The Eighth Detective Review

Author: Alex Pavesi

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Henry Holt Publ.

Release Date: Aug. 4, 2020

Purchase Link: Amazon

My Rating: 3.5 Complex Hearts

Review:

Grant McAllister is a retired mathematician living alone on an Mediterranean Island.  Many years ago, he published a collection of mystery short stories and now editor Julia Hart wants to republish them.  The Eighth Detective plays out through their discussions as McAllister relays each story including his theory of requirements for every mystery.  The story that ensues is extremely clever and complex.

The Eighth Detective moves slowly, especially in the beginning, and the constant switching between stories was a bit confusing at first.  It took some time for me to settle into the flow and begin to get excited about where this was all leading - to a surprising ending.  I can't say much without revealing too much storyline, but I will say this is a unique, clever read that charges readers with figuring it all out.  A good debut author for Pavesi.  Recommended for those who love a clever Christie-like mystery.

Synopsis:

There are rules for murder mysteries. There must be a victim. A suspect. A detective. The rest is just shuffling the sequence. Expanding the permutations. Grant McAllister, a professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out – calculating the different orders and possibilities of a mystery into seven perfect detective stories he quietly published. But that was thirty years ago. Now Grant lives in seclusion on a remote Mediterranean island, counting the rest of his days.

Until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor knocks on his door. Julia wishes to republish his book, and together they must revisit those old stories: an author hiding from his past, and an editor, keen to understand it.

But there are things in the stories that don’t add up. Inconsistencies left by Grant that a sharp-eyed editor begins to suspect are more than mistakes. They may be clues, and Julia finds herself with a mystery of her own to solve. 

Author:  Alex Pavesi lives in London, where he writes full time. He previously worked as a software engineer and before that obtained a PhD in Mathematics. He enjoys puzzles, long walks and recreational lock picking. The Eighth Detective is his first book.