Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

General comment thread for one of our Group Read books for June 2025 - US Release June 10, 2025: Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson. Are you planning on reading this book? We have group read all of Peter's books, he was introduced to us by his friend, moderator of the group Carol Bonadie.

Likely sitting this one out. June is going to be hectic...

Just posted on the thread of the other June read, which I will probably sit out in favor of this one. I started to request all versions from my library and then remembered I'd committed to pre-ordering all his books when they come out since I know him and want to support him.

So that's the long way of saying yes, LOL.

Sherry has already read it so she should be chiming in at some point (if she remembers anything of it, lol. She read it awhile ago as she gets ARC's as an employee at a bookstore. Or maybe somewhere else for this one?

Carol/Bonadie wrote: ".Sherry has already read it so she should be chiming in at some point (if she remembers anything of it, lol. She read it awhile ago as she gets ARC's as an employee at a bookstore. Or maybe somewhere else for this one"

I did read it and was underwhelmed with it so I'll be interested to hear what everyone thinks!

This one’s not out until 1st July in the UK ☹️ How long do we have to read it?

Katherine, you can comment on it at any time but the announced time to read it is until July 31.

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Katherine, you can comment on it at any time but the announced time to read it is until July 31."

Great, thank you!

I’ll be reading this soon after it is released. I lucked out and I am number 1 on the waitlist at the library. 🙂 It will be fun to discuss with everyone.

I think today is release day which means I'll get my copy from Amazon in the mail tomorrow. I have 5 or 6 books from the library that are so hot I won't be able to renew them, so something will have to go back unread ;-(

Geri and Carol: My Libby hold position suggests a nine week wait - hopefully it is mistaken - though they don't seem to be adding as many copies lately when the library holds are stacking up.
... I know what you mean about 'hot' library books Carol - and not from a heat wave hot :) LOL

Geri wrote: "I’ll be reading this soon after it is released. I lucked out and I am number 1 on the waitlist at the library. 🙂 It will be fun to discuss with everyone."

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I think today is release day which means I'll get my copy from Amazon in the mail tomorrow. I have 5 or 6 books from the library that are so hot I won't be able to renew them, so something will hav..."

I have a murder mystery book that I would love feedback on. I have no clue how to upload the book or some chapters. I am new here and this all seems like a lot. These are some of the question I would like answered.
Did the opening grab you?"

"Were there any points where the tension dropped off for you?"

"Did you find the red herrings effective, or were they too obvious/confusing?"

"Did the detective's actions make sense?"

"Was the killer's motive believable?"

"Were there any plot holes or inconsistencies you noticed?"

"Was the climax satisfying? Did the reveal feel earned?"

"Which character did you suspect most, and why?"

EJ wrote: "I have a murder mystery book that I would love feedback on. I have no clue how to upload the book or some chapters. I am new here and this all seems like a lot. These are some of the question I wou..."

EJ, this topic is for people reading the book "Kill Your Darlings" so it won't be seen by most. If you want more eyes, post this under the Authors Promotions thread. I'm not sure we can help you with how to upload chapters, however.

As a surprise today I got my turn for Kill Your Darlings! very excited, two days ago Libby said a four week wait. I will start it in a day or so when I finish my current audio. yippee!

I went to Peter's signing on Tuesday and it was quite fun. Most of what he said was covered in an article in The Boston Globe so I'll see if I can figure out a way to grab it and post it here. I think the link takes you to a paywall.

Okay, I exported the article and am pasting it here. Hope I'm not breaking any copyright rules! Boston Globe, July 7, 2025. Written by Globe Correspondent Lauren Daley.

Warning: mild spoilers that are revealed in the first chapter of the book.
---
One Thursday night in 1997, I was doing homework near the little kitchen TV when “Seinfeld” started in reverse, and my 15-year-old mind melted.

The episode, titled “The Betrayal,” opened with the Castle Rock logo, followed by end- credits over a freeze-frame. Then, George, Jerry, and Elaine — her face bandaged — hobble into the coffee shop, having clearly been through an ordeal.

From there, we go backward, scene by scene, until the opening scene — then even further, to when Jerry met Kramer. It was riveting.

I thought of that episode as I began Peter Swanson’s Massachusetts-set thriller-in- reverse “Kill Your Darlings,” which came out June 10. The book opens: “The first attempt at killing her husband was the night of the dinner party.”

