Eight Dectectives - Alex Pavesi

 

Description

'When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over' A. J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

'I couldn't put Eight Detectives down . . . I genuinely wanted to applaud at the end' Alex North, bestselling author of The Whisper Man

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, an author of crime fiction and professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out.

But that was thirty years ago. Now he's living a life of seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island - until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor, knocks on his door. His early work is being republished and together the two of them must revisit those old stories: an author, hiding from his past, and an editor, keen to understand it.

But as she reads, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are things in the stories that don't make sense. Intricate clues that seem to reference a real murder, one that's remained unsolved for thirty years.

If Julia wants answers, she must triumph in a battle of wits with a dangerously clever adversary. But she must tread carefully: she knows there's a mystery, but she doesn't yet realise there's already been a murder...

Review

You certainly get value for money in this book, as it contains several murder mysteries wrapped up in a mystery of its own. Probably the most unique murder mystery book I have ever read a true rival to Agatha Christie.

Grant McAllister wrote the murder mysteries 30 years ago and now Julia is the editor sent to talk to him at his home on a Mediterranean island.  Her editor is considering publishing them, but first Julia has more than a few questions about the mysteries. 

The book begins with one of the mysteries that Grant has written, this wasn't at first apparent and was my first experience of feeling wrong footed with this book. It then becomes apparent that Julia is interviewing Grant about the stories and presenting to him her findings of clues she thinks are hidden in the mysteries. The book proceeds with each of the mysteries followed by Julia and Grant discussing them. 

I loved the actual mysteries which were a mixture of Agatha Christie and Lawrence Block styles. The setting for the mysteries is the 1930/40s and you get a real feel for being in another time, very unlike today.  I also enjoyed Julia's observations and Grant's mathematical take on constructing murder mysteries. Unfortunately the explanation of the construction each time started to be too much for me, and indeed Julia herself pronounced them as "exhausting", which was just how I was feeling by this point. 

I had certainly realised it was a clever novel by this point (maybe too clever for me?), but with so many stories I began to forget what I had read. Whilst it was enjoyable I was a little disillusioned with it. Suddenly with more turns than a corkscrew the book began to be rewritten before my eyes. It was only then I truly saw the genius writing of this book and realised I could give it no less than 5 stars. So my advice would be keep reading, even when you feel you've lost the plot, just read until the end and you will not be disappointed.

I'm giving this book a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.