A slick and stylish take on the country house murder - in the LA mansion of a movie director. Interesting, though the number of characters and the timeline made it hard and times to keep track of who was who.

There is something about a confined murder mystery story that sets my Poirot-loving heart on fire and this story definitely did that! The mystery causes a detailed examination of relationships and Elspeth’s marriage but I particularly enjoyed the involvement of the octopus, Persephone, which is part of what separates this story from the rest of the whodunnits you can find out there.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Octopus’ by Tess Little. It is an impressive debut.

Former film actress Elspeth Bell arrives at her ex-husband's LA mansion for his 50th birthday party. She hasn’t seen him in ten years, but agreed to attend at the urging of her daughter, Lillie, who had recently moved to LA to work in film. She expects there to be a crowd for the British film director. Instead, she finds only seven other guests along with Persephone, Richard's pet octopus, watching over them from her tank.

It’s a wild party though the next morning Richard is found dead, presumably of an overdose. Yet there are inconsistencies and as the weeks pass the police interview each of Richard’s guests: the school friend, the producer, the actor, the actress, the boyfriend, the manager, the cinematographer and yes, the ex-wife, Elspeth, who remains in LA to support her grieving daughter and assist the police with their enquiries.

As stories of Richard’s past surface, they collide with her own memories. She questions not only who killed Richard but why he invited these eight guests. She even entertains the thought that the killer might not have been human given that Persephone was known to escape her tank for short periods.

I loved this combination of locked room mystery with literary fiction. I don’t want to say too much about the plot though will say that it touches on recent revelations in the film industry linked to exploitation.

Of course, there was also the ninth guest, Persephone, the giant Pacific octopus. I am fascinated by these mysterious, intelligent creatures and Little integrates elements of natural history into the narrative.

Overall, I found this an intelligent and unusual mystery with plenty of twists. Just brilliant.

The Octopus is one of those novels that I have to say felt elusive as I was reading. I’m grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read it before publication, but having just finished it my thoughts are muddled to say the least.
My overwhelming thoughts after finishing this focus on the character of Richard. This is the character who is found dead the morning after his fiftieth birthday, seemingly of a drug overdose, where only eight people were in attendance. One of them must have been responsible, but who? As we learn more about Richard and his character, I think I can safely say every single one of them had reason to want the guy dead. He was a bully, lauded by Hollywood but vile to everyone around him unless they danced to his tune. Parallels with some real-life characters are clear, and while we are told his childhood was not particularly happy it doesn’t garner enough sympathy to excuse his general unpleasantness.
The construction of this book kept us somewhat in the dark regarding the true nature of the character of Richard. We begin with the party and the slow introduction to the people invited. We see things primarily through the eyes of Elspeth, Richard’s ex-wife, but it isn’t long before we start to realise that she has her own complicated story - and this is certainly intriguing, but we’re made to wait for it.
The party scene is elaborate, allowing us the chance to see how Richard interacts with each of the characters. Also introduced at the party is the character of Persephone, Richard’s pet octopus, who seems to represent his desire for control over others. The way he admires her and flaunts her to others exemplifies his attitude to those in his life. At one point Elspeth considers the octopus could have been the killer - what happens to this creature later in the novel certainly made me consider the cost to all involved of their relationships with this odious man.
This is a crime that does get solved, but in the process we uncover other more unsettling crimes that have been overlooked, ignored and even enabled by the reluctance of others to voice their concerns.
The Octopus is a book that did not leave me with many positive feelings at the end. I found it absorbing, but it was certainly not one I could say I enjoyed as it made me so angry at times.

Despite not having spoken for ten years, Elspeth is invited to celebrate her ex-husband Richard’s 50th birthday at his stunning LA mansion, so she is shocked to discover that there are just seven other guests in attendance. The next morning, Richard is dead and of course, everyone is a suspect. Including Richard’s pet octopus Persephone. This strange, heady mystery has strong Christie vibes and explores the haziness of memory, the horrors and repercussions of abusive relationships and the dangers of power.

