Excerpt from Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Yeah, of course. It was big news. Are those three murders connected?"

She leaned forward on her wooden chair, reached a hand down to her bag, then brought it back suddenly, as though she'd changed her mind about something. "We didn't think so, at first, except that they're all unsolved. But someone noticed their names." She paused, as though giving me a chance to interrupt her. Then she said, "Robin Callahan. Jay Bradshaw. Ethan Byrd."

I thought for a moment. "I feel like I'm failing a test," I said.

"You can take your time," she said. "Or I can just tell you."

"Are their names related to birds?" I said.

She nodded. "Right. A Robin, a Jay, and then the last name of Byrd. It's kind of a stretch, I realize, but ... without going into too much detail, after each murder the local police station closest to the crime received ... what appeared to be a message from the killer."

"So they are connected?"

"It seems that way, yes. But they might be connected in another way, as well. Do the murders remind you of anything? I'm asking you because you are someone who is an expert on detective fiction."

I looked at the ceiling of my office for a moment, then said, "I mean, it sounds like something fictional, like something from a serial killer novel, or something from an Agatha Christie."

She sat up a little straighter. "Any particular Agatha Christie novel?"

"The one that's jumping to my mind is A Pocket Full of Rye for some reason. Did that have birds?"

"I don't know. But that's not the one I was thinking of."

"I guess it's similar to The A.B.C. Murders as well," I said.

Agent Mulvey smiled, like she'd just won a prize. "Right. That's the one I'm thinking of."

"Because nothing connects the victims except for their names."

"Exactly. And not just that, but the deliveries to the police station. In the book Poirot gets letters from the killer signed A. B. C."

"You've read it, then?"

"When I was fourteen, definitely. I read almost all of Agatha Christie's books, so I probably read that one, too."

"It's one of her best," I said, after a brief pause. I'd never forgotten that particular Christie plot line. There are a series of murders and what connects them are the victims' names. First, someone with the initials A. A. is killed in a town that begins with the letter A, then someone with the initials B. B. is killed in a B town. You get the idea. It turns out that the perpetrator really only wanted to kill one of the victims, but he made it look like a series of crimes done by a deranged serial killer.

"You think so?" the agent said.

"I do. One of her best plots, for sure."

"I'm planning on reading it again, but I did just Wikipedia it to remind myself of the story. There was a fourth murder in the book, as well."

"I think so, yes," I said. "Someone with a D name was the last person killed. And it turned out that the killer was making it look like a madman was doing it when all along he just wanted to kill one person. So the other murders are basically cover."

"That's what the plot summary on Wikipedia said. In the book it was the person with the double C name who was the intended victim all along."

"Okay," I said. I was starting to wonder why she had come to me. Was it just because I owned a mystery bookstore? Did she need a copy of the book? But if that were the case, then why did she ask for me, specifically, on the phone? If she just wanted someone who worked in a mystery bookstore, then she could have come inside and talked with anyone.

"Can you tell me anything else about the book?" she asked, then added, after a moment, "You're the expert."

"Am I?" I said. "Not really, but what is it you want to know?"

"I don't know. Anything. I was hoping you'd tell me."

"Well, besides the fact that a strange man comes into the store every day and buys a new copy of The A.B.C. Murders, I don't know what else to tell you." Her eyes raised for a moment before she realized I'd made a joke, or an attempt at one, then she smiled a little in acknowledgment. I asked her, "You think these murders are related to the book?"

Excerpted from Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. Copyright © 2020 by Peter Swanson. Excerpted by permission of William Morrow. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.