A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
Martha is a mild-mannered librarian who is unlucky in love. She thinks she may finally have found love until she discovers a spot of blood on her husbands’ shirt after another of his many business trips. From there the story takes off, the tension building incrementally. Each new character is well drawn and the pace clips along tidily. Swanson has a knack for making even his most devious characters empathetic. Readers who enjoy well written whodunnits will enjoy this story. Even the killer despite being a psychopath is believable which is a balance that is difficult to strike. There are also a couple of minor characters and pets that Swanson brings to life for the reader and in so doing enriches the story.
The title, A Talent for Murder, seems like a misnomer until about halfway through the novel when there is a sudden and shocking twist. From this point the story goes in an unexpected but intriguing direction. Many more turns and dead ends will come before the finale. Throughout the narrative is peppered with literary references and nods to famous authors which add depth to the story scape and characters. Swanson seems to have an infinity with Ireland having studied at Trinity, and mentions, aspects of Irish culture and writers in the text which Irish readers may enjoy.
Swanson’s writing is visual and the scenes neat. The structure would lend easily to a film or series adaptation. As well as all this Swanson re-introduces the bad ass female character of Lily Kintner, who has featured in his previous novels. Lily is central in discovering who the murderer is. She also has some dark secrets of her own which add more surprises for the reader.
Plot twists seem to be a speciality for the author. The first section of the book is characteristic of many murder genre novels. However, from the halfway tangent in the plot, the twists come quickly. The loss of a central character is bold when it comes but necessary to where the story needs to go. Spiralling the narrative in twists to the end may unnerve some readers but they are intriguing and thought provoking, nonetheless.
Overall, A Talent For Murder, would make a great holiday read. Easy to dip in to and out of. The settings of cities in the cool East Coast of America and along the Maine coastline also serve as the perfect antidote to the heat of a Mediterranean sun lounger.
(c) Rachel Collopy
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