‘All of these stories... derive from a research paper that I wrote in nineteen thirty seven, examining the mathematical structure of murder mysteries. I called it The Permutations of Detective Fiction.’

I started reading this book and was so confused! I was midway through the first chapter and all my mind was thinking was ‘have they sent me the wrong book?’ As it wasn’t lining up with anything to do with the description I had read go the book... and then I hit chapter 2 and was completely sucked in by the interesting layout of the book and couldn’t put it down!

The book follows the conversation between Julia Hart and Grant McAllister as the chat through and edit his book ‘The White Murders’ which Grant had written years before and was up for republication by Julia’s agency. The book flits between one story from the book and then a part of their conversation where they discuss said story. So basically, you get to read a mini mystery and then you get a Q&A with the author! I mean what more could you want!?

Such an enjoyable read, and I can’t help but applaud Pavesi’s mind, that he has come up with 7 brilliant mini mysteries and also one long mystery that follows throughout the whole book, and each is just as good and ingenious as the last that you get so sucked in and try your best to figure each one out! Honestly, was just such an amazing book!

Thank you netgalley and penguin book for the ARC! Honestly couldn’t have loved it more!!

Well this was certainly fun, and a great way to spend a few good hours immersed in the whole murder mystery genre – but claims and plaudits about it being a game-changer or a fully fresh format are a little wide of the mark. It is a book that the reviewer has to be excessively careful about discussing, or revealing too much about, making this one of my shorter and probably least convincing write-ups. I'll leave you with the verdict that this is a legitimate murder mystery, even when you might not be thinking it is, and certainly acts as a surprisingly intelligent visit to the genre in all its glories. Almost by default there is more invention on these pages than the norm, and the whole is very, very readable. Certainly a strong four stars.

When I first began this book I was not at all sure I was going to like it I am not a lover of short stories which this has in a way sort of stories within a story but I had been intrigued by the synopsis of the book so off we went.
Well I liked the book it was clever, different and reminded me a lot of The Agatha Christie books but sadly I didn’t love the book somehow I just couldn’t connect with it and I think with all the different stories going on I found it hard to connect with the characters also, I liked the beginning but as the story went on I found my interest waning a bit but maybe this was just me.
Many people will love the book I’m sure, the writing was good and as I have said the premise of the book was completely different that any I have read before but for me it just didn’t hit the mark and I felt a bit disappointed with it although it did make me think a lot !!
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought I would take my time with this one but finished it within 24 hours it was so satisfyingly good.

Thoroughly original, which is tough in this genre, it reads like a series of short stories but at the same time we the readers are also looking for clues to a bigger mystery being solved by the editor of these short stories who has gone to visit the author.

What I also love about this is that there are inconsistencies within the short stories (even a few the editor didn’t notice or simply accepted) but we can let these go as the reader because the stories were written seemingly a long time ago by the author, who also questions some elements of what he chose to write about in his past.

A nice, neat conclusion wraps things up, even if that’s not strictly necessary in mathematical terms for the genre! I did love reading about the mathematics of a murder mystery and the idea of using a Venn diagram to explain the rules of mysteries in order to create new and original forms was imaginative and thought-provoking. The author’s mathematical studies are evident in this work, though the focus is very much on the writing.

