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Malcolm Kershaw is the protagonistic villain of the Peter Swanson standalone novel Eight Perfect Murders. Kershaw is a bookseller, with a dark past history of having agreed to a murder pact, which comes back to haunt him when the other killer commits murders based on his book reviews to get Kershaw's attention.
Biography[]
Kershaw, estranged from his troubled family, mostly from his father's drinking problems, inherited the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston from John Haley, having married a woman named Claire Mallory as well during his history of bookstore jobs. Claire was a film major and college dropout struggling with drug addictions, and while Kershaw was still manager of Redline Bookstore, he interviewed and hired her shortly before their relationship began. The first night they had sex, Claire confided in Kershaw she was repeatedly groped and fondled by teacher Steven Clifton, which she didn't fully process her trauma from to the point it reflected in her recurring sexual performance with Kershaw. By the time Kershaw was running Old Devils, Claire was working in documentary filming, needing her undergrad for paying positions. In between those job hunts, she tended bar at a dive club, but her addictions and esteem worsened when she reconnected with her broken family. When she trained a new bartender, Patrick Yates, she had a brief fling with him, which wounded Kershaw's pride. After making her own up to him, Patrick disappeared, which is later implied to be because Kershaw killed him in a jealous rage. Claire felt hopeless about her lack of career, so Kershaw encouraged her to become an independent film director. Career criminal and misogynist Eric Atwell saw one of Claire's documentaries on YouTube and manipulated her by lying he wanted to be a sponsor. What Atwell really did was exploit Claire's drug addiction, turning free drug supplies into increasing fees for them. When Claire drained all her savings, Atwell started raping her as "payment", even being aroused from hearing about Clifton.
Kershaw finally snapped on one New Year's Eve, when she went off to a house party Atwell hosted to get another fix. Kershaw saw her high and sexually tense with Atwell, which provoked Kershaw enough he waited for her in a plan to kill her simply for breaking their commitment. He followed Claire on the drive back, then cut off her car to send her off a cliff in a hit-and-run. After she died, Kershaw found her journal, which was the first time he found out Atwell was robbing and raping her, much to his indescribable but all too late regret. He burned the journal in a clearing, save for an entry where she detailed how he had hoped for her to feel about him, which she sometimes did. Intent on killing Atwell from finally knowing the truth, Kershaw found out about an obscure chat site known as Duckburg, usually meant for illegal trade. On a portal named "Swaps", under the alias "Bert Kling", Kershaw requested anyone interested in a murder pact speak with him in private messaging. A retired western Massachusetts cop, Kershaw referring to him under the alias "Marty Kingship", replied an discussed exchanging names of people they wanted dead, so each of them killed someone the other man hated, emulating famous novel Strangers on a Train. While Kershaw gave up Atwell, Kingship led Kershaw to Norman Chaney, a mobster having fled arrest after killing his wife in an arson for the insurance money. Kingship killed Atwell first during one of his morning jogs, shooting Atwell dead and disguising his murder as a robbery. Kershaw was questioned by Boston PD detective Roberta James to rule him out as a suspect, and Kershaw provided information on Atwell's crimes to cast a wider net of suspicion, while still denying his involvement in the murder and otherwise making small talk. He provided an alibi for himself, an antiquarian booksellers conference in Florida, and the detective accepted it and left. Shortly thereafter, Kershaw went to Tickhill, New Hampshire to kill Chaney, ringing the doorbell and then beating Chaney with a crowbar. That didn't kill Chaney, and after a long scuffle, Kershaw strangled Chaney to death with his bare hands, then beat his head with the crowbar several more times to ensure he died. He sat there in shock, until Chaney's cat lovingly approached him. The only crutch for his trauma going forward, Kershaw stole the cat, named him Nero, and made him the shop pet for Old Devils. The police never suspected Kershaw, so he wasn't even questioned for the murder.
