Order of Peter Swanson Books

Peter Swanson, born in 1968 in the shadowy corridors of Massachusetts, USA, is the kind of author who seems suspiciously good at getting into your head—and once he’s there, good luck getting him out. Still very much alive (and probably plotting his next literary crime as you read this), Swanson has carved out a reputation as one of the most exhilarating voices in modern psychological thrillers.

A man of many talents, Swanson didn't just stumble onto writing; he trained for it like a secret agent preparing for a deep-cover assignment. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut—a classic liberal arts institution known for sharpening minds—and later earned degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Emerson College. It was at Emerson, a hotbed for creative thinkers, that Swanson polished the razor-sharp narrative skills that would one day keep readers up at night, flipping pages with sweaty palms.

What makes Peter Swanson’s journey almost ironic is that he didn’t emerge straight into the literary world with a bang. No, his rise was gradual, calculated, and somehow more sinisterly appropriate. Before becoming a bestselling author, he worked a regular office job, lived a regular life, and quietly dreamed up murders and betrayals in his spare time. Talk about leading a double life.

Swanson’s debut, "The Girl with a Clock for a Heart" (2014), exploded onto the scene like a literary grenade, immediately branding him as an author who doesn’t just write thrillers—he rewires your trust in every character you meet. Since then, he’s become a master at spinning webs of deception and unexpected betrayal, earning comparisons to Hitchcock himself. In fact, if Alfred Hitchcock had a literary heir who loved puzzles and the elegant structure of whodunits, it would probably look a lot like Peter Swanson.

Throughout his career, Swanson has been obsessed with the themes of betrayal, secrets, and the casual darkness lurking behind every seemingly normal life. His books feel like conversations with that one friend who smiles sweetly at brunch... while secretly plotting to destroy you. In the best possible way, of course.

Swanson’s influences are rich and classic: he openly reveres authors like Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell, and Agatha Christie. But he’s no mere imitator. He takes the elegance of classic mystery and drags it, kicking and screaming, into the cold, hard, cynical twenty-first century.

As of now, Peter Swanson continues to live and write in Massachusetts, alongside his wife and (one can assume) a rather mischievous cat or two. When he’s not plotting the next perfect murder on paper, he enjoys travel, old movies, and—yes—thinking about how much he loves scaring the living daylights out of his readers.

If you haven’t read Peter Swanson yet, prepare yourself: you’ll trust no one, suspect everyone, and love every second of the ride.

Because with Peter Swanson, nothing is ever as it seems—and that’s exactly how he likes it.