Eight Perfect Murders

“It promised, like all these covers, two things: sex and death.”

Here, Malcolm describes the covers of the mystery books on his shelves. These two concepts maintain a connection for Malcolm throughout the narrative. He is responsible for his wife’s murder because of her infidelity, and Malcolm later mistakes Tess’s sexual advances for murderous intent.

“Books are time travel. True readers all know this.”

In this passage, Malcolm reflects on how rereading a book can take you back to the time in which it is set, as well as take you back to the first time that you read it. This relationship between one’s past and the fiction they read develops the theme of Reality and Fiction. It is also significant that Malcolm doesn’t read new mystery novels after the death of his wife. He is living in a past mindset, not moving forward.

“I dreamed about running, about people coming after me. The same dream I have every night of my life.”

Here, the reader learns that Malcolm has a troubled unconscious mind. At first this can be linked to him being a widower. Then, he reveals that he killed Norman and, at the end of the novel, admits to killing his wife. These actions haunt him and cause nightmares.

“It is time to tell the truth.”

This passage refers to Malcolm admitting to killing Norman in exchange for someone killing Eric, his wife’s drug dealer. His confessions about his wife’s infidelity and his response to it are meant to distract the reader from the truth that he is omitting—that he killed Claire. This develops the theme of Memory and Omission.

“I was not innocent, even though sometimes I allowed myself the luxury of thinking that I was.”

This is a clue that Malcolm is an unreliable narrator. He pretends to be completely innocent initially, then admits to varying degrees of guilt as the novel progresses. Malcolm’s unreliability and the mystery surrounding his identity and his past help build the world that the reader dissects for clues throughout the narrative.

“I had decided to go through with my half of the bargain; it seemed the safest thing to do, but also maybe the right thing to do, in a twisted way.”

In this passage, Malcolm describes his motivation for going through with killing Norman after Eric has been killed by Marty. At this point, he doesn’t know the identity of the person he swapped murders with, and he fears they may retaliate. Furthermore, this quote points to how Malcolm can see murder as the right thing to do, developing his “twisted” set of ethics and alluding to what he is capable of.

“I truly imagined that my adult existence would be far more booklike than it turned out to be.”

Here, Malcolm notes that he prefers fiction to reality. This can be connected to the killer using Malcolm’s list of perfect murders as prompts, turning Malcolm’s life upside down. Suddenly, his life is more like a mystery novel, and the truth of Malcolm’s persona becomes harder for the reader to deduce.

“In my fantasies I was never the murderer. I was the good guy.”

This quote also develops the theme of Reality and Fiction. Malcolm’s perception of himself is not based in reality. He fantasizes about the version of himself that he presents for much of the novel and carefully paints himself in a certain way to the reader. All the while, Malcolm is creating a mystery surrounding his character within Swanson’s novel.

“You want me to kill someone?”

This is Marty’s initial response to Malcolm’s request for a favor. At this point, Malcolm doesn’t know Marty is the killer, even though he asks if Malcolm wants him to commit murder. This is foreshadowing of Marty’s true identity.

“I felt that shimmery glass wall between us, the one that kept me from becoming close to anyone except ghosts.”

This passage develops Malcolm’s character. He has trouble connecting with people after getting to know them and prefers to talk with strangers or casual acquaintances. This distance between himself and other humans hints that Malcolm is unreliable and a killer, and it also emphasizes his disconnect from reality after his wife’s death and his committed murders. He hasn’t read new mystery books since, despite his passion, and has regular nightmares about his terrible acts; he is stuck in the past and hasn’t fully come to terms with what has happened.

“That is why I prefer thriller writers, and poets, I like the writers who know they are fighting a losing battle.”

In this passage, Malcolm explains that he enjoys genre fiction and poetry, but not literary fiction. He feels like the writers of literary fiction have more confidence in their success, and aligns himself with people who feel like they are going to lose. Malcolm identifying with certain authors and not others develops the theme of Reality and Fiction.

“It seemed prudent that there was no record on my library card of me having borrowed a Nicholas Pruitt book.”

This quote demonstrates Malcolm’s caution surrounding his investigation of Nicholas and the lengths he is capable of going to in order to hide his wrongdoings. However, after stealing the book from the library, Malcolm forgets about it and leaves it on the counter in Old Devils Bookstore. This develops the theme of Memory and Omission, as well as revealing the character of Malcolm to be unreliable.