Kershaw by this point became extremely unhinged, so he decided he might avenge Claire again by hunting down Clifton. He mowed Clifton down in a vehicular homicide while Clifton was biking. Kershaw suppressed his memories, but he had graphic nightmares of the murder, mixed with the other murders, haunting him in his sleep. Kingship, however, found excitement in his part of the pact, as he was pressured to sign divorce papers, didn't connect with his children, and retired shortly after the murder to later be hired for security consultation. He decided to track Kershaw down, coming to Old Devils and building a rapport that he hoped would become a friendship. When he realized Kershaw saw Kingship as little more than a drinking buddy, Kingship hoped he might solidify their relationship by more murder. As Kingship passed his time by reading the books in Kershaw's online blog reviews, specifically a post titled Eight Perfect Murders, which included Strangers on a Train, he complied his own template he could kill from. Aside from the presence of the Strangers on a Train review, all the murders were Kershaw's description of attempts at "perfect murders", which enticed Kingship for his own ideas. Kingship went looking for victims by finding criminal records mostly. But he decided to start with killing Robin Callahan, the journalist who published a book on her unabashed affair, which he blamed for his own wife cheating on him. he then killed Ethan Byrd and Jay Bradshaw, evoking The A.B.C. Murders, a novel where the killer murders victims based on alphabetical letters in their initials. However, Kingship decided names evoking birds would work for him. He then killed Bill Manso and laid him at train tracks to evoke Double Indemnity, which was about a life insurance murder setup, but Kingship was excited by the setup being obvious for police to see right through. Kingship then targeted Elaine Johnson, an annoying, bigoted frequent customer of Old Devils with a failing heart. He put on a grotesque clown mask, hid in her closet, and scared her to death with a fatal heart attack. Kingship left all eight stories on a shelf at Johnson's home for when Kershaw or someone else would pick up on the subtle hint.
By this time, FBI agent Gwen Mulvaney decided to pay Kershaw a visit so she could question him. She was secretly hiding she was Clifton's daughter, with whom he confided he was a pedophile, and who long held Kershaw as the prime suspect in Clifton's murder. After calling him in advance, she spoke with him in his office about the murders, swearing him to secrecy about the details. Kershaw was taken aback when she said she found the books the murders were modelled off in his review through a simple Google search. She walked him through the crimes, asked him his opinions and for copies of the novels so she could read them, and then left, giving him her info to reach him on. She was also privately getting intel on him in the event she'd find out he was genuinely guilty of running down her father. As Kershaw was suspicious of her motives, he withheld he recognized Elaine Johnson. When he got home, he read through the list and planned to find suggestions of unsolved crimes he could suggest to Gwen. But what he was most terrified of was the killer was likely someone he knew.
Kershaw meets Gwen at the hotel where she stays at. Kingship, who for the time being she calls "Charlie" after her first cat, she believes is a literary fanatic and daring the police to pull apart the mindsets of the authors and the killers find the suspects among the red herrings. Kershaw sees her taking notes in her copies of the books and is silently relieved he didn't give her his early editions. Gwen says she plans to take Kershaw to Elaine Johnson's house, admitting she knows he knew her. Kershaw tries to nonchalantly pretend he barely recalled her, until he remembered her abrasive attitude that led him and his colleagues to finally drink to her moving once she did. Gwen and Kershaw agreed she'd be the personality Kingship would murder, which unnerved Kershaw even more with the implication he knew "Charlie", yet wouldn't know who to first suspect in his immediate circle. The next day in the bookstore, Kershaw went back to the list and saw Kingship left a comment, starting with "I'm halfway through your list", was left under the "Eight Perfect Murders" review. Kingship said he'd reach Kershaw once finished, taunting him that they've indeed already met. The comment was under the alias "Doctor Sheppard", the name of the killer in the Agatha Christie novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Kershaw continued to feel the creeping sense of justice closing in on him, with the chance Gwen would tie him to Chaney and Atwell, but he still cooperated with her inquiries. Even in spite of the fact he came to accept "Charlie" was the other man in the murder pact he made. Kershaw agreed to go with Gwen to Elaine Johnson's house, where he was horrified his suspicions were all but confirmed when he saw all eight titles on Johnson's bookshelves. Before that, however, of all people, Kershaw called Kingship, knowing he was a retired cop, to ask him about info on Chaney's case file to look for suspects, none the wiser Kershaw called the killer himself. Gwen felt much more comfortable sharing need-to-know details of the case with Kershaw, which left him with mixed feelings given his position and secrets. Gwen knew full well about Claire, so Kershaw continued to lie about his guilt while still saying he hated Atwell. What he did misinterpret is her intent to try and finger him for Clifton's murder for an attraction between them. Kingship called back to provide information on Chaney, misdirecting Kershaw right to Nick Pruitt, an English professor and the brother of Margaret Chaney, Chaney's murdered wife, which Kershaw fell for swiftly.
