Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! This time around two 20 Books Of Summer titles and 2020 releases belonging to completely different genres… And both turned out to be excellent reads. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson only reconfirmed my love for his writing, while debut The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael put Beth Morrey firmly on my radar.
Title: Eight Perfect Murders
(Malcolm Kershaw #1)
Author: Peter Swanson
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: March 3rd 2020
Publisher: William Morrow
Finished reading: June 22nd 2020
Pages: 288
“Books are time travel. True readers all know this. But books don’t just take you back to the time in which they were written; they can take you back to different versions of yourself.”
I’m a fan of Peter Swanson‘s writing and I’ve been looking forward to dive into Eight Perfect Murders ever since I first heard about it. I love books with bookish elements and I love my crime thriller stories, so the premise of this newest story sounded absolutely fantastic. While it’s true that I don’t exactly read or know a lot about crime classics (I prefer more modern thrillers myself), I think it’s the clever incorporation of the eight crime classics that really makes this story stand out for me. Why? Peter Swanson doesn’t just name the titles and explain what happens in the corresponding plot, but really incorporates the different stories and elements into its own plot in the most ingenious way. A fair warning though: if you still need/want to read the eight classics mentioned in the blurb, you will find mayor spoilers of those stories incorporated into Eight Perfect Murders that might spoil the fun. I personally didn’t really mind, as I had heard bits about the classics already and I actually quite liked discovering them through this rather unique ‘memoir’. The structure of the plot is brilliant, the writing engaging, the character development fascinating, the many bookish elements including the bookshop and Nero the cat simply divine… I had heaps of fun reading Eight Perfect Murders, and thought the ending was a perfect reference to crime classics (one in particular of course, but I don’t want to spoil the fun by mentioning it). If you are looking for an unique and clever crime thriller and don’t mind a spoiler or two of the eight crime classics mentioned in the blurb, you will most likely have an excellent time with this story too.
Title: The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael
Author: Beth Morrey
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
First published: April 7th 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Finished reading: June 26th 2020
Pages: 352
“If you really want something, you hang on. Don’t give up. Hang on, as if your life depended on it.”
I admit that I was sold as soon as I saw the comparison to A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I adored both books and its characters, and I just knew I HAD to meet Missy Carmichael to see if she could win me over too. The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael turned out to be both charming and heartbreaking at the same time. While I confess that it took me some time to warm up to Missy, once I did I found myself to be completely under her spell. The same goes for the rest of the characters; a wonderful cast of colorful and easy to like personalities that each added their own little something to the plot. Lighter moments are mixed with more heavy topics; flashbacks to Missy’s past used to get to know her better and help understand the ‘mistakes’ she mentioned as well as why she is the way she is.The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael will have a couple surprises and twists for you in store, an a few heartbreaking moments that will require having a box of tissues and a plate of your favorite comfort food at hand just in case. I loved seeing Missy develop and blossom over time, and if you are craving a heartfelt contemporary with well developed characters and don’t mind shedding a tear or two, this debut is an excellent choice.
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Wonderful reviews, Yvo. You seem to have found quite a number of endearing characters who are like Ove. Glad to hear Missy has been added to the list. I am yet to read a Swanson book. I need to rectify that soon.
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You are right! I love discovering books with older main characters and Missy definitely reminded me a bit of Ove. I can also highly recommend Swanson’s books! All three titles I’ve tried so far were excellent. xx
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I heard a lot about eight perfect murders… will read this book for sure. Btw thanks for the post, it’s really helpful.
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I hope you will enjoy it too if you decide to read it. 🙂
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Eight Perfect Murders is in my TBR. So happy you loved it
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I hope you will enjoy it too! xx
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I really enjoyed Eight perfect murders and the other book sounds lovely 🙂
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I’m happy to hear that! The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael was definitely great too. xx
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Great reviews, Yvo! The concept behind Eight Perfect Murders with the sub plots and spoilers sounds interesting. I have it on my Kindle so now just need to read it!
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I hope you will enjoy it if you decide to pick it up! xx
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I loved the Peter Swanson too, it felt really different and I didn’t want it put it down. Missy Carmichael sounds like a gorgeous read, I think I’ll have to try and get hold of a copy. Fab reviews 🙂
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I’m happy to hear that! I loved how unique Eight Perfect Murders was and just couldn’t stop reading. I can recommend The Love Story Of Missy Carmichael; it’s the perfect mix of charming and heartbreaking and I really enjoyed my time with the characters. xx
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It was such a good read! I’ll definitely try and get Missy Carmichael, it sounds like such a gorgeous book.
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Okay, Missy is going on my library TBR. It sounds too good to pass up!
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Oh yay! I hope you will enjoy it if you do decide to pick it up. xx
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Yay! So happy you enjoyed Eight Perfect Murders! It was so beautifully plotted, and just brilliant! xx
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YESSS you are absolutely right! I loved just how unique the story was, and it’s definitely going to be one of my highlights this year. xx
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Great reviews! I just added The Love Story of Missy Carmichael to my TBR. I have to admit that the comparison to A Man Called Ove hooked me. LOVE that book! And I had to go look up the 8 classics included in Eight Perfect Murders. I love reading books that incorporate plots or pieces from other books.
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Same here! As soon as I see a reference to Ove I know I just HAVE to try the story haha. I also love having older main characters! And I also love books that have bookish elements in them. xx
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