This is an unusual crime novel, a series of short stories by a writer, interspersed with a conversations between him and a publisher. The stories each have their own twist, and the reader of many crime novels will recognise some, such as the ‘locked room’ scenario. There are a few twists at the end that took me by surprise. On the whole the idea works well, but for me, the stories became a bit similar towards the end.

I think this book just wasn't my thing because I ended up feeling confused and wondering what was going on so I gave up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

Many years earlier, maths professor Grant McAllister published a research paper, The Permutations of Detective Fiction, which sought to give a mathematical definition of a murder mystery. It also served as the appendix to a book written by McAllister whereby his theories were distilled into seven short stories, self-published as a collection, which provide examples of the various permutations of suspects, detective and victim.

Eight Detectives comprises those stories interspersed with conversations between Grant and Julia Hart, an editor interested in republishing the book, who has visited Grant on the Mediterranean island where he now lives in seclusion. Together, they go through the stories one by one, revealing in the process curious discrepancies which seem to refer to a “real-life” unsolved murder. Even the title of the book, The White Murders, references the case - the death of Elizabeth White - though Grant denies any knowledge.

I enjoyed reading the short stories, although some were a bit overly unpleasant at times. My favourite, like Julia’s, was Trouble on Blue Pearl Island, a faithful homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. (It’s notable that Christie’s works contain various examples of McAllister’s permutations - the murder where all the suspects did it, the detective as murderer, etc.) The eventual truth about Grant is very Christie-esque.

I’ll admit, I was a bit relieved that the research paper referred to wasn’t appended here as well. I’m not sure I could have got through that.

I’d never have picked up on the discrepancies which Julia spots - I’m just not that careful a reader. Hats off to anyone who did.

While I enjoyed the stories, I liked the last part of the book best, where we learn more about what has really been going on, and the rug was pulled from under the reader more than once.

There’ve been a few examples lately of the detective story within a story format (Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders spring to mind) and it makes for an intriguing and juicy framework (and fun to write, I imagine). Eight Detectives is very cleverly constructed and the short story framework worked well in avoiding taking the reader too far out of the overarching narrative. I enjoyed it a lot.

Eight Detectives is a mystery in pretty much every sense of the word. Opening with a short mystery, it soon becomes apparent that the first chapter is happening within the narrative - the 'main' plot, as it were, follows a book editor as she visits a reclusive author in the run-up to the re-publishing of his collection of murder mysteries from twenty years before, and the chapters alternate between that narrative, and the short stories of the collection.

The author of the collection is a mystery in himself - originally a mathematition, he found a formula which all murder mysteries should follow (with variations) and produced a collection to showcase these. But as these chapters go on, you start to become aware that all may not be as it seems. Why did he leave Britain for a small island suddenly? Why is he cagey about his past? What is the connection between his collection and a real-life murder which happened shortly before the collection was originally published?

For me personally, I found the disperate parts of the narrative confusing for a time, and I felt slightly distanced from the it as a result, unable to fully invest in the story/ies to the extent that I would have wished. However, I will say that the ending was deeply satisfying and was very sucessful in pulling together all these different strands.

A mystery book with a difference, that is for sure!

I was intrigued by the description of this book, but found it very disappointing. The central story is lost between the (rather dull) short murder mysteries, and by the end of the book I was so relieved to finish it that I didn't really care about the ending. The author's writing style is odd, and off-putting and I would rather read an Agatha Christie.

I looked forward to this book with real excitement following reviews and lots of interest on Twitter.

Sadly for me it’s not really one i enjoyed and found very hard to get into the story and struggled with the writing style and couldn’t take to the characters.

I like the premise and the idea of the stories with the stories and I can see how many readers will enjoy this book but for me I just found it a bit disjointed and was reading with a distinct lack of interest

A book that might appeal to a prospective author of murder mystery using short stories to illuminate the balance of suspects, victims and killers. In that respect it was clever.

For this reader it failed in a fundamental way: a lack of character development in the main cast members. By the end I just didn’t care.

I am left with some thoughts: the author is very intelligent and I am less so..... Or, like the Emperor’s New Suit, it is a load of baloney.

I was drawn by the synopsis of this debut novel by author Alex Pavesi.

A young editor named Julia Hart travels to a remote village in the Mediterranean hoping to convince a writer to republish his collection of detective stories. On meeting him she realises there are bigger mysteries than the detective stories.

The rules for murder mysteries are there must be a victim, a suspect and a detective made up of changes to make the story. Thirty years ago Grant McAllister, a professor of mathematics calculated the permutations calculating the different orders and possibilities of a mystery into seven perfect detective stories he quietly published. 

Julia wants to sit with the author to revisit the stories and convince him to republish his book. Julia Hart the editor wants to understand why the author is hiding from his past.

Once they start to revisit the stories Julia discovers that there are things that don't add up and there are inconsistencies that raise her suspicions. Are they clues or does Julia have her own mystery to solve.

