A Talent for Murder

A Talent for Murder by American author Peter Swanson is a twisty psychological thriller that examines themes such as Appearance Versus Reality, Moral Ambiguity in Pursuit of Truth and Justice, and The Corrosive Nature of Obsession. Published in 2024, A Talent for Murder is Swanson’s 11th novel and centers around Martha, a newlywed librarian who begins to suspect her husband of committing murders.

This guide refers to the Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss suicide, murder, sexual violence, and kidnapping.

Plot Summary

A Talent for Murder begins with Josie Nixon, a newly married teacher, attending an art educator conference in Shepaug, New York. During the conference, Josie engages in a one-night stand with an older man. Afterward, she is mysteriously thrown from a sixth-floor balcony to her death.

The story shifts to librarian Martha Ratliff, who is newly married to her husband, Alan Peralta. Though initially not attracted to Alan, Martha marries him due to their shared interests, primarily books. A year into their marriage, Martha begins to suspect Alan of suspicious behavior. She notes a malevolent expression on his face when he returns from work trips and that his explanations for his behavior make little sense.

Martha’s suspicions grow when she finds a mysterious brown stain on Alan’s shirt after a conference in Denver, Colorado. She researches his travel history and realizes that it correlates with violent deaths reported in the areas he visited. Concerned, Martha reaches out to an old friend from graduate school, Lily Kintner.

Lily agrees to help Martha investigate Alan. She travels to Saratoga Springs, New York, where Alan is attending a conference, to surveil him. While there, Lily encounters Ethan Saltz, Martha’s abusive ex-boyfriend, who is also following Alan, raising questions about Ethan’s involvement in the murders.

Shortly after Lily’s encounter with Ethan, Martha is murdered in her home. Lily senses something is wrong, goes to Martha’s house, and discovers her body. Rather than calling the police, Lily contacts her friend Henry Kimball, a former police officer turned private investigator, for help.

Lily and Henry begin investigating Ethan, suspecting him of committing each of the murders, including Martha’s. They discover that Ethan, now using the name Robert Charnock, works as an art dealer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lily travels to New Jersey to speak with Ethan’s sister, while Henry goes to Cape Cod to talk to his brother. Both siblings describe Ethan as evil and haven’t been in contact with him for years. However, before Lily can act on this information, Ethan kidnaps her and takes her to a basement in Tohickon, Pennsylvania.

While held captive, Lily engages in psychological warfare with Ethan. He reveals that he has killed 26 people, including Martha, and explains that he has been following Alan and killing women who encounter him at conferences in an attempt to frame him. Ethan admits to killing Martha as revenge against Lily for helping Martha break up with him years ago. Meanwhile, Henry travels to Philadelphia and then to Tohickon in search of Lily. He discovers Ethan’s location through Ethan’s wife and his gallery manager, Chris Salah.

Lily manages to escape by tricking Ethan and fatally wounding him with an improvised weapon. Henry arrives shortly after and helps Lily dispose of Ethan’s body. They also retrieve Ethan’s list of murders from his home in Philadelphia.

The Epilogue focuses on Alan and takes place months after Martha’s death. It’s revealed that Alan indeed killed Josie Nixon at the conference in Shepaug, throwing her from the balcony after they had sex. Alan reflects on whether this act invited death into his life, leading to Martha’s murder.

At a conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Alan is visited by what he believes to be a ghost or hallucination of a woman claiming to be a friend of his late wife. The woman turns out to be Lily, who discovered Alan’s infidelities during her investigation. She also inferred the identity of Josie’s killer, as Josie’s name was missing from the list of Ethan’s victims. When Lily confronts Alan about Josie’s death, he confesses to the murder. As the “ghost,” Lily tells Alan that she’s there to kill him. Alan, who long ago surrendered himself to death, steps out onto the balcony and jumps.