Book ~ "A Talent for Murder" (2024) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.

A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern - five unsolved cases of murdered women.

Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is ... but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.

Matilda has no friends and is happy being alone. When she meets Alan, they start dating and eventually he asks her to marry him. She feels he is still a stranger but likes him (maybe even loves him) enough to say "yes". Alan works as a travelling salesman so he's not around a lot which suits Matilda fine. 

One night Alan comes home from a sales trip and Matilda is watching him from the window unload his car. He does something odd so the next day she starts tracking his previous sales trips and discovers that women have been murdered near where he's been. She suspects her husband might be a serial killer. Not wanting to accuse him in case she is wrong, which would ruin their marriage, Matilda contacts Lily, a friend she hasn't talked with since university, who had helped her out of a bad situation years ago. Lily agrees to check out Alan and asks Harry, her private investigator friend, to help.

I thought this story was okay. It was farfetched at times but I went with it. As with this author's other books, there are fun twists and turns. I thought it was odd how Matilda jumped to the conclusion that Alan was a serial killer because of a single random gesture. It was sad that when Matilda needed help the only person she thought to turn to was Lily, someone she hasn't had any contact with in many years ... and assumed Lily would want to help ... and Lily jumped into action, risking her life. I liked the ultimate ending but not how it was carried out (I thought it was a bit lame).

This is the third in the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner series ... it works as a stand alone but it helps if you've read that first two (I have) to know the history and dynamics between Henry and Lily. It's written in first person perspective in Lily's voice and third person perspective otherwise (sometimes even when Lily is in the scene). Usually I don't mind the mixing of perspectives but I found this a bit confusing at times. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

Book ~ "The Kind Worth Saving" (2023) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he can’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: he knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.

Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a “for sale” sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.

Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.

Joan is married to Richard and suspects he is cheating on her with one of his colleagues. She hires Henry to find out. Henry was Joan's English teacher in high school but had quit to become a police officer after a shooting in his classroom and now he's a private detective. During his investigation, he comes across an apparent murder-suicide that just doesn't seem to be as it appears so he digs a bit deeper, which puts his life in danger.

This is the second in the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner series ... it works as a stand alone but it helps if you've read that first one to know the history between Henry and Lily. Even though I'd read the first one last year, I still didn't get the dynamics between Henry and Lily. She had tried to kill him yet he was still in love with her and they had become friends ... I found this unbelievable. 

It's written in first person perspective in Henry and Lily's voices and third person perspective otherwise. The timeline bounces back and forth from when Joan was in high school to present day (the chapters are labeled). I found the ending a bit silly with Lily coming in the save the day. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

Book ~ "All the Beautiful Lies" (2018) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ On the eve of his college graduation, Harry is called home by his step-mother Alice, to their house on the Maine coast, following the unexpected death of his father. 

But who really is Alice, his father's much younger second wife? In a brilliant split narrative, Peter Swanson teases out the stories and damage that lie in her past. And as her story entwines with Harry's in the present, things grow increasingly dark and threatening - will Harry be able to see any of it clearly through his own confused feelings?

Harry is just about to graduate from college when Alice, his stepmother, calls him to tell him that his father has passed away.  He was out on a walk and must have slipped or something.  Harry heads home for the summer to be with his stepmother and help run his father's used bookstore.  Then the police determine his father had been murdered.  A mysterious young woman shows up around town and though he is drawn to her, Harry wonders how she knew her father and whether she was involved in his murder.

I thought this story was okay.  It bounced back and forth from the past to the present.  We get to know Alice, who grew up with an alcoholic mother who passed away when she was a teenager, and she was then raised by her stepfather, Jake.  It is written in third person perspective, depending on where the action was.  As a head's up, there is swearing, pedophilia and violence.

Book ~ "Before She Knew Him" (2019) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace. But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. 

Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder - an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either.

Hen and Lloyd have recently moved to the suburbs ... she is an artist with a studio nearby and he works every day in the city.  When their next door neighbours, Matthew and Mira, invite them over for supper, Hen recognizes a fencing trophy in Matthew's office as belonging to a young man who was murdered a couple years ago, which is still unsolved.  Matthew said he bought it at a yard sale but he knows that Hen somehow knows the truth that he had killed the young man.  When Hen goes to police to report her hunch, no one really takes her seriously (not a big surprise, right?) especially when they look into her past and find she has a bipolar disorder.  Hoping to stop Matthew from killing again, she starts meeting with him and discovers that nothing is going to stop him.

This book is written in third person perspective.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.  When I started reading it, I wanted to stop not too far into it because I wasn't digging it ... it was so boring and dumb.  But I continued on because I've read some of this author's other books and enjoyed them and hoped it would get better ... but it didn't.  There was a lot going on and it was so convoluted and unbelievable.  The ending was ridiculous ... when I got there, I was surprised at how it ended (I didn't see it coming) but was also stunned at how absurd it was.

Book ~ "The Kind Worth Killing" (2015) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start - he the rich businessman, she the artistic free spirit - a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but has now become a cliché.

But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse.

Back in Boston, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they begin to plot Miranda's demise. But there are a few things about Lily’s past that she hasn’t shared with Ted, namely her experience in the art and craft of murder, a journey that began in her very precocious youth.