The novel is told around the short stories that the author wrote. Julia has asked Grant to go through the stories individually so that she can gather ideas for the republished works. The novel alternates between the short stories and author and editors discussions.

For a debut novel this is a very brave concept and the author really goes for something different. Although it is a very good effort and certainly an entertaining read I am not sure he quite achieves the best mix of dialogue. I would have preferred more conversation between the editor and author rather than the short stories. It feels at times too much like a book of short stories, nevertheless an entertaining read.

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I just loved the synopsis of this book, it draws you in and makes you want to know more.

Whilst reading this story I instantly had Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle vibes. I knew this was going to be a story that I won't forget in a hurry.

It's written in such a clever way. I enjoyed reading the mini murder mysteries and then getting the authors take on why he wrote them and the dissection of each story. Giving us the mathematical equations into the perfect mystery.

What I found after each conversation, that when I next went into the following story. I was looking for the tricks and ingredients discussed. And, when I would find a discrepancy or inconsistencies I felt like a genius. Until, the conversation showed I had missed out more facts.

This story will make you take heed of how you read, and gives you a great insight into the workings of an author's mind. I loved where it took us and how the story developed. A fantastic, clever and we'll plotted story. Full of the right ingredients

Former Maths Professor Grant McAllister writes a paper ‘The Permutations of Detective Fiction’ in which he demonstrates that crime fiction comprises of four ingredients:- Suspects, The Victim, The Detective, The Killer(s). He then writes seven short stories collectively known as The White Murders in which he demonstrates his theory which are published many years ago. He now lives in seclusion on a Mediterranean island where he is visited by editor Julia Hart with a view to republishing the stories. Julia however, notes inconsistencies in the stories and finds herself increasingly immersed in a mystery of her own in which she becomes the eighth detective. The original stories are read to Grant by Julia and they then discuss them.

This is a well written and original novel, it’s clever and a really good puzzle throughout. The format works well and the original stories have an Agatha Christie feel to them which I like and the post story discussions between Grant and Julia are fascinating as those are the sections I enjoy the most because they are revealing. Grant is intriguing as he’s elusive and evasive and Julia is sharply clever and persistent. I really like the concept of the novel and the solving of riddles, are the stories clues to something deeper, or are they a joke or a test? If so, who is testing who? As the end nears and the truth reveals itself (or does it?) it all comes together well. The ending is as enigmatic as Grant!

Overall, a really intriguing read and something a bit different.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.

I wasn’t all that taken with this one, I ‘m afraid. The concept sounded intriguing, like a high level deconstruction of the classic mystery, but the reality didn’t live up to it. The short mysteries that are the core of the book are flat and repetitive. They all take place in the same kind of milieu with the same kind of cast, and the prose is workmanlike at best. The envelope story that surrounds them all isn’t a great deal better, with characters that never seem anything more than mouthpieces for the author to explain how clever he is. The climactic twist relies on reveals that have gone unseeded, which is frustrating (I’d love to think this was some kind of metatextual joke highlighting that all the rules that have been discussed at such length up to now are bunk, but…). In the end I found it a dull retread of Golden Age mysteries, lacking in spark or joie de vivre. From the blurb I was expecting something cleverer and more playful. A lot of people seem to have enjoyed it more than I did and good for them, but it just didn’t do it for me.

A clever way to present a series of short stories that are linked with a mystery murder, well written and even more well thought out. I would not normally read short stories but this collection tied together with a theme are really well done and the twisted end of the book makes it even more clever. Highly recommended.

This was a clever premise for a book - outline a whole host of permutations of what makes a good murder mystery, and then include short stories based on those permutations, with the relationship between a crime author and editor being the framework to hold it all together.

However initially I found the style all a bit prosaic particularly in the first half. I kept with it though and was pleased I did - the twists that come about in the second half made it far more pacy and interesting.

This is a very strange book, it's a story within a story within a story, you get the idea. It was very stilted and not particularly rivetting. The writing style, whether it is within the written story or in the real time dialogue, is so old fashioned and not well written at all. I'm afraid I got so far into this book and couldn't continue as it started to annoy me in its naivety.

An intriguing book that holds the readers attention until the last page, and then, everything you thought was true, is an enormous twist in the tale!! That is skilful, and devilish in all details.
Most of us, who love detective stories, want to beat the author, and guess the murderer before it is revealed. It’s only human nature, and I get great fascination from my endeavours, but this time, although I knew something was gently nagging at me, I was side stepped, led down a blind alley, in short, I didn’t guess the twist in this book.
Grant McAllister is the author of this book, which is intended to show that the detective novel has eight permutations, or rules, to make a successful story. Grant wrote this book 25 years ago, and Julia Hart, has come to see Grant, with a view to getting his book republished. Julia reads the stories aloud, each of these demonstrates one of the eight rules, I.e, There must be a group of suspects, a group of victims, a detective or group of detectives, there must be at least one killer, and so forth. As Julia reads each story aloud, and then discusses them with Grant, she finds subtle inconsistencies or ambiguities in each story, and she begins to wonder if these omissions are clues to a complex truth.
This book is set in The Golden Age of Crime Writing, the 1930’s, and throughout, there are subtle homages to Agatha Christie, J. Jefferson Farjeon, and other British Library Crime Classics. These are a genre of mystery fiction novels that I really love, you explore what you physically see and then draw your own conclusions. There are no iPads and mobile phones, and you always have to wait ages to contact the Police, and there is always the threat of violence implicit or implied towards the female sex, such old fashioned ideas, but they really exercise “ the little grey cells”. Murders seem to happen in beautiful settings, an old country house, a locked room, that no one can get into, family secrets, that are only gradually revealed, this is a wonderful evocative of this genre.
I rated this as five star read, and I thoroughly recommend this to while away a few happy hours of brain teasing mystery. I will leave reviews on Goodreads and others later.

