Eight Detectives has an excessively clever and literary concept.

Julia travels to a remote island to speak to elusive author, Grant, about editing his old mystery book for publication. Grant’s book is based on his theory that you can apply some simple mathematical rules to the genre of murder mystery fiction and come up with a finite number of permutations of what constitutes a story in that genre. To illustrate his theory he wrote seven stories and published them as a collection – The White Murders – and now the two of them sit down to read through the book together.

Alex Pavesi, therefore, presents us readers with not one mystery but eight. We get to ‘hear’ each of the stories in Grant’s collection as Julia reads them aloud to him, and then there is the additional mystery of the present day – the inconsistencies and errors in the stories in the collection, and the apparent references to a real murder that was never solved.

This tactic of layering mysteries within mysteries is intriguing and irresistible to puzzle fans, and some of the stories serve an additional delightful function in their homage to classic golden-age mystery fiction, particularly to some of Dame Christie’s more well-known plots. Not only that, but from Julia’s observations after the very first story, when it becomes clear each story has some form of structural flaw, the keen reader is perpetually on the alert to try to spot the mistakes before the editor reveals them to us.

One downside, though, of having such different stories – in style and content – is that there was something of a disjointed feel to the narrative as a whole, especially in the transitions between fiction and analysis. Combined with two main characters who are clearly uncomfortable and reserved in each other’s company, who we only get to see in fits and starts and snippets, and the overall effect is to distance the reader from the story. I was never quite able to forget that I was reading a – very clever – book. As an inevitable result, I applauded the ending for its skill, without feeling particularly invested in the characters or outcome.

I will be looking out for more from Alex Pavesi with interest, as he is clearly skilled at the mystery genre and, with such an innovative spin on the familiar tropes, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.





Grant sat back, with a fingertip held to his chin, and thought about the best way to start. ‘All of these stories,’ he said, ‘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. It was published in a small journal, Mathematical Recreations. The response was positive, though it was a fairly modest piece of work. But murder mysteries were very popular at the time.’
– Alex Pavesi, Eight Detectives


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I know it was cleverly written and quite original but it didn’t entertain me. I’m not a fan of short stories so although this isn’t exactly a collection it is very similar to that genre. That is probably why it didn’t appeal to me plus it seemed old fashioned, which it was meant to do, but that also is not a murder story I would choose.

Grant McAllister has developed a mathematical formula for murder/detective stories and has written a number of short stories to illustrate each combination of suspects , detectives , victims and the relationships between them , under the title The White Murders . 30 years later he is approached by an Editor for a book firm about reissuing this book , he is now on a quiet Mediterranean Island and she travels out to interview him about these stories . Unfortunately he appears to have forgotten many details over the years .
I am not a fan of short stories but stuck this out to the end even though all the the main plot is reasonably good the number of short stories included became monotonous , especially as a number are retold slightly differently , I kept thinking that I had jumped back somehow .
Maybe it is just me but was not a great fan of the format used in this book .

A brilliant and cleverly plotted book, a great homage to Golden Age mysteries. It kept me hooked till the end as it's gripping and entertaining.
I loved the short stories and was always trying to guessing the solution.
It's a brilliant and original story and hope to read other books by this author soon.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book includes seven different murder mystery stories with unexpected twists at the end. The seven stories are read by Julia Hart to the author of The White Murders Grant McAllister. The chapter also include the discussions they have on the murder stories and the current life of Grant. This was quite an interesting and clever read for me and the end has kept me absolutely speechless. Would definitely recommend to everyone who love reading crime and mystery stories! The only problem I had is that I couldn’t engage myself in the chapters where Grant and Julia talk about the stories and found them a bit boring.

I was so excited to start Eight Detectives, having seen lots of positive reviews and hype about it for months now in the lead up to its release (August 20th). There was also an element of worry that it wouldn’t live up to expectations. I can say that these worries were completely unfounded, because this has become one of my favourite books of 2020!

Firstly, the premise of this novel is just brilliant. Publisher Julia travels to a remote village in the Mediterranean to visit Grant McAllister – an English author – who wrote a collection of short stories 25 years ago, each of which revolves around an element of writing or plot typical of a detective story. One example of these ‘rules’ are ‘there must be at least two suspects or more’.

However, each of these stories has some subtle, strange inconsistencies which Julia has picked up on. She reads them with Grant and discusses these elements with him, all the while realising that things might not be quite as they seem…

I absolutely loved the fact that this novel gives you the present day storyline, which itself gives you some elements of mystery, as well as another seven short stories to enjoy reading along with the characters, AND after the first few you realise it’s worth keeping an eye out for the seemingly intentional inconsistencies which have been slipped in. It’s so enjoyable to read these stories, along with the characters’ commentary on them, and then we are also treated to some other surprise elements too.

