The Kind Worth Killing

           by Peter Swanson

 

I am currently reading “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson a book that introduces the Henry Kimball series. The third in the series just came out in June which is “A Talent for Murder” and if Swanson continues the pattern of this series, the fourth book will probably come out June 2025. I’m not sure how I missed reading this series but was quite intrigued by the “Stranger on a Train” vibe when I picked it up. If you missed it, you too might find the series worth your time.

Ted and Lily are two strangers who met not on a train, but at the airport when their flight to Boston is delayed. Ted is outraged because he discovered that his wife is cheating on him with his contractor Brad who is making a ton of money off the remodel of the house Ted bought his new wife. Lily is very sympathetic and when Ted mentions that he is mad enough to murder is wife, Lily jumps in to help get it done.

Lily has no qualms about murder and in fact has a history of murdering those that betray her or may betray her. It started when she was 14 and murdered a guy who seemed to be thinking about raping her and continued with her boyfriend in college Eric who was cheating with a woman named Faith.

Faith ends up being Ted’s new wife now calling herself Miranda. This is where the story really takes off with a lot of plot twists while Lily, Ted, Miranda, and Brad all take a shot at murder by forming unique alliances. Obviously, none of them can really trust each other and being who they are could all kill each other so that only one is standing. As the characters start to die off or disappear, a police detective named Kimball becomes involved in trying to untangle this mess.

I rather enjoyed this bizarre book’s outlook on life which seems to be that everyone is not only capable of murder, but only to ready to commit the act. Not one person in the novel is likable so don’t expect to actually root for anyone. If you’re looking for a hero don’t even bother. The women are lovely and conniving. The men are to say the least not trustworthy. Perhaps they get away with so much because they are mostly attractive people with money.

While Lily and Ted seem to like each other, I would have expected Lily to end up killing Ted if they had stayed together long enough. Honestly, I’ve read a lot of mystery novels and never read one where the characters were more willing to kill. There are simpler methods of getting rid of someone: walk away and never talk to them again or just get a divorce. But I do watch the news and there does seem to be a lot of people who try to solve their problems this way. The detective Henry Kimball steps into the story almost at the end so it’s interesting that this is the beginning of a series about him. He too is a unique character and ends up getting fired for his behavior with this case. I gather in the other books that he is a private detective. I cannot wait to see what those books are like.