It's 1930 and Megan and Henry are staying with Bunny at his house in Spain. It's unbearably hot and Bunny drank too much at lunch: he's going to have a rest and then he wants to talk to Megan and Henry about something serious. Only it never gets that far: when Bunny doesn't emerge after his siesta his guests find that he's been murdered. How can that have happened? There's no one else in the house, so one of them must be the killer.

Those are the bones of the first story which editor Julia Hart has read to the author of The White Murders, Grant McAllister. It's thirty years since the collection of short stories was first published by a professor of mathematics who wanted to explore The Permutations of Detective Fiction, and Hart's publisher, Blood Type Books (isn't that a wonderful name?) wants to republish the stories. Hart has gone to visit McAllister on the Mediterranean island where he's lived in seclusion for decades. She wants to check through the stories for any inconsistencies and find out something about the author for publicity purposes.

For each requirement of a mystery novel (such as the need for a victim, the optimum number of suspects, who can be the detective) there's a short story to illustrate the point. Over a few days, Hart reads these to McAllister and then they discuss any inaccuracies and probe the deeper meaning of the story. She can't resist pushing McAllister for personal information - and it obviously makes the author uneasy.

The stories are good. I did think that they were perhaps not top-of-the-range but there's a good reason for that which will become clear in due course. They're very much stories of their time - the mid-twentieth century - when the police were not quite so vigorously restricted as they are now. Don't ask me to use my fist on a child one officer tells his superior. There's an excellent variety in the stories too.

Hart's sensitive. When McAllister fails to eat some his mussels at dinner she ensures that she leaves some too. Her probing into the author's past, and into a murder which happened in 1940 and which seems to be foreshadowed and echoed in the stories, is subtle but demanding. You won't realise just how subtle Hart has been until you get to the final pages.

When talking about books the word original is dramatically overused, so it almost seems too tame to use it to describe Eight Detectives, but I can't think of a better description. I have never read anything quite like it. The characters are excellent, both in the short stories and in the over-arching narrative. That's a very considerable achievement as different skills are required in short stories and the long-form novel. The individual plots are clever too - you'll realise quite how clever when you finish the book.

Did I work out what had happened? I wasn't even close, but all the clues were there. It's a book to read for the sheer enjoyment of it - and then to read again to see how it was done. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the arc of Eight detectives by Alex Pavesi.

This follows a mathematician whom in which has a long-forgotten about book in which involve lots of short mysteries whom are then rediscovered by a publisher in the present day..... We end up learning and finding out that he has a mathematical theory which is about the structure of the mysteries he has written.... You also get a hint in which he may be actually dropping clues about a much larger motive in hand for writing these stories. In fact this is actually book within and written within a book, and within both stories you are given a bunch of theories and clues to figure out. Very similar to the Agatha Christie/Poirot type mysteries. All the stories come into one in a seriously larger mystery to solve. This was such a well written book, the structuring of this book is new for me but it was really interesting and very intelligent way of writing it makes you want to try and solve the mysteries...

If your into the Agatha Christie type of mysteries this is definitely one for you.....

Very unique, different and captivating...

5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a really enjoyable read! I loved the creative and clever structure of the book, and there were plenty of plot twists to keep me on the edge of my seat.

This is unlike anything I have ever read before.

Grant McAllister, an author and mathematician has found the mathematical equation for the perfect murder mystery. He has written a book of 7 short stories to prove the equation works. Julie, the editor from the publishers Blood Type, is interviewing Grant to get the background on the stories and a better understanding of the maths.

Each of the 7 mysteries are read out by Julie and then they both discuss the story. It is so strange to have 7 different stories, some very Christie-esque, within the one book but each one gives you a little clue to a bigger mystery.

It's a strange one and I think you really need to concentrate on it to pick up the subtle hints and clues. I am actually wondering if I should read it again to get a better understanding. It's definitely worth a read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy!

Disappointing. It's a great idea but I found the bulk of the book tedious. If I had not read the description of the book to know that there was a twist in the end I would have given up. I think Pavesi was trying to be too clever. A series of short stories doesn't hold ones attention and the following discussion of each story by Julia becomes repetitive. I think, however, the book would actually work brilliantly as a TV serial.