By the time it was found out Gwen was actively working with Kershaw, her colleagues, Agents Berry and Perez, questioned Kershaw themselves at length, even down to cursory interrogation to rule him out as a suspect. They told him she was suspended from her breach of protocol and confidentiality in the case. In the meantime, Kershaw decided to speak with Jillian Nguyen, an adjunct professor and the ex of Pruitt, who stalked her because of his drinking causing their breakup and his refusal to get over her. Kershaw lied he was working with a publisher considering Pruitt to gain Nguyen's interest and, in turn, professional trust. She, and later Kingship, later confirmed Pruitt had the impulsivity for Chaney's murder. Kershaw also confided in Kingship Gwen asking him about the series of murders, Kingship goading Kershaw with the subtle reference to Nero being Chaney's cat previously, convincingly acting like he was none the wiser to Kershaw's crimes.
Gwen finally confronted Kershaw. She admitted she met Claire, as she was one of several students Clifton sexually abused, recognized her name after she was killed, and suspected Kershaw of murdering her father based on one of the books in the list, The Secret History. The FBI wouldn't take the case of the serial murders because she believed Clifton was a victim, and she couldn't conclusive tie Kershaw to his crimes while identifying the other killer. In spite of her being understandably devastated Kershaw still would admit to nothing, she informed him he was a suspect out of feeling, no matter how pressured and misguided, she "owed [him] the truth", when she was really getting it off her chest and needing answers. Kershaw decided to finally confront Pruitt, breaking into his house. He found Pruitt dead, force-fed a fatal amount of booze, another murder from the list, and Kershaw realized he wasn't the killer but the latest victim he was set up to find to shake him. He went back to Duckburg, created another account under "Farley Walker", and put out a demand for Kingship to contact him again. He felt blame against Claire for her addiction having a role in ensuing chain of events.
The co-owner of Old Devils, Brian Murray, and his wife Tess invite Kershaw for dinner, where he finds a bottle of Dimple Pinch, the same brand of alcohol used to kill Nick Pruitt. Kershaw highly suspected the two of them of the crimes, but Kingship yet again decide to terrorize Kershaw, and more subtly, mark the Murrays as his next victims. It was bad enough Kershaw finally snapped when Tess was making passes at him. He accused her of the murders, but she told him the truth, that she was wasted and coming onto him. Kingship finally replied on Duckburg, glibly welcoming Kershaw back on the forum and refusing to reveal himself until he decided he was comfortable. He then finally hinted the Murrays were next to die on his account, which is when Kershaw realized before he got there for dinner, Kingship drugged their coffee and was still hiding in the house. By the time Kershaw came back inside to find Brian passed out and Tess slipping out of consciousness, Kingship revealed himself with a revolver held on Kershaw. He threatened to kill Kershaw if he made a false move, then fully confessed he was the killer. He enjoyed the crimes, taunting Kershaw, and he hoped Kershaw would come to his side, explicitly saying Kershaw was his push for murder from the start. Kershaw bitterly replied he didn't feel the same way, that murder devastated him, be it his own or Kingship's. Kingship didn't care and decided to push Kershaw into making a choice after giving him the gun: kill Brian for the next book, or kill Kingship and go down for murder. Kershaw decided to choose shooting Kingship in the chest, killing him almost instantly. Kershaw called Gwen and painfully confessed to everything, exhausted and refusing to surrender himself for what he and Kingship were collectively guilty of. With a half-hearted apology to Gwen, he hung up and went on the run.