Elspeth flew all the way from New York to attend her ex-husband’s fiftieth birthday party at his LA mansion, Sedwick. Elspeth hasn’t seen Richard in ten years and she doesn’t want to go to the party, but she is reassured by the knowledge her daughter Lillie will be there and the many other guests that will probably attend the party. When she arrives to the party, she finds out that it isn’t going to be the big party she expected, but, besides her and the birthday boy, there are only seven more guests and the octopus Persephone who watches them from the aquarium. This will be a night they will never forget because the next morning, Richard is found dead and the police suspects that one of the guest at his party murdered him.

“We believed he had died from an overdose. There was no reason to suspect otherwise.”

Why did Richard invite only these eight people to his party? And who, amongst them, wanted him dead? Narrated through Elspeth’s voice, the story alternates between the night of the party and the aftermath of Richard’s death as the police questions the guests. Each guest had a reason to want Richard dead, including Elspeth.

The Octopus is not simply a mystery crime story about a suspicious death. It’s also a story of abuse, a story of power and control, a story of secrets. Elspeth is anxious and insecure. She lies about her marriage, she lies about Richard’s true character. You don’t know which of her memories are real and which memories she has created to protect herself and her daughter. Like Persephone in the aquarium, Elspeth tried to escape from her marriage, she tried to escape from Richard’s party, but she couldn’t:

“I imagined the house as an enormous aquarium. A brilliant display in the dull twilight. The bright clothes, sparkling jewellery; a tank shelved on the hillside. It was enchanting, if I let it be so.”

The Octopus is a brilliant, current, very well-written novel

The Octopus is a clever and original read from a new author for me. I found it to be quite a powerful and thought provoking read which has kept me thinking about it long after I’ve finished reading.

The action all revolves around a party thrown for Richard’s 50th birthday which I think it’s fair to say is a bit of a weird affair. It was very interesting to slowly get to know the characters and their role in Richard’s life. Most of the characters there are quite unlikeable and all of them had a reason for wanting to hurt the horrible Richard. I found this quite interesting as I couldn’t warm to any of the characters and as such couldn’t pick sides, so was just able to enjoy the mystery side of things without putting my emotions or bias into it.

One of the key themes in the book is of power and control which all stem from the main character Richard. In particular the power Richard has over Persephone, the one thing in the book which I actually did have some sympathy for, and over his guest. The way he seemed to enjoy the power he held over his pet was quite chilling especially as the octopus had to ultimately rely on Richard to survive. I think this helped the reader understand what a cruel man Richard was.

Elspeth was an interesting narrator as she obviously had a lot of history with Richard. She often made me wonder how reliable she was and if her recollections of things that happened was correct. I enjoyed trying to follow her thoughts and to attempt to unpick what I thought was true or not.

Overall I thought this was a powerful, intriguing read which would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss. It is also quite a current read as it helps show how hard it can be to confront your abuser and the impact it can have if you don’t come forward.

Huge thanks to Steve from Hodder for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

This is an unusual mystery that i thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the description of the life in LA, the great cast of characters and the solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This was a twisty and turny story that i was not sure where it was going to go. The plot and the action was done well and the switch between the past and present of the story was done evenly and made a lot of sense. I thought that the characters were done well and they were well rounded enough that the story had an air of believability about it. That was echoed in the discussions regarding the behaviour of Richard both on and off set and how these made all the party guests have motives for his death.

A closed room mystery with a difference.
When Elspeth arrives at her ex-husband film director Richard’s 50th birthday party at his stunning LA home, Sedgwick, she finds it a smaller gathering than expected.

There are eight guests (nine, including Persephone the octopus) - Elspeth, Richard’s ex-wife and mother of his child; his current partner; his childhood friend; an actor; an actress; a cinematographer; his manager and his film producer.

It’s a wild night and everyone indulges in too much alcohol and drugs and all crash out in his living room together.
Come morning, Richard is dead and the police quickly deduce that it’s murder.
With only eight guests, it shouldn’t be too hard to work out whodunnit. Every single guest is under suspicion, and, as we find out throughout the book, each guest has motive, opportunity and means.

It’s hard to like any of the guests and I didn’t feel that they were fleshed out enough to really care about them. The characters are all pretty vacuous. Persephone the Octopus has more of a personality than any of them.
But we find out that Richard is the most odious of the lot - a real Harvey Weinstein type character. The book deals with issues of abuse, manipulation and power and it’s all pretty sickening and grimy.