It’s 2023, a dinner party at Thom and Wendy Graves’s North Shore home, and we quickly learn Wendy wants to kill Thom because of something in their past. When Thom tells guests he’s writing a mystery novel, Wendy’s blood runs cold. Is he going to reveal what they did? Should she push him down the stairs?

From there, we rewind to 2018, then 2013, ending up, eventually, in 1984 when Thom and Wendy meet on an 8th-grade class trip to Washington, D.C.

Like many of Swanson’s 12 books, it’s New England noir — North Shore noir, really — with a comforting Agatha Christie vibe. As a thriller diehard, and longtime Swanson reader, I can say this is his strongest to date.

It feels ready-made for the screen and has already been optioned, Swanson says. There’s interest from Julia Roberts to star and produce, per the Hollywood Reporter.

The Carlisle native and best-selling author, 57, spoke with the Globe from his Gloucester home, ahead of his July 8 event at Harvard Book Store. He discusses adaptations, Alfred Hitchcock — and a “Betrayal” story of his own.

Q. Writing a story in reverse: how did the idea come to you?

A. I’d had the desire to tell a story backwards, which I’ve been thinking about for years. I thought of the movie “Memento,” and a novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard, “The Long View,” a marriage story told in reverse. But I didn’t have the plot. Then I thought of the noir “Double Indemnity” story — the adulterous couple that plans to kill a husband or wife. I thought: what if a couple plotted this and got away with it?

There’s not a ton of stuff that goes purely backwards, but one is a play, “Betrayal” by Harold Pinter. I saw the movie version with Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley. I think I was 15, and it stuck with me.

Q. It’s funny you mention that: the first thing I thought of reading this was “The Betrayal” episode of “Seinfeld,” which I saw at 15.

A. What’s funny about that episode is, I think there’s a character called Pinter, because they’re acknowledging the play.

Q. A lot of your books take place in New England, often Massachusetts and Maine.

A. I write what I know and love. I grew up in Carlisle. My childhood vacations were in southern Maine. I live on the North Shore. New England, in general, makes a good backdrop to a mystery — long winters, moody ocean, maybe slightly reticent people.

Q. You said you lived in England for a stint growing up.

A. We were outside London, in a town called Braintree, when I was 9, 10, 11. Then we moved back to Carlisle. I grew up next to my grandparents’ poultry farm. My father was a poultry geneticist. I graduated high school in ’86 and Trinity College in Connecticut in ’90; I majored in English Lit. I worked at [the now-closed] WordsWorth Books in Harvard Square.

Q. Throughout your books, Boston is always Boston, but you have a mix of fictional and real town names.

A. I tend to make up small towns. “New Essex” is a thin veil for Gloucester. “Kennewick, Maine,” a town I write about often, is an amalgamation of York and Kennebunkport. When you make up your own town, you can decide what it looks like. If there needs to be a bar next to the police station, you don’t get an email from a resident saying there’s no bar there.

Q. Your books are always peppered with ‘40s and ’50s movie references. You must be an old film buff.

A. I was a young fan of Alfred Hitchcock. I saw “Dial M for Murder" in England on television; I was 10 or 11. Those are formative years, and I was mesmerized. As a teenager in Carlisle, I’d drive to the Brattle Theater. I saw “Casablanca,” [Hitchcock’s] “Notorious.” That was my thing to do once I got my license.

Q. Also distinct to all your books: Descriptions of meals, drinks, people deciding what restaurant they’re going to. Are you a big foodie?

A. I am, for sure. That might come from Robert Parker’s [Boston-set] Spencer books. Spencer, the detective, was a foodie before that term existed. He always talked about what he would eat, what he ordered, what he cooked. Reading those as a kid, it grounded those stories.

Q. This book has adaptation interest. That’s exciting.

A. I don’t overthink it, or over-celebrate, because it’s the movie business — a lot of films go into pre-development that don’t wind up as pictures. “Eight Perfect Murders” has been under option for a while.

Q. Right, some authors have options for years. But do you remember where you were when you found out?

A. I was mowing the lawn, and I got this message from my film agent. It’s one of those funny things where you’re like, Oh, my God, that’s so exciting — but you still have to mow the lawn.

thanks for sharing, carol!

Nice article - thanks Carol. I’m finding the backwards timeline of the story intriguing and a little odd as I first settle into each year. The background on his decision to write in this format was interesting.

I found it interesting too, Ann. I'm glad I read the book before the signing and before reading this article, it shed light on what I experienced while reading.