Kill Your Darlings: A Novel

by Peter Swanson Narrated by Steven Weber

Overview

“A dazzlingly clever murder mystery, told backwards, asking the question: why would this loving wife murder her husband?”-Gillian McAllister, New York Times bestselling author of Famous Last Words and Wrong Place Wrong Time

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders comes an inventive, utterly propulsive murder-mystery in reverse, tracing a marriage back in time to uncover the dark secret at its heart.

Audiobook narrated by Steven Weber!

Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well...except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom's marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple's lives-their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason's birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague-all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.

Eventually we learn the details of what Thom and Wendy did in their early twenties, a secret that has kept them bound together through the length of their marriage. But its power over them is fraying, and each of them begins to wonder if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries their secrets to the grave.

Editorial Reviews

AudioFile

Steven Weber superbly delivers Peter Swanson’s intriguing mystery. The audiobook’s structure goes backwards from 2023 to 1982—telling a story that’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle…Weber keeps the tension at its peak…A clever premise does not disappoint, and Weber’s performance makes it even better. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

From the Publisher

Swanson is in terrific form here: The story flows backward in time, capturing a long-term marriage—one bound by an early secret—from killing to courtship, while putting Swanson’s trademark low-key but palpable humor to particularly impressive effect.” — Boston Globe

"An ingenious twist on a noir classic, about the hell that awaits co-conspirators Wendy and Thom after they become a 'happy' married couple. Swanson's decision to move swiftly backward in time over 40-plus years is surprisingly suspenseful. I raced through the pages, anxious to learn the couple's last deadly secret — and I was not disappointed." — Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of Prom Mom

“A dazzlingly clever murder mystery, told backwards, asking the question: why would this loving wife murder her husband?” — Gillian McAllister, New York Times bestselling author of Famous Last Words and Wrong Place Wrong Time

"A feat of structural magnificence— the instant I turned the final page, I flipped straight back to the start to put it all together again. Exhilarating and exceptionally clever, Kill Your Darlings zings with a singular sense of tension. Peter Swanson writes with the lyrical acuity of a literary master." — Danya Kukafka, nationally bestselling author of Notes on an Execution 

“'I absolutely loved it. What a deliciously dark book.”
— John Marrs, bestselling author of The One

“Twisty and clever. . . An addictive read brimming with jaw-dropping surprises.” — Library Journal

“With a pair of deeply engaging characters, a unique story structure, and a powerhouse of an ending, the book is a sure-fire hit.”  — Booklist

“A fascinating exploration of the corrosive effects of guilt.” — BookPage

“[An] absolute tour de force….completely ingenious.” — BookTrib

“An incredible tour de force of structure and character and plot—from beginning to end! (Or, should I say, from end to beginning). Peter Swanson is a flat out genius, and his ingenious Kill Your Darlings is truly remarkable and utterly original. Relentlessly sinister and absolutely gripping, this contemporary noir is a masterclass in storytelling and brain-exploding writerly skill. Deeply psychological and impeccably structured, its deeply psychological underpinnings will have you holding your breath as you turn the pages—it’s crushingly inevitable and completely haunting. And I honestly applauded at the ending. Standing ovation for this brilliant book!" — Hank Phillippi Ryan, bestselling author of One Wrong Word

“Both a meditation on comeuppance and a steely nail-biter. . . A heady, allusive, tweedy-seedy slow burn.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Swanson’s clever, twisty novel is a meditation on memory, marriage, and the dark side of storytelling.” — Oprah Daily

“Masterful. . . [Kill Your Darlings] is a marvel of structure and pacing and delivers some of the most satisfying turns in recent memory.” — Crimereads 

“A topsy-turvy story that speeds toward its grim destination. The author’s devoted fans will not be disappointed by this tale of karmic comeuppance.” — Wall Street Journal on A Talent for Murder

“Brilliant. . . This is a masterpiece of misdirection.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A Talent for Murder

“An ingenious puzzle.” — New York Times Book Review on Nine Lives

“Hitchcockian chills and thrills abound." — O, the Oprah Magazine on Every Vow You Break

