A Talent for Murder: A Novel

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.My Thoughts:From the very beginning of A Talent for Murder, the reader is drawn into an intriguing and chilling series of events. Deaths that suggest a serial killer, with clues that hint at something troubling about Martha Ratliff’s new husband Alan.Reaching out to an old friend from graduate school, Lily, the two of them begin to see a troubling pattern. Are the events coincidental, or is there more at stake?Meanwhile, another person from the past is on the horizon, and researching his whereabouts might just take the two old friends to other scenarios.By the end, we are all biting our nails and hoping for different answers.5 stars.***

My first time reading Peter Swanson- very good mystery! This is a twist, we find out in the first few pages who the murderer is and their motive. Then we have multiple POV from others and we root for them as they figure it out. I enjoyed that I didn't have to play detective but instead play cheerleader. It was a fun, fast, easy beach read. If you like murder mysteries, I think you would like it!

Would have given this banal “twister” two stars for dopey plotting, but the writing is decent. Not sure why reviewers were so enthusiastic.

Yet again, Swanson delivers a perfectly twisted story that becomes more compelling with every chapter. It's one of his best - and a good reason why the infamous (except she's only well-known to his readers because she's smart enough to hide in plain sight from everyone else) Lily Kintner keeps reappearing for the most perfect character-driven thrills. You'll find her again if you read THE KIND WORTH KILLING and THE KIND WORTH SAVING (you gotta read them in that order). And then you can lose yourself in all of the other equally great books. He's one of the best thriller writers working today.

A TALENT FOR MURDER (HENRY KIMBALL BK #3 - ‘24 - 267 PGS - 4 STARS)DESCRIPTION : A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer.Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. 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?REVIEW :Very consistent author with the exception of his last book, a Christmas Novella - The Christmas Guest (‘23 - 2 Stars) which was only 100 pages and boring, to me! 5 previous books by this author for me were all 4or5 stars; The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball Bk 2 - ‘23 - 4 Stars), Nine Lives (‘22 - 4 Stars), Every Vow You Break (‘21 - 4 Stars), Before She Knew Him (‘19 - 5 Stars) and The Kind Worth Killing (Henry Kimball Book #1 - ‘15 - Read ‘18 - 4 Stars).Sale $11.99; reg 14.99 -3.00 Kindle Rewards.A little short at 267 pages but still love this authors eerie writing. I can feel the tension building even in the first 15%. Twisty plot that I enjoyed; especially the ending.

This was my last book of the series ...The Kind Worth KillingThe Kind Worth SavingI had picked up The Kind Worth Saving at B & N and when I posted on Facebook in the Psychological Readers group I'm in Fans told me about the first book. So I stopped at 40 pages in and read them in order.Fabulous would be an understatement. My first books with Peter Swanson ... certainly won't be my last.

This is the third book in the series but is easily read as a standalone, since that's what I have done. I'm going to read the first two because this has me intrigued.The first half of the book is a long story about Martha, recently married to a traveling salesman she thinks may be a serial killer. She eventually seeks out o friend from graduate school, Lilly (protagonist of the first 2 books), to talk to. Together they look into the probability of Martha's husband as murderer.Frankly, I was beginning to get bored when, like a good play, everything twisted at the close of Act 1 (or Part 1).Part 1 is the slow build but any discussion of the subsequent actions would SPOIL the climax of Part 1. Suffice it to say the book flies from there.I will leave you with this however: Lily is a very clever monster.

Not really exciting read. It was okay, story line was so so. I did finish it and during reading I did not think to DNF it, but it was nothing special.

I highly recommend all books by Peter Swanson, this one included.

Librarian Martha takes a leap into the unknown when she marries Alan. There’s something that just doesn’t sit right. Is it that Alan seems to leave dead women in his wake? Well, maybe. Or is Martha just wound too tightly?Suspend your disbelief and soak up the absurdity. The characters make the story but it’s the question marks over the narrative that sell it.Definitely one of those where you should just release the handbrake and enjoy the craziness.

Peter Swanson dürfte zu den besten Kriminalschriftstellern unserer Zeit gehören. Sein Talent, psychiotische Bösewichte zu erfinden und diese in Plots einzubinden, die atemlose Spannung generieren, reich an überraschenden Einfällen sind und zudem erzählerisch brillant aufgebaut werden, dürfte ziemlich einzigartig sein. Wer Fitzek mag, wird Swanson lieben. In diesem Band gibt es ein Wiedersehen mit Lily Kintner und ihrem Freund Henry Kimball, die es gemeinsam mit einem hochgefährlichen Serienkiller aufnehmen müssen. Wie alle anderen von Swansons bisher erschienenen Werken ist auch dieses wieder ein grandioses Buch, das man nur uneingeschränkt empfehlen kann.

A great thriller. Not too long. Lots of twists.

I enjoyed the writing and the characters of Lily and Henry. The second part I found a bit of a slog but it had a very satisfying tidy ending and a few surprises on the way.