Kershaw and Mulvey set up some rules for examining crimes that might link to them. First, should the murders be copied exactly, or only the idea behind the murders? They decide it’s the idea that matters. And they consider the possibility that the victims should be – Kershaw uses the odd word ‘deserving’. And, they’re pretty sure the killer is someone he knows, or who knows him.

MY THOUGHTS: I don't think my heart has ever lurched in my chest before. I have been breathless, actually stopped breathing, had marks in the palms of my hands from my fingernails, and had my heart pound, but never before has it actually lurched. It definitely did in Rules For Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson when the killer revealed himself. The circumstances in which he does so deserves to have a musical score written for it. I guess, by its nature the book is (in fact) a homage to crime fiction – particularly that by some of the greats. It’s twisty and very intelligently written. Indeed it’s very different. It could have been amazing but (though still a good read) I felt it fell slightly short of its potential.Like this? You might also like England’s Finest, by Christopher Fowler or The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda. And let’s not forget James M. Cain’s “Double Indemnity” (if you haven’t watch its movie, do it immediately to see Fred MacMurray’s brilliant performance!), A.A Milne’s “Red House Mystery”, John D. Macdonald’s “Drowner” and Anthony Berkeley Cox’ s “Malice Afterthought” (I have to make confession that I didn’t read the last three of them. But I already add to my MOUNT TBR that I rent hourly for bungee jumping activities!) DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Faber & Faber via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Rules For A Perfect Murder by Peter Swanson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions. This one isn’t quite a wow, but I really enjoyed it just the same. What’s not to like a book about mysteries? Oddly the title is a misnomer, how can the murders be perfect if the suspects are all caught?

I have not read any of the books on Malcolm's list. There were a couple that I would like to read but I feel that I already know what the books are about because there are so many spoilers.And as we continue to read about the facts Malcolm also the narrator of the story presents us, we realize he keeps secrets to himself and slowly when we get inside of his mind and learn more about his traumatized love story with his ex-wife who died in the car accident, we pity on him but also start to get suspicious about him. Why a killer is obsessed with his article? Could Malcolm get involved with one of the murders? Did FBI agent tell him the truth? Could the killer also be a vigilante who brings the justice by punishing very notorious people because as far as we realize the victims are not angels, they have their own crimes and dirty secrets! Personally, I thought Swanson did a great job with weaving a mystery around the eight novels on Malcolm’s list, showcasing their magnificence, while supplying a sly dose of irony and satire that often made me smile. Perhaps my one word of caution here: because EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS delves so deeply into the crimes that take place in each of the eight crime novels on Malcolm’s original blog post, there will be spoilers in this novel for those eight books. If you haven’t read one of the books on Malcolm’s list and are interested in reading it for yourself, I would recommend either reading it before you dive into EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS, or just going into this book knowing that there will be spoilers along the way. Personally, I didn’t have any problem with this—while I haven’t read all eight books on Malcolm’s list, I’ve already read the books from the list that appeal to me on a personal level, and had no issue with reading spoilers of the others through Swanson’s writing.

I’ve listed them because if you have not read them, or seen the movies, and you read this book...the plots will be spoiled for you! There is something so very refreshing about the way this novel is written. None of the plot was filler. I hung onto every word and felt the tension and suspense in every chapter. The narration was one of my favourite parts of this novel - I adored Malcolm who guides us through the story. There was a secretive side to him that kept my curiosity building from start to finish. Malcolm was an extremely likeable character. I love that this feels like a tribute to crime mystery thrillers, as it discusses these perfect murders from eight different books in great detail It has a satisfactory ending which is a little predictable but ties up all the loose ends. Some of the male characters are a little too good to be true but that doesn’t spoil any part of the story. The author switches between the two time periods effortlessly and easily which doesn’t always happen in these kinds of books. Each storyline had a richness that was only strengthened by the comparison and contrast to the other. I was able to read it all in one day and it helped distract me from everything going on in the world right nowI loved the style of the writing: how the beginning started with “a memoir” and the reader is trying to figure out if they can trust Malcom for the whole story