It's by this point Kershaw slowly reveals the book is his own lengthy confession. He reveals "Marty Kingship" is the alias he chose to protect the safety and dignity of his family, who would be distraught by the fallout of the crime spree. Kershaw's sanity finally begins slipping as he finally draws the book to a close, starting with one detail: Kingship didn't realize the meaning of the username "Doctor Sheppard" during their confrontation. Kershaw feared the possibility he himself might have sent the comment. After realizing he and Kingship's alias share the same initials, he guesses he might have killed everyone, that Kingship might not be real. By this point, he decides to commit suicide, drowning himself in a lake with rocks in his pockets, hoping he might evoke The Drowner and "leave a mystery in [his] wake".
Personality[]
Kershaw appears to present as mild-mannered, insecure, private, casual in his familiar environments, polite, engaged, cooperative, and agreeable. In reality, he has a petty ego and desperation in his masculinity complex, his spite turns to violence, and his guilt leaves him too unhinged to become a psychopath, even leaving him burying his crimes deep in his mind. Kershaw finds himself indebted, whether believing he "rights" his crimes with murders of people he blames, understandably or not, or to lead a life where he might give back, care for herself, and try to be better than his murders. He can't see himself as a flawed human being unless weighing himself with other people, and he certainly overcompensated when other people wronged him so he'd boost his own pride. By the time Kingship tracked him, he wasn't finding a hope for so many friends, let alone the types Kershaw might have picked up on having ulterior motives. Kingship's spree didn't just drive Kershaw to terror, anger, retribution, and self-preservation; it made him confront himself, good, bad, and ugly, which he finally accepted he couldn't face made his identity up altogether, no matter what life or consequences would follow for him and people he knew. By making up an alias for Kingship, the one thing he agreed to cover up for Kingship and himself was an overrated false sense of "dignity and reassurance".
If we're to believe Kingship is a figment extended from Kershaw's unstable, violent mind, Kershaw finally couldn't escape his crimes and horrific traits that drove him to murder. He needed a confrontation as a wake up call, but just as much, he needed to punish himself in his own sense of culpability and regret. Kershaw was originally motivated by petty and emotional motives, jealousy, revenge, trauma, even apathy from believing there was no going back. If he was "Kingship" all along, his mind finally broke, his spree to try and "entertain" his homicidal reckless, while terrifying his conscience he decidedly strung along to watch the horrors unfold. Kershaw was done when his mind, through "Kingship", decided to "write an ending to the story". Kershaw looked back on his fonder memories, the little things to entertain he at least had leverage on who he hated and what he hated in himself. He also decided he couldn't keep going conscionably, he didn't have the energy to become worse, spinning between the crimes and searches for answers by himself and others as his final buildup of his life, to flash before his eyes before he died.
Victims[]
- Patrick Yates (killed by unknown means; his body was never found
- Claire Kershaw (forced her car off a cliff)
- Eric Atwell (shot five times by Marty Kingship on Kershaw's orders
- Norman Chaney (bludgeoned with a crowbar and strangled)
- Marty Kingship (shot once in the chest with a revolver)
Trivia[]
- At the end of the novel, Kershaw makes comparisons between his written accounts and those of Dr. James Sheppard in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The book is revealed to be Dr. Sheppard's lengthy confession to murder, as well as his suicide note.
- Kershaw bears many similarities to Patrick Bateman, a yuppie investment banker and serial killer who's the protagonistic villain of American Psycho. He loses his mind as his murder spree progresses, to the point he can't tell reality from his imagination and even loses track of time.