This is a slooow paced book. I wasn’t excited to pick it up, so it took me longer to finish than most books.
I was hoping it was going to go in a particular direction that was hinted at earlier in the book. But sadly, it didn’t take that turn, which would have given this book a much more interesting twist.

As it was, the ending was quite flat and disappointing. I did feel a bit robbed of my time.

* Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC.

Elspeth expects a few things when she arrives at her ex-husband’s 50th birthday – but she ends up getting more than a few surprises. There are only seven other guests, their daughter has not appeared and by the morning (after a heady, raucous night of argument and conversation), her ex Richard is dead. Watching everything that happened on the night is Richard’s pet octopus, Persephone. As Elspeth relives her marriage, virtually everyone is put under suspicion and the guests must try and make sense of why they were asked to attend the ill fated party. This novel is about control and it’s so nicely done, it creeps up on you, it makes you feel claustrophobic and unsettled and it was brilliant.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Octopus is above all different. A very unusual debut and a strange whodunit. The narrative was all over the place without warning which I found offputting. Not a bad read on the whole.

This book is a fascinating variant of the classic “whodunnit”-style murder mystery. We meet Elspeth as she arrives at the sprawling home of her ex-husband, film director Richard, for his birthday party. We then meet his other party guests – who range from colleagues to friends and his new partner – as well as his pet octopus, Persephone.

An awkward group, very few of whom seem to want to be there, we follow the ensemble’s increasingly rowdy antics and uncomfortable interactions over the course of the evening, all of which lead up to the moment when Richard is found dead the following morning.

The police suspect foul play, and suspicion falls on each character as they try to work out why the eight of them were invited to the party and how each of them really felt about Richard. What was Richard really like as a friend and colleague? Was his behaviour bad enough to get him killed; and did any of the guests have a motive for murder as strong as that of the trapped Persephone?

This was an enjoyable read, with an ending that I didn’t predict and clever character arcs. I would be certainly be interested to read more from the author!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I asked for a review copy of this book as someone who has not only been a relatively prolific crime writing reader, but has historically taught crime literature for work. I’m a big believer in crime writing being a space to challenge and subvert the status quo, as a place where writers can write about Issues in ways that can often feel more nuanced and more complex. It’s clear that The Octopus sits somewhere between what is usually sold as crime writing and what is sold as literary fiction. Unlike other books released this year that attempt to straddle this line (Sisters by Daisy Johnson really comes to mind), this quite neatly worked from both genre perspectives for me.

It is quite clearly a crime story: our narrator Elspeth attends a small intimate dinner party hosted by her ex-husband; when she wakes dazed in the morning, he is lying dead. This novel does and doesn’t function as a usual whodunnit; instead this is an old-fashioned mystery, we are interested in how Richard dies, but ultimately, we are not interested in justice being served.

It is also, clearly, a novel whose author is concerned with a literary style and in crafting sentences and character arcs not purely for the pleasure of the puzzle, but for their beauty and interiority. Crucially, Little does not sacrifice character or plot for a torturous metaphor; Little’s prose has both function and pleasure. The initially confusing use of parenthetical statements becomes a clue for the reader to use, slowly revealing what Elspeth has been trying so hard not to say for so long.

Plot wise, Little was able to keep me guessing and keep me interested when I had worked out what was most likely to have happened. That for me is already a huge test that has been aced. For me to want to keep reading when your ‘twist’ is something I can guess, that the guessing gives satisfaction, that a correct guess also feels satisfying — these are things a mystery novel should do to frequent readers of the genre.

Other readers have mentioned the slips in time as something they found disorienting; I did too to start with but, that felt purposeful and with time, you were quite able to recognise quickly whether we were experiencing the present or flashing back. I actually really like non-linearity and in this instance for me, the crosscutting between times, the gliding between present and memory really served to bolster what the novel is doing with regards to trauma and memory. It’s complicated enough for it be work for the reader, but not so difficult to follow as to be an arbitrary device.

