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Malcolm Kershaw, Book 1

From the publisher:

From the hugely talented author of Before She Knew Him comes a chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. There is killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.

The book is introspective of many of the great murder mystery novels of the past 80 to 90 years. Peter Swanson is obviously a fan of the genre and exhibits a deep knowledge of those books that have been accepted as classics in the field.

Malcolm Kershaw, the principal protagonist and the first-person narrator of the events, has grown up with a deep love of mystery stories and over his life has read most of those considered classics. He has worked in the bookstore trade since he started working and currently is the working partner in a two-owner book store called the “Old Devil.” The store has a reputation and makes a living in a field that has narrowed over the years with the advent of competition like Amazon. One of Malcolm’s projects was to compile a list of eight fictional murders, which he termed “Eight Perfect Murders,” as they all were not solvable with the list developing interest in the store.

Malcolm did get married but his luck did not carry outside of the bookstore where he worked. He found that his wife was cheating on him but did not know how to handle the situation. Fate intervened when his wife left a pot party drunk and was killed in a one-car accident while driving home. Malcolm, in thinking about the accident, placed the blame on the man that was her escort and possibly her lover. The problem was, of course, that if her escort was murdered as Malcolm dreamed of, the police would automatically put the blame on him. His solution was one that was written about by Patricia Highsmith in her 1951 book, Strangers on a Train. The novel postulated two men meeting accidentally on a train they were both on. Each had a person that he wanted to kill but not to take any blame for it. The solution arrived at was that each, at different times, would kill the person the other man wanted dead while the first one set up an alibi completely away from the murder location.

Entranced with the idea, Malcolm went on a web site and broached the idea for anyone needing help and familiar with the novel. The query was answered by someone and the murder pact agreed to. On the date that his wife’s lover was killed, Malcolm was away from the area with an iron-clad alibi. Then, in doing his part, he found that the act was far from disagreeable. Consumed with curiosity Malcolm began trying to locate and talk to the man that had killed his wife’s lover.

While the action involving Malcolm was playing out, a series of murders started to occur which seemed to follow the crimes committed in the books shown on the “Eight Perfect Murders” list. Malcolm was made aware of this when an agent with the FBI visited him, claiming she had noted the similarity to those described in the books and asked Malcolm if he would help her. He jumped in and became fascinated with the situation.

The novel is a draw with the added attraction that it produces an education into the leading books written within the “Murder Crime” genre and for those readers wanting to take their interest in that direction, a superb guide. If the lists of books are not important, Peter Swanson has presented an excellent trip into another world with a glance into twisted minds, and a definite all-nighter.

3/2020 Paul Lane

EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS by Peter Swanson. William Morrow (March 3, 2020). ISBN: 978-0062838209. 288p.

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Cotton Malone, Book 15

From the publisher:

In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone adventure, one by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world.

After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder―blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons.

The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred to not only Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle between three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.

From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to deep beneath the earth into an ancient Polish salt mine, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war―the outcome of which turns on a secret known as the Warsaw Protocol.

This is the 15th book by Steve Berry featuring Cotton Malone. The formula utilized is the same winning format that has made these novels attractive to a large group of readers. Cotton is a former employee of a division of the CIA called the Magellan Billet. He is retired and lives in Copenhagen where he owns a successful book store. He has a girlfriend that lives elsewhere in the world and the two get together whenever possible. How he has time for her and his bookstore are a miracle of time. But that is our gain.

The novel opens as Cotton is on a trip to buy several rare books to fill a customer’s request. His trip is interrupted as is the norm by his ex-supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who needs him to help the Magellan Billet out by entering into a case. The circumstances involve the present President of Poland being blackmailed by the U.S. in order to force him to allow a missile installation to be set up in Poland. The President is very much against the idea since it will put Poland at odds with Russia.

A situation has developed in which holy relics – Arma Christi – the weapons of Christ are being stolen from their repositories around the world. Stephanie Nelle learns that the relics will be used as admission to a private auction in which incriminating evidence about the Polish President will be given to the highest bidder in attendance. One relic is still in its original place – the Holy Lance – and Malone is sent to a castle in Poland in order to steal it and use it to get into the auction. The events faced by Cotton include traveling into an enormous salt mine that has been in use for centuries. It has proven an excellent source of income for the country over time and is a much sought after tourist attraction for many foreigners.

The auction, its results and a lot of action provides the reader with another great read by Steve Berry, and continued interest in picking up the next novel by the author.

2/2020 Paul Lane

THE WARSAW PROTOCOL by Steve Berry. Minotaur Books (February 25, 2020). ISBN: 978-1250140302. 384p.

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