Maggie, a mature 'newly-wed' becomes concerned that her husband, Alan, has a dark secret - she believes he may be a serial killer! She enlists the help of her friend, Lily, to investigate. All is not as it seems ... enter Ethan Saltz, someone from Martha and Lily's past. Whose secret is the darkest?
I won't say more as it would ruin the plot. Suffice to say, I will be reading the two books published prior to this which feature some of the same characters.

I am huge fan of this author and had high expectations for this book. Maybe my expectations were too high, I found this disappointing - hard to live up to A kind worth killing. After the reveal, I found the remainder of the book tedious. A very good thriller none the less, just not one of the authors best.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I am a fan of this author but this book is a little slow and I think you have to accept this as his writing style. It will not put me off reading this authors other works. I did enjoy this book though.

3.25 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌘

🧠 My thoughts
The first book I read from this author was “The Christmas Guest” and I really liked the book because it was short, concise but pretty well-written. However, this book disappointed me, and let me tell you why.

First of all, I was not sure if this author had changed his writing style or because “The Christmas Guest” book was too short for me to notice but the writing style was super dry for a crime, mystery book. It almost felt like I was reading a non-fiction. However, I had to give the author some credit that despite the writing style being almost intolerable, the plot kept me reading because I wanted to know what happened next.

Next, I didn’t understand why for different characters, the POVs were switched in a strange way. For example, Lily's part was written in the 1st person's POV but for other characters, it was written in 3rd person. Due to this inconsistency, it felt to me that the book was incohesive and it bugged me badly.

The plot twist was already revealed in the second half of the book. The book was still interesting to read but somehow it took away a part of my enthusiasm to finish the book. The biggest plot twist was saved for the very end but for me, it was not really hard to guess. Therefore, overall, this book was quite enjoyable but not really good or even outstanding.

Thanks NetGalley, Faber and Faber Ltd publisher, and the authors for a great advance copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

Having enjoyed a previous Peter Swanson book, I had high expectations for "A Talent for Murder." Unfortunately, this one didn't live up to them, possibly because I hadn't read the first two books in the series. The story reveals the murderer early on, which took away the suspense I was looking for. Without the twists and turns typical of a good mystery, the plot felt flat. The premise itself was underwhelming, leaving me disappointed. Overall, it lacked the excitement and intrigue I anticipated, earning it only two stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber for an advanced copy of the book.

A Talent For Murder is the third book to feature Lily Kintner and Henry Kimball.

Martha, a college friend of Lily, gets in touch when she believes her new husband may be involved in a few suspicious deaths. Lily had helped Martha to end a damaging relationship many years before, so Martha senses that Lily may be able to help her find the truth.

I thoroughly enjoy both Lily and Henry’s characters, and I love their complex, platonic relationship. To truly understand them, you should really read The Kind Worth Killing, then The Kind Worth Saving first. As they have an interesting shared history. I didn’t find myself able to connect with the other characters in the book.

I can’t pinpoint why, but the book didn’t wow me. I think I was reading it more for the Lily and Henry update, rather than the main storyline, which didn’t hit the mark for me. It’s a 3.5⭐️ read for me.

Martha, a librarian, becomes suspicious of her husband and his frequent trips away on business. She calls an old friend to help her look into what he is up to.
I enjoyed this book but found it a little slow in places hence the 3 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

A Kind Worth Killing was one of my "all time favourite psychological thrillers" and I even read it twice when I found out there was a sequel, The Kind Worth Saving. Firstly, to see if it was as good as I originally thought and secondly to remind myself about the book. I can categorically state that the first 2 books in this series are absolutely amazing and I was so delighted to see that there is yet another book featuring Lily Kintner and Henry Kimball which is available NOW.

I don't want to give much away and the blurb above explains some of the storyline. Martha who seems to have had bad luck with relationships and is convinced she has had a "love curse" put on her at University, is now married to Alan. He seems nice enough. He travels most of the time for work selling his wares to teachers and educational support staff at various conferences around the country.

It's only when he returns from a conference where a teacher has been killed does Martha begin to wonder if her husband is involved. Reaching out to her old friend Lily Kintner from her university days, she asks Lily to help investigate Alan and what looks like several other dead women at the same venues her husband has been attending over the years.