I don’t want to give anything away about this story but I can say that I loved every page, every story and every surprise laid before the reader. A beautifully crafted, clever and intriguing novel that I highly recommend.

Once in a while a book comes along stopping me in my tracks. Because of how clever it is. ‘Eight Detectives’ is such a book.
‘Eight Detectives’ has much to admire technically as regards the craft of writing. Original with meticulous plotting. Sharp and sparse writing, very much in line with Hemingway’s five rules of writing. Fiendishly complex with multiple layers like a Russian doll nesting those eight detectives. And more red herrings than even Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ to which period and writing style the book gives a very big nod.
So I should have loved it, but I did not engage with it on an emotional level. By the time I got to the end, I did not care what happened to the two main characters or what they had done or how. I think the problem may be in the lack of fleshing out the characters to make them more human and relatable and also, the book has just too many twists. I was left exhausted trying to keep up and in the end, I just didn’t care.
This might be a book that is simply too clever for its own good.
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Reviewed 20/08/2020, eARC courtesy of NetGalley

This is a very clever book, and hard to review without giving anything away! The novel centres around a book of murder mysteries, written by a reclusive author in the 1940's. In the present day, an editor visits him to discuss the re-publication of this work. What follows are readings of the seven stories contained in the book, interspersed with chapters discussing the stories, and the mechanics of the genre. It soon becomes clear that there is something else going on, and the reader becomes the eighth detective, trying to puzzle things out (this reader failed spectacularly by the way!) The stories within the story are brilliantly written and owe more than a nod to the likes of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers et al. The novel as a whole is delightfully twisty and the ending came as a complete surprise. I absolutely loved it!

Oh my god. This book had me on the edge of my seat and completely captivated throughout.

With seven different murder stories, Eight Detectives has you constantly guessing and looking for any secret clues that may help you solve the case before the book does. With plenty of twists and turns this book takes you on Julia's journey to solve the mystery of what Grant McAllister may be hiding.

There isn't too much I can say about this book without spoiling the short stories and the book as a whole but let me tell you this book is now one of my favourites of 2020. The way Alex Pavesi writes just immediately draws you in and you find yourself needing more.

I highly recommend this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin – Michael Joseph for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely gripping, one of those books that I couldn't read fast enough but didn't want it to end too quickly!
Murder mysteries and crime thrillers can so often fall in to a pit of tropes and predictable formats, but Eight Detectives has not succumbed. It's been a long time since I've been surprised so often across every chapter.

This is a most peculiar book - it has more twists, turns and red herrings than any mystery story that I've ever read - in fact the book is a continuous red herring: but an intriguing one for all that. To say anymore would ruin the story! I recommend that you start it, stay with it and you'll be hooked until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

As a reader that absolutely adores crime novels and detective stories, this one definitely did not disappoint! The elements discussing how different detective novels are formulated wasn’t only interesting, but worked so incredibly well with the story. I adored the characters and the sub stories within the novel- it felt like many crime books rolled into one and it made my reading experience so enjoyable!

The plot twists left me speechless and I couldn’t put the book down! If you’re a fan of crime novels then I highly highly recommend you pick this up!

I may be a lone voice on this overly hyped book, but this was a real let down. I found this overly pretentious and in trying to keep the conceit of cleverness, and lost its way at several points completely. The author seems to completely disregard the central tenet of writing to entertain or engage the reader, and as an ex-bookseller he really should have known better 😉 The writing was flat and stilted, and this was generally a really turgid reading experience. Entirely predictable ending. Really disappointed after the hype.

Eight Detectives has stories within a story, a mathematical rather than emotional interpretation of murder mystery and an increasingly menacing atmosphere between the reclusive author and the inquiring editor. Rather like a treasure map, the short stories provide snippets of information for another as yet untold one.

Classically written, relatable murder mysteries engage the reader. The plot twists unexpectedly into a surprisingly contemporary murder mystery with psychological suspense. This is a book for the observant, are the protagonists reliable?

Eight Detectives is an absorbing and addictive read. It would make a great party game.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Book UK - Michael Joseph in return for an honest review.

A paradise island,an editor,a author,seven stories,multiple twists,secrets, murders,deceptions,mysteries,red herrings,suspects,situations,characters and events that were not who or what they appeared to be.

This is a truly ingenious and cleverly written story that messes with your head and keeps you constantly on your toes trying to figure out who, if anyone is telling the truth. All the characters and their narratives were unreliable and most of them were not very likeable for various reasons. All the stories were intriguing and held my attention but I would say that my favourites were stories one,four,five,six and seven. Oh and the one about the two detectives who were trapped in a derelict building. It's not just about the seven stories, it's also a cat and mouse battle of wits between Julia and Grant and the mystery of the unsolved murder of Elizabeth White back in the 1940s.

