Eight Detectives is Alex Pavesi’s first book. The author lives in London and is a full-time writer. Before becoming a writer, he was a software engineer. He has a Ph D in Mathematics. Whilst studying, he worked in a book shop part-time. He loves puzzles, and jigsaws, hence some of the concepts / themes in this, his first novel.
I read Eight Detectives with interest, as it promised a new twist on all the classic crime fiction books that I have read before. The thing that hooks me about crime novels is working out whodunnit. This book presents several short stories, written by one Grant McAllister, a crime fiction author and Mathematics professor. His supposition is that all murder mysteries follow a simple set of mathematical rules. Many years have passed since Grant wrote and published his book, and he is now living alone on a Mediterranean island. He is approached by Julia Hart, an editor, whose publisher wants to see if the book is worth republishing. At least, that is the story you are presented with on first reading.
Julia reads each story with the writer, and as she works through each one, and the Mathematical theory behind it, she starts to realise that things are not what they seem to be, and perhaps there is an even bigger mystery at hand. In total, there are seven stories, examined by Julia, and discussed with the writer.
The book is a puzzle, set to make the reader think and analyse each story, and then sets you to consider what the real mystery of the book is, and in true whodunnit style – probably not what you were expecting at all.
Did I enjoy the book? It was not my cup of tea to be honest, it just felt like the author had tried too hard to present as intricate and twisted plot as he possibly could for this, his debut novel. There again, different strokes for different folks as they say. – Christine E Hann
Eight Detectives is published by Penguin Random House UK – 2020. ISBN: 9780241433560
Posts