I would recommend this book for lovers of murder mysteries and especially for those who have a love of the Golden Age of detective fiction - definite homages here.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Alex Pavesi and Penguin Michael Joseph for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Penguin UK for a review copy.
It seems fair to say that this book probably has one of the most original and intriguing set ups for a mystery novel.
The book opens as Julia, an editor, seeks out Grant MacAllister, a reclusive author now living a solitary life on an unnamed Mediterranean island. She is hoping to republish a rare set of short stories which he had written in his youth to illustrate his mathematical definition of what makes a mystery story. The set contains a story to exemplify each of the possible mysteries as defined by MacAllister’s theory.
The book alternates between the stories themselves and Julia’s interviews with Grant covering his hazy recollection of the tales and his life, about which he is strangely reticent.
The short stories are entertaining and gripping but tend to be quite depressing. These are not designed to be mere puzzles with the window dressing of a story, as Grant remarks to Julia, ‘murder should not be entertaining.’ Each illustrates various aspects of the mathematical premise which Grant has come up with. Essentially this consists of four overlapping sets, detectives, killers, victims and suspects. The different allowable overlaps form the definition of the murder mystery and Grant maintains that any story of the genre must fit into one of his possible permutations.
As Julia attempts to tease out Grant’s memories of his writings she finds his recollections to be extremely hazy in places. He is also adamant that he didn’t name his book ‘The White Murders’ after a prominent unsolved killing which took place at the time of writing. Julia finds his denials very unconvincing and senses that Grant knows more about it than he is prepared to admit.
Although it is obvious as the book progresses that Grant is hiding something from Julia the pay off for diligently working through the stories and the interviews is most rewarding towards the end as twist follows dizzying turn in one of the cleverest and subtlest detective mysteries that I have ever read. There is no Christie style grand dénouement though one of the short stories is a clear pastiche of ‘And Then There Were None’ but a whole series of revelations where many truths are revealed and it becomes clear that the author had successfully led everyone up the garden path right from the start. Having said that this is not a fair play story where the clever reader could have worked everything out but then that was not the intention. The trick is that the reader believes that they are reading something rather different than the ending reveals as the sets containing the characters suddenly overlap in new combinations.
Although some of the stories are quite grim and resemble those written in the late 1950s and 1960s rather than those from the golden age of detective fiction this does not detract from their enjoyment. The conversations which follow each of them develop the wider framing story as well as the short fiction and it is a joy to read Julia and Grant’s sparring conversations which, for me, were the highlight of the book.
This is a book to be savoured and read carefully and one which will reward re-reading with the ending in mind as there are, no doubt, subtle hints foreshadowing the end.
I would unhesitatingly recommend this to those who enjoy detective fiction, it is not another golden age pastiche but a genuinely different and erudite way of visiting the crime story.

A clever but emotionally unengaging read for me, with a tricksy structure that i admired rather than enjoyed. I found the short stories themselves good, but - and i’m avoiding spoilers so this will sound a bit vague! - i found the effect of the last fifth of the book rather undercut the previous material. I enjoyed the conceit of the linking narrative , and was genuinely surprised at how things turned out.

It’s a hard one to review - a working knowledge of the golden age of detective fiction would be beneficial, and the mathematical concept could do with a diagram rather than just a description! Go in with an open mind - and don’t be tempted to dip in and out as a good memory is required!!

The eight detectives is a book of eight different stories. Initially I wondered if I was reading a book of short stories that all included murder but they seemed slightly odd and inconsistent either individually or as a whole. The final part of the book does bring it together and it held my attention long enough to read to the end. I thought it well written and certainly different and a great way to Present the story but I found it hard to really get into and to feel any kinship for the main characters. I think this would be a brilliant book club book - there would be masses to discuss.

Oh wow!!! This book takes murder mystery to a new level. Amazing!! I’m not going to give too much away.... just read this book if you like a psychological thriller or a good old murder mystery. This book is very clever there are clues along the way, but you won’t always realise until further in the book. It keeps you on your toes and you can’t help but read on- I just needed to know the truth. A book you can devour in one sitting if you have the chance.

I liked the idea of this book more than the reality.

Eight Detectives is about a young editor who travels to the home of a reclusive writer in order to persuade him to publish his collection of detective stories. Once there she discovers an even greater mystery.

I made it through shockingly little of this book before I decided that it wasn't for me. It may well have been a very good story but I just couldn't get interested in it. I still don't know who killed Bunny and what's more I didn't care.

I found the characters I encountered dull and one dimensional. Not the book for me I'm afraid.

I was drawn to this book as it seemed quite Christie like. I enjoyed all the short mysteries and the dialogue between the 2 leads. I did not really expect the 2 main reveals near the end which is always good in my view but I did feel the in depth mathematical analysis detracted from my enjoyment. To me it slowed the pace and made it feel a little bogged down. I did enjoy the ending and felt that although some of stories were a little brutal, maybe because of the era, they did feel reminiscent of Agatha Christie.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a preview copy of the book. I really enjoyed it and it was very different to others of this genre. I think it will do very well on its release.