“Engagingly original… Swanson has a bent for revenge and murder.” — USA Today on Eight Perfect Murders

“The inventive Mr. Swanson never lets the willing reader down.” — Wall Street Journal on The Kind Worth Saving 

“[It] has ‘movie adaptation’ written all over it. It has an alluring location, a fragile yet resilient protagonist and a thoroughly Hitchcockian storyline, replete with the requisite false starts and plot twists… High tension, lightning-fast pacing and psychological drama in spades.” — BookPage on Her Every Fear

“Swanson unfolds this creepy story with the assurance and economy of a master.” — Wall Street Journal on Before She Knew Him

“A taut thriller with a mounting body count and a final twist so ruthlessly clever it’s criminal.” — Entertainment Weekly on The Kind Worth Killing

“A twisty, sexy, electric thrill ride and an absolute blast from start to finish.” — Dennis Lehane on The Girl with a Clock for a Heart 

Library Journal

04/01/2025

Swanson (A Talent for Murder) crafts a twisty and clever novel about a diabolical couple who share a deadly secret. What impact could a decades-old bad act have on a marriage? Thom and Wendy Graves are a middle-aged couple seemingly living an ordinary life. They hooked up briefly as teenagers on a class trip, then reunited years later, after the tragic death of Wendy's first husband. Thom is now a tenured faculty member, and Wendy a published poet. They have financial security, a lovely home, a grown son, and a decent marriage. It looks like an idyllic life—but it's not. Thom is a heavy drinker and womanizer, and Wendy fears that he'll let slip their deadly secret while drunk. Thom is consumed with the idea of punishment for bad deeds, while Wendy has no conscience. Swanson disorients readers using an unorganized, nonlinear timeline that spans four decades. Surprise twists also reveal individual bombshells from Thom and Wendy. VERDICT An addictive read brimming with jaw-dropping surprises. The unique timeline will intrigue fans of psychological thrillers.—Mary Todd Chesnut

MAY 2025 - AudioFile

Steven Weber superbly delivers Peter Swanson's intriguing mystery. The audiobook's structure goes backwards from 2023 to 1982--telling a story that's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Ultimately, the puzzle's picture is dark and mind-boggling, but all the pieces fit. Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for 25 years. Wendy is a published poet, Thom, a university English professor. When Wendy discovers Thom is about to reveal a terrible secret, she decides she must kill him. Weber keeps the tension at its peak as their lives unfold in reverse. With timing, keen sensibilities, and touches of dramatic irony, Weber makes each important moment in the couple's lives as real as the moment before. A clever premise does not disappoint, and Weber's performance makes it even better. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2025-04-04
A backward-chronology thriller tells the story of a marriage in order to tell the story of a woman’s plan to murder her husband.

The novel begins in 2023 with the words, “The first attempt at killing her husband was the night of the dinner party.” The aspiring murderer is Wendy Graves, once a promising poet. What’s making Wendy murderous? Well, she and her English professor husband, Thom, who teaches at a state university in Massachusetts, were hosting a dinner for his colleagues when he divulged to everyone present that he was writing a murder mystery. This was news to Wendy, who slipped into Thom’s office mid-party to look on his laptop, where she found a worrisome Word document: “Thom was writing some version of their own story, a story they had agreed wasnever to be shared with anyone.” What, exactly,istheir story? The novel toggles between Wendy’s and Thom’s points of view as the saga of their marriage unfolds in reverse; the plot hits on key events going all the way back to 1982, when Wendy and Thom met as teenagers. Although Swanson takes his time setting up and playing out pivotal scenes, his book is flab-free; a naturalistic-seeming detail in one chapter ends up having a significance that’s brought to light in a later (which is to say chronologically earlier) chapter. That the novel is both a meditation on comeuppance and a steely nail-biter jibes with Thom’s regularly reported tastes in books and movies: Over the years, his loyalties seem to be evenly split between the literary and the spine-tingling. If Swanson can be said to be pinching from one of Thom’s favorite film noirs, it’s with total awareness and to sublime effect.

A heady, allusive, tweedy-seedy slow burn.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940190876642
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/10/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

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