“Outside, tiny ice flakes of snow had begun to swirl in the air.”

This is an example of the symbol of snow. The icy snow—which indicates the beginning of a storm—falls as Malcolm realizes he left Nicholas’s book lying out when Tess visited the store. This snow represents the rising storm of the end of the novel, when Malcolm encounters Marty, the killer.

“It’s my fucking mess and I need to fix it myself.”

This is Malcolm’s memory of Claire. He recalls her desire for independence, as well as how she takes on blame. Despite his murder of Claire, he hangs onto her memory and imagines conversations with his deceased wife, as though sure she would support him even after he murdered her. Malcolm again struggles with Reality and Fiction, seeing himself as a good person who made mistakes instead of a calculated killer.

“It felt safe in the store, and I just didn’t know what was going to happen at Brian’s and Tess’s house.”

This passage is an example of how Malcolm buries himself in work. Old Devils Bookstore is a place where he is comfortable. He prefers The Nature of Bookselling to developing intimacy with friends, hiding in a world of literature that resonates with who he was before Claire’s murder.

“He was one of those men who could talk a good game, but who couldn’t actually do a whole lot of things […] He could write, he could drink, and he could talk.”

Marty using a specific kind of whiskey—the kind that Brian drinks—to kill Nicholas leads Malcolm to suspect Brian is the killer. However, Malcolm knows that Brian is probably incapable of murder, and this passage develops Brian’s character. The whiskey causes Malcolm to suspect Tess is in on the murders, rather than realize that the whiskey is a red herring (something to lead him astray).

“I’d had drinks with him many times, seen him at readings at my store, but somehow couldn’t recall ever seeing him look at a cell phone. I’d never seen him with a gun, either, but the cell phone looked more foreign on him than the gun.”

This is the moment when Marty reveals that he is the killer. However, Malcolm becomes wrapped up in little details from the past, which develops the theme of Memory and Omission.

“Fiction is so much better than reality […] You got me into reading, and you got me into murder. It changed my life for the better.”

In this quote, Marty expresses his appreciation for Malcolm’s work as a bookseller, especially his blog post about perfect murders. In addition to developing the theme of The Nature of Bookselling, this quote develops the theme of Reality and Fiction. Marty—and Malcolm—prefer fiction to reality and use the plots of books in real life.

“I have terrible dreams every night.”

This passage is part of Malcolm’s confession to Gwen. He admits to killing her father. Gwen thinks there is some justice in her father—a child molester—being murdered. Malcolm is haunted by his actions and distorts reality by referring to his memories of murder as dreams throughout much of the novel.

“Those are the names of the dead. The real names. All except for Marty Kingship.”

This is an example of Malcolm discussing his use of the genre of memoir. His claim that he made up Marty’s name causes the reader to suspect that there is no Marty, or that Malcolm and Marty are doppelgangers. Malcolm acknowledges they have the same initials but maintains that they are two different people. This confusion could have been avoided, as Malcolm created the name Marty just for the novel.

“I have committed the sin of omission, but when I said something is true, it is. Believe me.”

This quote is also about Malcolm’s claim that he and Marty are two different people. This develops the theme of Memory and Omission. Malcolm directly addresses the reader, and tries to convince them that omission is different than lying. This quote also develops Malcolm’s characterization as an unreliable narrator.

“It was Nero coming across the floor that eventually saved me. He gave me a reason to get up and out of the house.”

Nero, the bookstore cat, develops the theme of The Nature of Bookselling—he is a reason that people come to Old Devils. Malcolm says Nero, who originally was Norman’s pet, convinced Malcolm to go on living after killing Norman. In doing the good deed of rescuing Nero, Malcolm is able to somewhat absolve himself of the guilt associated with Norman’s murder and rationalize his behavior.

“Now that I think about it, I think it is possible I was the one who left that comment.”

This is one of Malcolm’s final confessions to the reader, developing the theme of Memory and Omission. He might have left a comment on his own blog while drunk. This can be read as evidence that Malcolm omitted the fact that Marty was also his alter ego, but it generally develops Malcolm’s extreme unreliability throughout his “memoir.”