The Talented Mr. Swanson
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson (William Morrow, 2024)
Book review by Taylor L. Gaede
A Talent for Murder is the third installment in the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner thriller series by Peter Swanson. Though this book is not clearly marketed as a sequel, readers will soon realize that they are following the familiar redhead from The Kind Worth Killing and The Kind Worth Saving. After a murderous prologue to kickstart the mystery, Swanson introduces Martha Ratliff, a librarian who begins to suspect her husband of a string of deaths. Not wishing to jeopardize her marriage, but also afraid of her husband’s potential secret, she seeks an old friend from college who has helped her in troubling relationships before. That old friend is Lily Kintner (the redhead). The plot unfolds in twisty layers, unlocking a dark past for both Lily and Martha as they seek the truth.
Peter Swanson is notorious for unpredictable stories. Including A Talent for Murder, Swanson has published a total of 11 novels, each one unpacking the thriller and suspense genre in unique ways. Notably, The Kind Worth Killing, the first installment in the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner series, won the New England Society Book Award in 2016. Among thriller and mystery authors, Swanson reliably crafts twists and endings that surprise the audience. Furthermore, the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner series is unafraid to remove central players in the narrative and reveal the movements of the “villains.”
Lily Kintner is a strange heroine. Readers of the prior books will recall Lily’s murderous history–beginning at age fourteen–and her motivation to protect both women and men from diabolical influences in their lives. However, the scope of her actions has developed dramatically over the series: from investigating a cheating wife to hunting a potential serial killer. Detective Henry Kimball has also developed a tenuous friendship with Lily, despite his previous attempts to expose her crimes and, when he became obsessed, stalking her. Her parents are more involved in this installment, serving as a place of safety and council—especially her father. However, her parents do not know about her criminal background; rather, they believe she is taking a break from her career due to a fallout from the previous book.
A Talent for Murder is divided into three parts. Part one explores the perspective of Martha, revealing her past and exploring the present as she investigates her mysterious husband and rekindles her friendship with Lily. This section is the most thrilling as readers follow Martha through the tangled knots of her life and wonder if her suspicions are too far-fetched. She believes that since high school, she has been placed under a love curse, dooming her relationships for disaster. This superstition gives the readers a sense of disbelief, and the evidence she collects against her husband seems merely coincidental. Even Lily’s personal foray yields little information.
Part two exposes the killer and launches into a more sinister section of the book. Though it is an interesting perspective to step into the shoes of the killer, the exposition of the serial killer is cumbersome—like a villain obliviously revealing their master plan to the hero. Finally, part three culminates in the final showdown, particularly focused on Lily and her detective friend, Henry Kimball. Henry is a known character in this series, but his introduction in this narrative is underwhelming. Although Henry is supposed to aid in Lily and Martha’s investigation, he does not truly contribute to the case, aside from one brief interrogation that reveals details about the killer that the readers already know through Lily’s perspective. He seems to have been included only because of his involvement in other books in the series.
Notably, the plot does nod toward The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, which involves a con artist who steals the identity of two victims he murdered. Swanson places this detail quite obviously in the narrative—Lily tries to compare the serial killer to Mr. Ripley—and the title of the book itself does play off Highsmith’s iconic novel. The timing of this novel is impeccable, since Netflix has launched the show Ripley, another adaptation of Highsmith’s story. Ripley is a portrait of fascinating, if not frightening, duplicity.
It is not uncommon for Swanson to utilize other authors’ books as an element of his thrillers. The Kind Worth Killing is loosely inspired by Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train. In his 2020 novel Eight Perfect Murders, Swanson creates a murderer that copies the “perfect” crimes across eight novels, including books by Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, and Donna Tartt. This inclusion of real-world fiction seems to “break the fourth wall” for readers while also providing fresh retellings of classic mysteries. There is, however, an eerie sense of imitation as these villainous characters draw inspiration from other fictional counterparts and recreate those murders. It is a similar fear when one watches crime dramas and wonders, could those fictionalized crimes be replicated outside of television?
The serial killer in A Talent for Murder possesses no traditional, identifiable motive for his murderous spree. His family was affectionate, his career is successful, and his appearance is magnetically attractive. His motivation is infamy: accumulate a list of unsolvable murders and leave a confession for the police before he dies of old age. He enjoys befuddling the authorities and sowing chaos for unsuspecting victims (such as Martha). Only Lily Kintner challenges him, for she is a “monster” just like him. Such shameless admission to sociopathic tendencies hooks many audiences. It is a window into senseless crime and deceit that many may seek to understand.
Lily is an intriguing character, and the readers may encounter the dilemma of whether to cheer for her or hope for her eventual arrest. Throughout the series, she has committed several crimes—particularly murders. Those who have fallen victim to her wrath are portrayed as vile and sociopathic, but it is still unsettling to support a character who seeks their own deadly justice. She is an anti-hero with a personal agenda, and she is not concerned about the approval of others.
Readers, however, must consider the nuances of righteousness. Other characters in the thriller genre–James Reece in The Terminal List or Casey Fletcher in The House Across the Lake–have rejected the traditional law in favor of self enacted justice, but their reasoning is based upon objective distrust with the law: Reece’s friends and family have been murdered by government officials to keep a national secret, and Fletcher is deemed an unreliable witness based upon her alcohol addiction. Lily, however, is never given a justifiable reason to avoid the law and seek her own justice.
Narratives of revenge are common across books and movies and such stories are often justified as “defeating the greater evil” or seeking retribution for the unlawful death of a beloved character. Yet, there remains a feeling of misplaced judgment—a question of whether Lily should be allowed to continue her quest of self-perpetuated justice. A conversation between Lily and the killer sparks a significant comparison: Why is the killer unjustified and why is Lily justified? Certainly, they have distinct reasons for their actions, but the act of murder is the same. Readers wonder who, if anyone, is truly justified in this series. Swanson’s novels often walk along this path, delivering nuanced characters that are never clearly good or evil; rather, the characters who survive are often the lesser of two evils.
Overall, A Talent for Murder is a fun, fast-paced read with some diabolical twists. Devoted readers of the series will enjoy Lily’s new mission, and fans of authors such as Riley Sager and Megan Miranda will enjoy the craft of Peter Swanson. Swanson shows no signs of slowing down with Lily’s adventures. Though a thriller, A Talent for Murder touches upon the dilemma of justice and leaves readers seeking truth and righteousness in a world of lurking evil. Despite the overwhelming evil in these fictional worlds, there are also characters–whether detectives or antiheroes–who are willing to solve gruesome mysteries and deliver justice, providing a glimmer of hope for readers. Reading A Talent for Murder can awaken or fuel the obsession with murder, deceit, and justice-from-the-shadows.
Taylor L. Gaede is a freelance writer located in Riviera Beach, Florida. She loves delving into books that challenge the mind and heart, and she hopes to deliver her own novel to the world.
