A Talent for Murder

A Novel

By: Peter Swanson

Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Stephen Graybill, Saskia Maarleveld, Graham Halstead, Kathleen Early, Keith Szarabajka

A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer—in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.

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 work as a librarian in Maine. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured salesman whose job 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.

©2024 Peter Swanson (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Not up to Peter Swanson’s Usual Level

The beginning and the ending are decent, but a great deal of the rest of the book drags. The character development is disappointing and I can’t help but think Swanson churned this out on a deadline.

I’ve always loved his books, but not this one!

I disliked everything- the characters, the story - I kept reading it because I thought it would get better but it never did.

Decent dramatic mystery but not great

Five main characters; half quite interesting and half just annoying. Narrator for Martha was great and Lily was terrible (robotic).

Light hearted killing!

This was a good book. I kept wanting to listen to find out what happened next. However, the killing was so light hearted and I didn’t enJoy listening to people killing with no remorse. This book was a little predictable.

Loved lily

Surprised me how much I liked this one. Lily’s character is great. Could have probably gotten to know the characters a little more.

Unlikable characters, or antisocial perspective?

CW: This book contains depictions or mentions of murder, rape, sexual assault, and suicide. It also has depictions of consenting sex. There are swears, because that matters to some folks.

**SPOILER TERRITORY**

Other reviews do an excellent job talking about the plot, the twists and the turns. In theory, I liked the story until about 3/4 of the way through but was willing to finish as stuff went further off the rails. Some of the conclusions reached by Lily and Harry (mostly Lily, Harry exists to open a couple of doors) are not just out of left field, they're past the fence, over the road, and out of the river behind left field.

A lot of the book worked for me, especially some uncomfortable things like people just getting married because the other person asked and it's expected. About giving over agency of yourself and your future to someone else because it's easy and makes you no longer responsible for anything that happens. Of how self-proclaimed pick-up artists target women lacking confidence and burrow through their shields, isolating them and following the signs of an abusive relationship as if it is a map.

Of how growing up in a home that does not teach nor practice love, empathy or fairness can mean children growing to adults without these can severely hinder them, especially regarding other human beings.

These things I liked, although I'm not sure how much the author did intentionally.

What I did not like came more from how characters were written, and the overall perspective of the book. It all occurs from such an antisocial slant, this affects all of the characters in the book and the decisions they make. There is no concept of love, of empathy, of caring about other people whatsoever.

Martha has no friends. Lily has no friends, and despite being surrounded by family, each person living in the house is totally isolated, just three islands near one another. Lily has no job and does nothing -- and while we get a lot of hints that there is a previous book with Lily and Harry and enough of a relationship that he's being called her boyfriend, she only talks to him when she needs something from him. Lily's father, despite having a daughter who has put her life on hold because her parents can't separate for some reason despite hating each other, refuses to acknowledge anything she does for him as more than simply his due. His highest compliment is "You kept my attention". They aren

Lily is back!

If you have read any of his other books, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I found this book Amazing. Great story – very creative. Loved the characters, the narration, etc. I just love this author. I highly recommend.

Excellent work.

A fully rounded book that held my attention all the way through. Then had a great finish. 15 words is more than I wanted to commit to this review.

Thrilling and well narrated

Excellent acting, excellent writing I recommend of all Peter Swanson Fans. I'm sure like me, you've been waiting for quite some time for this one to come out!

Good story

I liked the story and the surprises that came up. I'm a fan of the narrator who read Martha, and the ones who read Ethan and Richard were good. Listening to the narrator who read Lily, and who makes up most of the book, was rough. She sounded like she was reading, and not acting, like the others were doing. And the one who read Alan was a little reader-y too, but his part was short. Good story, though.