This is a captivating book within a book, it's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a enigma and I thought it was absolutely bloody brilliant. It's extremely well written. has some beautifully described settings and a diverse and vivid cast of characters. There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe how much I loved this mesmerising debut thriller. Worth far more than five stars and most definitely one of my favourite reads of this year. Very very highly recommended

Firstly, this book was unlike any books I’ve read in this genre before. I found myself completely drawn in to the short murder mystery stories - the book within a book - but also the plot of the book as a whole.

Grant McAllister is an author who thirty years ago, wrote a book filled with short stories of murder that follow a set of rules that all murder stories must follow. I was interested from the first page and I couldn’t put this book down. I love a new, original concept and I truly believe that this book falls into that category.

Secondly, I’m a huge fan of Agatha Christie and that style of writing and I really do feel as if Alex Pavesi has completed a book that can compete in the genre. What a thrilling and complex read! It kept me guessing the entire time and just when I thought I was understanding things, I was proved otherwise.

Huge thanks to Netgalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Alex Pavesi for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Do All Mysteries Follow The Same Rules....?
Crime author and mathematician Grant McAllister is living a quiet life, a life almost of complete recluse, on an island in the Mediterranean. When an editor comes calling, with a view to republishing his early works, secrets are unleashed which set off a chain reaction of mystery and and murder. But...do all mysteries follow the same rules.....? Thoroughly entertaining.

This was a very quirky novel and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the format of the book and how there were seven different short murder mystery stories within the overall novel. This made it quite the page-turner I was anticipating. I loved the narrative between the editor and author and was intrigued to hear about the inconsistencies that she stumbled upon in each of the stories. I completely missed these each time and found myself overtly trying to find them in the next story. I failed every time!

This book was very unique and written in such a clever way. I was hooked from the beginning and loved how there was a running thread which linked the stories. For me, the ending was shocking and one I didn't see coming. I adored the twists that just kept coming. What an exhausting, invigorating read! Highly recommend.

My thanks to Penguin Books U.K. Michael Joseph for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Eight Detectives’ by Alex Pavesi.

According to Grant McAllister, a former professor of mathematics, all murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Years ago he sat down and worked them out for a research paper. This paper, ‘The Permutations of Detective Fiction’, was included as the appendix to a collection of seven murder mysteries Grant wrote, titled ‘The White Murders’, that he privately published in the early 1940s.

Grant now lives in seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island. A small London publishing house is seeking to republish his book for a wider audience and have sent editorJulia Hart to the island to go through the stories with him in order to ready them for publication.

As she reads through them she is unsettled by certain aspects of the stories including what appears to be intricate clues that reference a real murder that has remained unsolved for thirty years.

The structure of this novel is unusual. It opens with the first story from the collection. After this we join Grant and Julia as they discuss elements of the story, including their links to the mathematical rules proposed by Grant and tweaks to the manuscript suggested by Julia. The next chapter presents the second story; again followed by a conversation. This pattern continues through the seven stories until the final chapters. No further details in order to avoid spoilers but wow!

This was an extremely clever novel that was a delight for a bibliophile like myself. The nesting of stories within stories and mysteries within mysteries was so intriguing. It’s a novel that I likely will reread to further appreciate its narrative and structure.

Clearly inspired by the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, yet playful with its tropes, this was brilliant and original; well deserving of the advance praise that it has received.

Highly recommended.

After a publisher discovers an old collection of seven murder mysteries, editor, Julia Hart, travels to meet the author in the hope of republishing his work. Once a professor of mathematics, Grant McAllister's stories all follow a set of rules formulated as part of a research paper called The Permutations of Detective Fiction in which he calculated all of the possibilities and different structures of a detective story. As Julia reads through the book, she begins to notice inconsistencies and a series of clues that point towards a real murder leaving her wondering if there is an even darker mystery still left unresolved.

There was a lot of hype surrounding this novel and it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020 so I was thrilled that after finishing the book the first thing I wanted to do was read it again. It wasn’t really a surprise, author Alex Pavesi listed Agatha Christie, Shirley Jackson and Jonathan Creek as some of his influences for Eight Detectives, so I knew that this was the book for me.

Eight Detectives is incredibly detailed, and your detective skills are well and truly tested as you try to solve each of the crimes. This might be too much for some readers but in my opinion it was joy to read - to devise one intriguing mystery is an achievement, but to come up with eight is a stroke of genius!

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the ARC.