Welcome to Read and Rank, a new feature on Jen Ryland Reviews that looks at ALL the books an author has written and gives YOU a chance to weigh in. Which books did you LOVE and which ones were just okay? Which book would you recommend to a reader who is trying that author for the first time? For this Read and Rank, we will be discussing What is the Best Book by Peter Swanson?
Written and edited by Jen Ryland. Last updated on:
What is the Best Book by Peter Swanson?
Books Written by Peter Swanson
Which Peter Swanson Book Has the Best Goodreads Score?
Which Peter Swanson Book Did I Love Most?
Which Peter Swanson Book Should YOU Read?
Discussion: Books by Peter Swanson Ranked?
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Books Written by Peter Swanson – listed chronologically, from earliest to newest
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart (2014)
When George first met her, she was an eighteen-year-old college freshman from Florida. She and George became inseparable in their first fall semester, so George was devastated when he got the news that she had committed suicide over Christmas break.
As he stood in the living room of the girl’s grieving parents, he realized the girl in the photo on their mantelpiece – the one who had committed suicide – was not his girlfriend. Later, he discovered the true identity of the girl he had loved – and of the things she may have done to escape her past.
Now, twenty years later, she’s back, and she’s telling George that he’s the only one who can help her…
The Kind Worth Killing (2015)
On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. The strangers begin to play a game of truth.
Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done.
Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse.
Suddenly these co-conspirators are embroiled in a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, one they both cannot survive . . . with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.
Her Every Fear (2017)
Growing up, Kate experienced full-blown panic attacks after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her. When Corbin, a distant cousin, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees.
Soon after her arrival at Corbin’s grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own—curiosity that intensifies when she meets Alan, a handsome, quiet tenant who lives across the courtyard.
Then, Kate runs into a man who insists Corbin did the deed the night that he left for London. Her cousin he proclaims his innocence, but she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment and accidentally learns that Corbin is not where he says he is.
All the Beautiful Lies (2018)
Harry has always considered his stepmother Alice to be kind and attentive, if a little aloof in the last few years. Days before his college graduation, Alice calls with shocking news: his father is dead and the police think it’s suicide.
Devastated, Harry returns to his father’s home in Maine. Shortly after he arrives, Harry meets a mysterious young woman named Grace. But she isn’t the only attractive woman taking an interest in Harry.
The sensual Alice is also growing closer, coming on to him in an enticing, clearly sexual way. Mesmerized by these two women, Harry finds himself falling deeper under their spell. Yet the closer he gets to them, the more isolated he feels, disoriented by a growing fear that both women are hiding dangerous—even deadly—secrets . . . and that neither one is telling the truth.
Before She Knew Him (2019)
Henrietta and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston. Hen is an illustrator who has finally found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf.
The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either.
Eight Perfect Murders (2020)
Years ago, mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders.” But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of a bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list.
Worse, the killer is out there, watching Mal’s every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife. To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him.
Every Vow You Break (2021)
Abigail never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce. But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend.
She puts the incident out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life. Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something special and he’s tracked her down to prove it.
Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon—and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.
Nine Lives (2022)
Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list.
They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town in Maine. Then, a father is shot while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts.
A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next…
The Kind Worth Saving (2023)
There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So, when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he can’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: He knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.
Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a FOR SALE sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself, and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.
Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, enlisting help from his old nemesis Lily Kintner—but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.
The Christmas Guest (2024) In this novella, a middle aged woman looks back on the very memorable holiday season she spent in the Cotswolds when she was an exchange student in the UK. Mildly creepy and very atmospheric, this would make a great addition to your holiday reading.
Since it’s a novella, I won’t put it in the competition, but I thought I’d point it out.
Which Book By Peter Swanson Has the Best Goodreads Score?
Goodreads isn’t perfect, but it can be a great crowd-sourced way to find the most popular book by an author. Here’s the lowdown on the Goodreads scores of all Peter Swanson’s books. You can find Peter Swanson’s page on Goodreads here.
The Kind Worth Killing: 4.03 Stars
Before She Knew Him: 3.86 Stars
Her Every Fear: 3.77 Stars
Nine Lives: 3.69 Stars
Eight Perfect Murders: 3.64 Stars
All the Beautiful Lies: 3.62 Stars
Every Vow You Break: 3.47 Stars
The Girl With A Clock for a Heart: 3.35 Stars
Which Peter Swanson Book Did I Love Most?
I have read four of his books. I’d read Eight Perfect Murders, Every Vow You Break, and Nine Lives. I recently read The Kind Worth Killing, as it was the highest rated on Goodreads and the one my friend Katie B. said was her favorite.
Here are some places to read my full thoughts about the books I did read:
My review of Every Vow you Break is here! If you want to join a Spoiler Discussion for Every Vow You Break, you can find that here.
My review of Nine Lives is here. If you’ve read the book and want to hash it out, please join my Spoiler Discussion for Nine Lives here!
I LOVED A Kind Worth Killing – join the Spoiler Discussion here!
I also reviewed The Kind Worth Saving!
Which Peter Swanson Book Should YOU Read?
I feel like Eight Perfect Murders gives us a clue into some of Peter Swanson’s favorite books: Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.
If you love Hitchcock and Strangers on a Train, definitely try The Kind Worth Killing. It starts out with a “strangers on a plane” premise that gets really twisty. If you want likable characters, this one isn’t for you!
If you loved Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, you should try Nine Lives. I’m not a huge fan of books with a lot of POVs and this book definitely had a lot. But it’s still fun and twisty!
If you are a mystery lover, Eight Perfect Murders is a love letter to classic mysteries. I enjoyed that one a LOT!
Peter Swanson Books Ranked: Which Do You Think is the Best?
I would love to hear your thoughts in comments. Which of Peter Swanson’s books have you read, and what do you think: What Is the Best Book by Peter Swanson?
I’ve read 4 of his books thus far: The Kind Worth Killing; Every Vow You Break; All The Beautiful Lies; and Nine Lives. The Kind…was okay. Well written, but a bit overly silly at the end. Every Vow was by far the worse of these. I just did not BUY IT on any level. Beautiful Lies was by far the best of the bunch: really great characters. I liked the setup and the back and forth in time and stories. I felt emotionally drawn in. Invested. Nine Lives was like fluff. Popcorn. Easy read. Not good. Not bad.
Ooh, interesting. I have not read All the Beautiful Lies. I will try to do that and see what I think!
The Kind Worth Saving is a continuation of the characters in The Kind Worth Killing. I haven’t read it yet but did read The Kind Worth Killing and loved it. But that was a while ago., I’d have to say I really enjoyed The Kind Worth Killing so I will probably read the Saving one next.
I liked both of them. Let me know what you think about The Kind Worth Saving. In my review, I debate which of the two was better and I’d love to have your take!
I have read all his books, almost in a row, and LOVE every single one of them. He has a very down to earth way of writing and drawing you into the story. I will say that reading them all in a row makes me think he definitely has a thing for Maine, Conn and Boston. I almost feel like he has a Stephen King kind of universe where everything is gonna tie right in. He love Kennewick. Even though he has a general plan of every book, I feel that he tweeks them enough that they change every single story. He seems to have a thing for cheating spouses and the revenge that comes with that. He is just a joy and I hope he’s working on something new right now!!!
Ha – I hadn’t thought of the cheating, but you are right. That’s a theme in many of them that I have read.