Suddenly these co-conspirators are embroiled in a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, one they both cannot survive ... with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.

Ted and Lily are strangers who meet in a bar in the airport in London, England, on their way home to the States.  After a couple martinis, Ted tells Lily his wife, Miranda, is cheating and that he'd like to kill her for doing that.  She offers to help him and he takes her up on it.  Back in the States, they meet and start planning.  But alas, things don't go as planned.

I liked this story.  There were lots of twists and turns, some were convoluted but I went along with them.  Just when I thought I figured out what was going to happen, things changed ... and this happened a few times.  It's written in first person perspective in Ted, Lily, Miranda and a police detective's voice ... we get to know each of their pasts and how they have gotten to the place they are today.  Even though Lily was bad and  had done some not so nice things in the past, I liked her.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

Book ~ "Every Vow You Break" (2021) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ Abigail Baskin never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident - and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name - out of her mind and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life.

Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears - and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something special and he’s tracked her down to prove it.

Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon - and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss … including her perfect new husband. 

When Abigail and Bruce met, it was love at first sight for him ... she'd needed more time for it to happen for her.  And when it did, they got engaged and started planning their wedding.  Bruce is a millionaire so money was no object.  He even sent her off to California with her friends for her bachelorette weekend.  There she meets a man one night, they have some drinks and chat, and she ends up sleeping with him that night ... they don't know each other's names and nickname each other Madeline and Scottie.  Abigail is filled with remorse the next day and it reenforces her decision to marry Bruce.

Before the wedding, Abigail sees Scottie at a coffee shop in New York where they live and then receives an email from him.  He says she is the one for him and he'd like a chance to prove it.  She politely turns him down and worries that Bruce will find out that night.  But he doesn't and they carry on with the wedding.  Bruce plans their honeymoon at a secluded resort he has partial ownership in on an island off the coast of Maine ... there's no WIFI, TV, etc. and exclusive to a limited amount of clientele.  Their every wish will be catered to and everything is the best of the best.  There is one other honeymooning couple and Abigail is happy to have some female company.  Abigail finds the resort a bit too creepy and eventually wants to leave ASAP.

I thought this story was okay ... there were lots of twists and turns which were fun.  But the ending was ridiculous and I wasn't buying it.  With all that had happened, it should have ended differently which would have been better.  It's written in third person in with the focus on Abigail.  I didn't find the characters likable, even Abigail who it seemed to me was mainly marrying Bruce for his money and was trying to convince herself (and the reader) otherwise.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "Nine Lives" (2022) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke - until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor.

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next.

Nine people receive a list with their name on it. They include a busy suburban father in Massachusetts, an aspiring actor in California, a singer songwriter in Texas, an English professor in Michigan, a mistress of a rich old married man in New York, the owner of a worn down resort in Maine, a gay nurse in Massachusetts, a retired businessman in Connecticut, and an FBI agent in New York. What do all these people have in common and why are they on the list? The list starts getting smaller, though, as people are being murdered and it’s up to the police to find out why.

I liked this book. It seemed familiar to me but it’s new so I must have read something similar sometime over the years. It is written in third person perspective, depending on where the action is and who the focus is. We get to know these people before they are murdered. We find at out at the end what they had in common and why they were being killed. It’s a simple reason and the “whodunnit” was a bit of a twist and surprise but I was okay with that. As a head’s up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Girl with a Clock for a Heart" (2014) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ George Foss never thought he'd see her again but on a late-August night in Boston, there she is, in his local bar, Jack's Tavern. 

When George first met her, she was an eighteen-year-old college freshman from Sweetgum, Florida. She and George became inseparable in their first fall semester, so George was devastated when he got the news that she had committed suicide over Christmas break. But, as he stood in the living room of the girl's grieving parents, he realized the girl in the photo on their mantelpiece - the one who had committed suicide - was not his girlfriend. Later, he discovered the true identity of the girl he had loved - and of the things she may have done to escape her past. 

Now, twenty years later, she's back, and she's telling George that he's the only one who can help her.

George dated Audrey for three months during their first year of university.  When she went home for Christmas holiday, she committed suicide.  Looking for closure and grieving, George visits Audrey's parents in Florida to express his sympathy ... and discovers that the girl he loved wasn't Audrey at all, so wasn't really dead.  He goes back to university hoping she'd contact him.

Fast forward twenty years and she shows up in his life asking for a favour.  Only then does he find out that the girl he knew he didn't know ... he knows her even less than he thought.  But she gets him tangled up her web of lies and he's torn between naïvely wanting to help her and wanting to know the truth.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I thought it got off to a slow start but picked up once it got going.  It is written in third person perspective.  It jumps back and forth from today to twenty years ago ... the chapters that are in the past are in italics so it's easy to keep track.  I liked this approach for this story because it kept me wanting to read more to see what the heck had really happened twenty years ago ... so I liked that all wasn't revealed chronologically.   As a head's up, the language and some activity is for mature reader.

George was admittedly at a point where he was just cruising through life ... he had a job he'd been doing for a while and a girl friend he occasionally hooked up with.  Having the love of his life suddenly come back into his life gave him the jolt that he needed to care again.  I wasn't crazy about the ending ... I would have liked to have known what really happened rather than it being left in the air with a couple possibilities.

I'd recommend this book and look forward to reading others from this author.