Book Review: THE KIND WORTH SAVING by Peter Swanson

 

Title: THE KIND WORTH SAVING

Author:  Peter Swanson

Publisher:  Faber & Faber

Read: April 2023

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

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, 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.

My musings:

 

Swanson’s wicked novel THE KIND WORTH KILLING was the type of book that immediately jumped onto my all-time favourites list, and I picked up its sequel with both excitement and trepidation – could it possibly live up to its predecessor? I think that Lily Kintner is that rare type of character you recognise as being totally without a normal moral compass but who you want to root for nonetheless, and I was curious to see how she had fared since the events in TKWK.

 

Henry Kimball is now a private investigator after having been forced to quit the police force (at this stage I realised that I had to re-read TKWK to refresh my memory and I’m glad that I did). He is hired by Joan Whalen, a woman he soon recognises as being one of his former students during a quick stint as a graduate English teacher before realising that the profession was not for him. Joan is curious to find out whether her suspicions are correct that her husband is cheating on her. In typical Swanson style, things escalate quickly from here and everyone seems to have secrets to hide.

 

Whilst Lily features in TKWS, she has only a peripheral role, and we mainly bear witness to both events in Joan’s past as well as the present mayhem the investigation creates. But don’t despair, because readers who are hoping for the same kind of flawed, amoral characters we saw in TKWK will soon find them here, as well. You don’t pick up either book if you’re easily triggered because here a normal moral compass doesn’t apply, so if this is not your thing, you should probably give this a miss. As for myself, I could appreciate the almost satirical character study of this wild bunch. Do these type of people exist in real life? I hope I will never have to find out. Was it entertaining though? Very much so – as the normal rules of society don’t apply, everything is possible, and the novel held a few clever surprises in store.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.