Rules for Perfect Murders The ‘fiendishly good’ new thriller from the bestselling author

Peter Swanson — 2020

'Fiendish good fun' ANTHONY HOROWITZ If you want to get away with murder, play by the rules A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels. The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to mystery bookshop Old Devils. Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted online an article titled 'My Eight Favourite Murders,' and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list - which includes Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train and Donna Tartt's The Secret History. Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted? 'An ingenious game of cat-and-mouse' The Times 'Never less than enthralling' Daily Mail 'Tremendously enjoyable' Sunday Mirror

Reviews

Adeline@reliures

Jul 2, 2023

4.5

Adeline@reliures

May 17, 2023

4.5

Fatin Allen@fatinallen

Feb 8, 2023

This is not my go-to genre but I have to admit this book surprised me in a pleasant way. The storytelling was engaging and I enjoyed all the book-ish parts.

ariah @ariahaiello

Dec 28, 2022

Rules for perfect murders lives up to its reputation of being fast paced with an immediately gripping start. However I found it managed to lose me quite a bit during the majority of the book, only spiking my interest again at the end. Each character was incredibly thought out, yet I feel that Marty being Charlie was the authors last-ditch attempt at the classic murder mystery plot twist. It wasn’t that I was expecting Marty in the scene at Tess and Brian’s house, I just felt it would’ve been more impactful if, say, Mal DOES realise he was Charlie all along in a manic episode as mentioned at the very end of the book. I did very much like being addressed by the narrator, and the book existing as a memoir/suicide note. Overall, a good book to get out of a reading slump, or be introduced to the genre, however doesn’t really live up to expectations.

This review contains a spoiler

Nadine @intlnadine

Feb 18, 2022

Quick murder mystery nicely wrapped up in the end

Jemima Scott@readwithmims

Dec 21, 2021

A really fun thriller - I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did☺️🔍📚

Ruth Parker @ruth

Nov 18, 2021

This book follows a man who runs a bookstore who wrote a blog years ago called Eight Perfect Murders. Someone has started copycatting the murders he picked out and the FBI want to know what Malcolm has to do with it. It was an intriguing premise and I had fun reading this. I didn’t enjoy being majorly spoiled for a book or two I haven’t yet read but that’s on my head! Not the best Peter Swanson but it is definitely still well worth a read!