Reviews with content warning for Death - Eight Perfect Murders

I enjoyed it. It's not a fast action-packed thriller, but I'd say it's a pretty cozy read because it's set in the winter time, there are a lot of talks about mystery books in it, it's also set in a book store, and it's not very suspenseful. I never really felt that the stakes were high, even after we know the villain. So yes for me it's a bit anti-climatic, but it makes a pretty cozy read (and I already watched a review that said that the villain wouldn't be satisfying, so my hopes were not high). I recommend this for mystery book lovers just for all the books discussions and homages in this book.

But let me rant a bit here:

I already guessed the killer before it was revealed because even after 70% of the book, there is still no other character introduced. There is no way the killer would be someone that wasn't introduced to the readers. There's Tessa, but she's too unlikely. Gwen was already so weird since the beginning but she's also very unlikely. And our main character was already quite sinister so I wasn't surprised when he revealed that he also killed his wife. And I didn't even care about his wife!! So when he revealed that, as if he was hoping he'd be seen as the supervillain, I was just like, "okay..."

I think it's worth repeating that this book spoils the plot of many mystery/thriller books, beside the "eight perfect murders", there were also other books that were spoiled here, so make sure to do some googling about it if you don't wanna get spoiled.

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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sarahkelly2's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

CW: death, violence, gore, mentions of addiction, sexual assault

What a quick, entertaining, contemporary take on the classic whodunit novel! This was the first Peter Swanson book that I’ve read. Was it a ground-breaking mystery? No, but it kept me guessing the whole time!

This was a great palette cleanser for me after reading the Shade and Bone Trilogy and Six of Crows Duo. I really liked the deep dive into classic mysteries, but there are some spoilers for those in this book. I definitely want to pick up some classic mysteries soon, but do be cautious if you are worried about spoilers if you read Eight Perfect Murders.

I didn’t love our narrator, Malcolm Kershaw. The book is written as Mal’s memoir and his voice is a bit pretentious throughout, which was sort of annoying.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, ode to the classics I do think you’ll like this one! I enjoyed it while I was reading, but I don’t think it’s a book that will stick with me.

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hilarylouise's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lanidon's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Much of the book is told through long descriptions by the main character. We'll literally skip past events to instead hear the mc explain what happened. It's poorly written. I don't believe the mystery was satisfying in the slightest. I regret reading this book. The ending is perhaps one of the stupidest I've ever read and I think the author thought he Did Something there. It's not profound it's dumb and pointless, just like the rest of the book. Go read the books mentioned in the eight murders instead and, I don't know, use this to mop up spilled milk?

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