This novel is also really rewarding as an LA novel, as a novel about the film industry, about the complexities of co-parenting with an addict, about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, who is a daddy’s girl. There are some characters who are drawn somewhat thinly (Honey, I think, gets the least shape and form — probably a casualty of Little’s choice of first-person narrator) and as others have said, you learn not to care for Richard at all. That for me is not an issue; there’s something to be said for what it does to the crime genre when the victim is someone odious.

Finally, without delving deeply into spoilers, I really valued the exploration of Elspeth’s marriage, about her acting experience (and Richard’s directorial style; the incident recounted towards the end of the novel really made me think of Bertolucci’s behaviour on Last Tango in Paris). I read this expecting a fun time and a good mystery; I didn’t think it would make me think this much. Definitely one of the novels I would add to my reading list for students, as another slant on what ‘crime writing’ is and what it can do.

I was excited to read this ever since the author signed with the Felicity Bryan agency and have heard a lot about it. This strange little literary mystery did not disappoint. More than a whodunit, every one of the attendees (including the octopus) is a suspect. It was a quick, engaging read and I was very impressed with the outcome. A little jumpy at times, but nothing that wasn't easy enough to follow. I cannot wait to read more from Tess Little.

The Octopus is a murder mystery in terms of the plot, but a slow, literary, character study in terms of style.

The setup is straightforward enough: eight guests are invited to what they think will be a glamorous 50th birthday bash, only to find that it is just them, their host, his staff, and his ‘pet’ octopus. The atmosphere is claustrophobic and oppressive, as birthday boy Richard proceeds to needle, intimidate and disturb his special guests, both individually and as a group, and it becomes clear that there are dark currents running beneath the champagne surface tension. The next morning, Richard is dead. But who, or what, killed him?

The characters and plot are well-constructed in this novel, and I was certainly invested in the question of who killed Richard and the motive. There are plenty of motives to choose from, too, as Richard was a completely unsympathetic character and every single one of his family members and intimate friends had plenty of good reasons to hate him and wish him dead. We get the story of events from Richards ex-wife, Elspeth, as she shifts her narrative between the events of the party and the investigative aftermath.

This is where I found myself somewhat disconnected from the story, as Elspeth is a strangely passive and stilted main character (for good narrative reasons), so her perspective lacks something in terms of emotional investment when reading it. Also, the jumps in timeline between past and present are not clearly distinguished, making the story confusing to follow at times, and disrupting the narrative flow.

There are some serious and disturbing issues covered within the scope of the story – domestic and professional abuse and control – and these are handled believably and sensitively, making them all the more horrific for those with any experience of such matters. There is a repeated theme of the masks we all wear with others, and the lies we tell others and ourselves just to get by – can we ever really know anyone?

I loved the underlying motif of the octopus, Persephone, and what she represented in the story, symbolically and as an intelligent, captive wild animal. She serves as the perfect representative for the story, and it felt fitting for her story to round off Elspeth’s narrative.

The Octopus is a disquieting literary mystery, with murky depths, but I was left with a feeling of indifference to the outcome of the story, caused by the combination of unsympathetic characters and unclear timelines. The only one I was really rooting for was the octopus!

I struggled throughout this book. As I was reading I did not know if I was reading about before Elspeth married Richard; after she married him; the 40th party; the 50th party; his death; his memorial party; the police Interrogations; the identification of the murderer or the aftermath. It was to say the least muddled up throughout.
As I chose the book I did complete reading but found it one of the most boring books that I have read mainly because of the constant flip flopping from paragraph to paragraph. I did not find the characters particularly well defined but there were some descriptions that were interesting about each of them.
For readability I would award one star but I did find the facts about Octopi interesting and it showed that Tess Litlle had done research.

A decent little who-dun-it, in a kind of Agatha Christie style. It jumps about a little bit but it is easy enough to follow and for once I didn't guess and was surprised by the ending. Recommended.

A fairly run of the mill Agatha Christie type book with the victim and murder suspects in a closed environment, and the reader invited to work out whodunnit. I quite enjoyed the chapter free style but didn't feel invested enough in the characters to really care who the perpetrator was or the #metoo thread running through the story.
Thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book

This was a good slant on the ‘whodunit’ read but sadly ai found it hard to concentrate re the writing style and the constant changing from the past to now etc, interesting idea though