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What I'm Reading

 Peter Swanson has a gift for killings. For describing them. His most recent novel opens with a man luring a woman onto a hotel balcony; the man then grabs the woman and throws her to her death.


In another memorable scene, a little boy is tired of having to visit his senile grandfather in the guest room. So he quietly smothers the old man. This sets off a lifelong interest in murder.

In the major set-piece encounter, a woman understands that she needs to attract her captor. So, despite being handcuffed, she finds a way to rip off a piece of her own ear. The gushing blood creates a false impression: She has committed suicide. When the captor creeps close, the wily woman opens her eyes and goes in for the kill.

Much about "A Talent for Murder" is a success--from the title to the opening to the startling coda. Swanson loves Patricia Highsmith; she is credited at the end of the novel. Swanson's Lily Kintner is a 2024 version of Tom Ripley; it's not possible to "like" this character, but it's easy to have a perverse sense of investment in the character's future.

I don't want to make exaggerated claims for Swanson's work. Some of the twists in this story are ludicrous, and the limerick-drafting former policeman is a laughable misstep. But Lily is sort of mesmerizing. I look forward to Swanson's next novel.

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