Part analysis of the murder mystery genre, part homage to crime fiction, all its own thing – a cerebral novel that looks at the various iterations of detective fiction. Easily one of the best mystery novels I’ve read in years.

Julia is a publisher's agent and she visits Grant on a Greek island to discuss reviving an old book of his. He wrote it when, as an academic mathematician, he worked out a set of rules for detective stories and then wrote a series of short stories to illustrate his rules. Julia reads the stories back to Grant with a view to editing them; by the time they finish the reading the question is - who is the eighth detective? Its an ingenious plot, well written and quite compelling.

This is a very quirky and unique style combing a novel with seven separate short stories. To be honest I was a little confused at the start as the book opens with one of the short stories however once I’d got my head around the format I found myself enjoying the short stories more than the interlinking main story. It’s very clever how the author has pulled all this together and there’s some interesting twists, it’s certainly the most unusual book I’ve read so far this year.

Whilst reading the first part of this book, the detective stories, I wanted to give up on it. I found the stories mostly uninteresting and the explorations of and discussions laborious. It could have been more nostalgic to pay tribute to the old fashioned style of the stories, a missed chance., perhaps. The mathematical references and theory were complicated to the extent that it had little relevance and quickly became irritating and the reporter picking up on mistakes in the stories quickly became fairly tiresome. Some of the crimes were horrible and much of this part of the book stretched the realms of possibility, rather than referring back to a different age (presumably in the first half of the 20th century) I just kept thinking, surely people haven't changed THAT much in the years. The author seems to have intended to write this book i the style of authors from that era, but it did not work for me .
The second half of the book improved slightly. I didn't like going over the stories yet again.... It could have been done with more finesse, but did appreciate the twists in the story of the author and reporter.
Now finished, it was ok. Not good and the second part saved it from being totally bad in my opinion. I don't give up on a book easily, but this was one which I almost gave up on..... It might be thought to be a clever book, personally I thought it missed the point by trying too hard.

Thankyou to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The White Murders" was a series of short stories in a privately published book by Grant McAllister in the 1940s., based on mathematical theories of detective fiction devised during the Golden Age of detectives. Years later, an editor is preparing a new edition of the book and comes to talk to Grant about them all. Each story fits in the mathematical theory, but with deliberate twists and inconsistencies. Interspersed with the stories are conversations between author and editor about how the theory fits the stories, and questions about the White Murder in 1940, a still unexplained killing of a young woman in London.

I really enjoyed the concept of this, it's very clever. Some of the short stories are a little unpleasant, but the thread between them all, and Julia's questions about Grant ties it all together, and there is supposed to be a slightly subversive twist to them. I did see part of the twist coming as it's a not uncommon one in classic detective fiction, but there were more elements to it than I realised and it's very cleverly foreshadowed throughout the book. I liked the structure of it as well. Overall, really interesting!

A fascinating clever crime novel.
Julia Hart travels to a remote island to meet mathematician Professor Grant McAllister who had written a paper in the 1930’s about the permutations you can have in a crime novel which considered the number of killers, victims and detectives that you could have in a crime novel. To illustrate his theory he wrote a book ‘The White Murders’ which had seven short crime stories. At the time there was little interest so the book was not published; however, many years later a publisher discovers the book and wants to publish it and so sends Julia to meet the author and edit the book. Julia reads through each of the seven short stories with Grant and then afterwards highlights the discrepancies that she’s found in the stories. As a reader I found myself analysing each story looking for the discrepancies that Julia would highlight in the following chapter whilst wondering where the novel was heading - what was Grant hiding?
Loved this novel - very original.

The Eighth Detective is a clever and quirky novel, just when you think you know what’s going on up pops another twist. I found this book to be entertaining and kept me intrigued throughout. I would rate this book 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

Really interesting premise, very well written. We've got stories spliced within stories, weaving an intriguing mystery together in a very clever fashion. One that you'll definitely struggle to put down.

I really enjoyed this book for about 75%.

Unfortunately, I felt that it was drawn out a little too much and that the actual ending didn't live up to all of the hype.

Eight Detectives is a clever and engaging read which threads numerous stories together seamlessly, keeping the pace and the tension sustained and evident so the reader keeps turning the pages,