6/10/25; 288 pages
William Morrow
Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson is a highly recommended
murder mystery in reverse. The marriage and relationship of Thom and
Wendy Graves is told in a nonlinear timeline, starting at 2023 with
chapters going backward in time to 1982.
Thom Graves is a tenured English literature professor who drinks too much and is a womanizer while Wendy is a published poet. The two have been married for over twenty-five years, their son Jason is an adult, and Wendy is ready to murder her husband. She has to murder him rather than divorce him to ensure he keeps a secret the two share from many years ago and he has dropped some hints recently that he may be writing a murder mystery about their secret.
The slow moving narrative starts with what would normally be the ending and subsequently moves four decades back in time providing the history of their relationship through both of their points-of-view. Each step back in time provides more information and clues about their past and insight into their present, or rather the ending that starts the novel. The final chapters, the beginning, can reveal the significance of later, or earlier events.
What kept me reading was the unique format and I wanted to see if it would work when I reached the end/beginning. Honestly, this story of an unhappy marriage wasn't that engaging until about the 40% mark in my ebook at which point it seems more connections between present and past are coming together and more revealing details emerge. The ending, or the beginning, was worth the wait. While I can appreciate a narrative with flashbacks within the narrative, I may avoid novels with this structure in the future.
Kill Your Darlings will be appreciated by readers who can appreciate the nonlinear timeline. 3.5 rounded up. Thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
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