35/100: Eight Perfect Murders

Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel (Malcolm Kershaw): Swanson, Peter ...I've had Eight Perfect Murders on my TBR shelf for a few months now; the synopsis instantly intrigued me because it evoked images of Agatha Christie. The idea of someone committing murders based on a list of "perfect" fictional murders was unique and intriguing. The novel itself, however, ended up falling flat for me.

The whole plot ended up feeling like one convoluted story; I was constantly tripping up on names and the various fictional stories mentioned throughout. The main plot regarding the murders intermingled with past histories in a way that ultimately left me feeling confused and lost. Had the information been delivered in a more systematic way, I think the interconnected lives would have made more sense and come across in a creepier way, as I assume it was intended to. The narrator, Malcom Kershaw, was of the unreliable nature. I don't generally enjoy those, but I'm told it makes for more entertaining twists and turns :)

There were certain aspects that felt a little unbelievable: the amount of alcohol consumed in one sitting with seemingly no real effect on the drinkers; the number of times Kershaw left his bookstore in the hands of two employees; the FBI agents in general.

I think this idea had the potential to be a really great one and the whodunnit genre is one of my absolute favorites. I love when books drop other book titles because it gives me new reading material, so I have to give the author credit for discussing the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie, quite frequently. What made me give this book two stars was the fact that I needed to keep reading until the end to find out whodunnit; if that aspect of urgency to get to the end hadn't been there, I quite possible would have DNFed this book.

Saying that really bums me out because I thought the plot was fresh and new but I think the execution did not work to its advantage. The ending did take me by surprise, and that always earns a point in my book. I hope there are people out there who enjoyed this much more than I did, and in fact, it seems there are, because I had to wait a good 2 months for the ebook to be available to me... I'd say that's a good sign.

Stats:
Completed: May 16
Rating: 2 stars
Pages: 288

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