This is one of the books that have been on the TBR for over a year, which… is actually not that long compared to other books. But basically what I wanted to say is that I’ve been meaning to read this for a while! I didn’t borrow Rules for Perfect Murders earlier because I was looking for the paperback copy in the library, but since I won’t be stepping foot in the library for a while, I decided to just borrow the ebook.

Rules for Perfect Murders stars Malcolm, a bookseller who wanted to be an amateur detective and now finally gets the chance to be one when the FBI approaches him with a ludicrous sounding theory: someone seems to be killing according to a list of books he wrote years ago.

This is definitely a book for fans of the mystery genre. The entire plot revolves around famous mysteries, such as the ABC Murders. That, by the way, is probably the only book on the list that I’ve read – I’ve read Anthony Berkeley, but not Malice Aforethought, and A.A. Milne’s Red House Mystery is on my TBR list, but that’s about it. The lack of knowledge about most of the books, however, did not dampen my enjoyment of the book – as someone who’s fine with spoilers, I enjoyed reading about these books and how they could be reinterpreted into actual killings.

As for characters, I thought Malcolm was pretty interesting! He has a tragic backstory and I thought the way the book wove his past into the murders was interesting. But because Malcolm doesn’t really connect with people, I never really connected with them either. There is, for example, an FBI agent with a past and even though there is a secret about her past, I still can’t really remember her name. (Wait, I think it’s Gwen.)

Personally, I liked this book! It’s a fun read and as a mystery fan, I appreciate the self-aware tone of the book. Malcolm is an interesting narrator-protagonist and I thought the mystery section was well-paced. And as usual, I didn’t manage to guess who the murderer was so I had fun all the way till the end.