year leading up to the murder and the single day that detectives Stephen Moran and Antoinette Conway have to follow Holly’s clue to the killer.
We all know Tana French is the patron saint of rich, gorgeously crafted Irish crime dramas. Again I loved this book the first time around but I appreciated so much more about it the second time around. It’s hard to think of another author that does such a masterful job of engulfing the reader in the characters’ minds and worlds.
(5) Exquisite by Sarah Stovell (2017, 306 pages) (psychological thriller). Paper book. Alice is accepted into a weeklong-retreat led by the famous writer Bo Luxton and the two immediately bond and continue communicating after the retreat. In the weeks that follow, though, their relationship goes from magical to confusing to sinister. The book alternates between each of their (possibly unreliable?) accounts of their relationship. You know at the beginning that something eventually went horribly wrong, but don’t find out exactly what or to who until the end.
This book was really something! Beautiful, engrossing writing. The last third or so got a little strange but it was still entertaining so I didn’t mind too much.
(6) The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (2015, 320 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Audiobook. Another reread, and another example of Peter Swanson at his best. The premise is reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train–rich businessman Ted Severson and young, beautiful, mysterious Lily Kintner meet randomly in an airport bar, and after a few drinks Ted is telling her about his young, beautiful, artist wife Miranda who he’s just discovered is cheating on him with their contractor. When Ted jokes he “could kill her for what she’s done,” Lily straight-facedly replies, “You should. I’ll help you.” Soon the two are plotting Miranda’s death. After that, it’s one twist and turn after another. I think I maybe enjoyed it more the first time around because all the various twists and revelations were so shocking, but still quite enjoyable on a second read.
(7) The Turnout by Megan Abbott (2021, 352 pages). Paper book. Genre = “Megan Abbott.” Brilliant. Just amazing. Sisters and dancers Dara and Marie spend their days running their late mother's beloved ballet studio, with Dara's husband and former prodigy dancer Charlie handling the business side of things. All is grand until a freak accident brings a suspicious outsider into their cozy world; suddenly everything about the threesome's lives seems precarious and uncertain, and they find themselves forced to rexamine an uncomfortable past that no longer feels so settled. Absolutely not for everyone--it's quite dark and some people will find elements of the story disturbing--but if you enjoy Megan Abbott, in my opinion this is her at her best.
(8) Final Girls by Riley Sager (2017, 342 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Audiobook. Quincy Carpenter is a "final girl"--in horror movie parlance, the sole young, female survivor of a horrific massacre. Fortunately/unfortunately, she remembers almost nothing about the horrific night that an escaped psychiatric inmate slaughtered her friends on a weekend trip to the woods their sophomore year of college. Ten years later, another "final girl" has turned up dead, and a third--the mysterious Sam--arrives on Quincy's doorstep. But who is Sam really, and why is she seeking Quincy out now?
Not a bad read for sheer entertainment. Decent writing though the characters felt a little one-dimensional and some of the choices the main character makes really strain the limits of credulity, even for a genre where I'm willing to accept some irrational behavior for the sake of drama and storytelling. I'll probably try a couple more from this author.
(9) Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson (2017, 384 pages) (crime/mystery/suspense). Paper book. This one for me fell into the category of “Peter Swanson being perfectly adequate”. Anxious, traumatized Kate agrees to a six-month housing swap with her distant cousin Corbin–her tiny London flat for his spacious and opulent Boston apartment. The day after Corbin leaves and Kate arrives, Corbin’s neighbor Audrey is found murdered in her apartment. Corbin swears to know nothing about the murder and to have barely known his neighbor, but the more Kate pokes around her cousin’s apartment, the less convinced she is that he is telling the whole truth. Doesn’t rise to the other two Swansons I reread this month, but still perfectly entertaining.
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