I'm absolutely NOT going to give anything away, but if you have read The Kind Worth Killing and any of Peter's previous books you will know to expect the unexpected and to be shocked to your core throughout. I've mentioned it in previous reviews about this series and I will mention it again... "It wouldn’t be a Peter Swanson novel if he doesn’t kill off some really fascinating and important characters mid-way through the story whilst literally turns the narrative upside down and leaves the reader reeling."

Absolutely BRILLIANT and once again proves that Peter Swanson has a real Talent for Writing!

I ADORE ‘The Kind Worth Killing’ and will tell absolutely anyone who will listen to me to read it so when I saw the advance copy of A Talent for Murder I jumped at the chance to read it. It’s one of those books I want to review in details but can’t without any spoilers and what is most amazing about Peter Swanson’s books is how he delivers massive twists continually throughout his novels. Enjoyed the familiar characters and new ones alike- amazing POV chapters to explain details and set suspense. 10/10 recommend!

A Talent for Murder is a serial killer novel with a twist and will keep you on tenterhooks until the last page! I loved the complex relationships that it detailed throughout and how it all came together at the end - the writing is absolutely superb.

A fun concept but the pacing was a bit off for me. Still, this was a very entertaining book for the most part and a great "palate cleanser" if you're looking for that kind of thriller.

Read as a stand-alone, Dark, twists and turns plus shocks - an enjoyable thriller.
My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Oh this poor woman, she had the worst boyfriend when she was younger - he gaslit her, abused her, scared her. But she escaped that relationship and after a long time on her own, she met Alan, who seemed like the sweetest man and they got married. But strange things start happening when Alan is away with work, women are turning up dead where ever he goes and now Martha wonders, does she really know the man she married? She does the only thing she can think of and calls up her friend from college who helped her end that earlier toxic relationship. Can she help get her out of another possibly toxic relationship???? And then everything kicks off.......

I enjoyed this up to half way, and the big reveal as to who the killer was, but then it took a bit of a nose dive for me. I wasn't as interested in the catching of the perpetrator as I was in the identification.

This was a twisty read. I enjoyed it but, sometimes I got frustrated with the wife as she seemed to be so lame. The story was very good but sometimes it slowed right down for me. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Peter Swanson is an auto read/ buy author for me. I enjoy his writing style and the majority of his book have been winners for me. I was delighted to see the return of Lily Kintner and Henry Kimball, first introduced in The Kind Worth Killing ( which is probably my favourite of Swanson's books). While this book didn't quite reach the same level to the two that came before, this was still a great read. Brilliantly paced, twisty and impossible to predict where it was going, I audibly gasped twice when reading the concluding chapters. A perfect summer thriller, recommend.

I enjoyed this book. It was a thriller and kept me guessing with a twists, turns and a few shock moments. Definitely recommended for a summer thriller read.

#ATalentForMurder #NetGalley
Awesome. 5 ⭐
How well do you really know your husband? After an unexpected, whirlwind romance, quiet librarian Martha married Alan. But when she thinks she sees his mask slip, she starts to fear that the conferences he travels the country to attend might be a cover for something far more sinister. As she secretly starts to map his movements she unearths a string of dead women, but could these two things really be linked? Unsure of her own instincts, Martha turns to an old friend, Lily Kintner, who once helped her escape a toxic relationship in grad school. But what Martha doesn’t know is that Lily has a dark side of her own .
I didn't know back then that this character of Lily would be going to come in the future books but I'm starting to like her. I enjoyed this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for giving me an advance copy.

Wow!!! What an amazing & brilliant read. This is one of the books of the year. The storyline is gripping & had me full attention from the very first page. Swanson is amazing at creating brilliant thrillers & this is an example of that.

Peter Swanson’s A Talent for Murder was an absolute blast to read!
Martha Ratliff suspects her husband Alan is doing more on his conferences away than he leads her to believe. So she contacts a long lost friend of hers to help her found out the truth. What follows is an absolutely captivating story about deception, friendship and finding out the truth.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the previous books with Henry & Lily and this one was a pleasant surprise! Although it was a bit of a slow start once things starting happening it really had me hooked, I didn’t want this book to end. The last few chapters really had me anticipating the worst! And the end caught me off guard! Cannot wait to read more from Peter Swanson!
Thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber ltd for the arc!