An extraordinary novel - a completely new way to approach a murder mystery.

I was fascinated by the structure of the narrative, which goes back and forth between the present reality and a series of retellings of stories - or are they?

Alex Pavesi’s Eight Detectives is a story that has been on my to-read list for a long time. It instantly had me intrigued, leaving me positive that I would enjoy the story, yet the mixed reviews had me on the fence. Due to this, it took a while before I worked around to reading it.

Upon finishing, I can understand the mixed reviews. This is a story where extreme emotions are possible, and I fell solidly in the middle. I enjoyed the way Eight Detectives provided stories within a story, keeping me engaged in the quick tales, but I do feel more attention needed to be given to the main storyline. I worked things out too easily, which was a bit of a disappointment considering how little time was spent outside of the short stories. Although there was one nice twist at the end, and I loved watching the way those details unfolded, it was not enough to wow me completely. I still wanted more from the main story because it felt too much like a short story collection that had a twist applied to make it something more. That is not to say it was badly done – I did enjoy it – but I do wish there had been more.

All in all, this made for a fun read that I was able to power through, yet it did not hit as hard as I had hoped.

Alex Pavesi’s Eight Detectives is certainly a fascinating idea: the odd-numbered chapters are short stories, written in-world by one of the characters, which each have strange contradictions and illustrate a mathematical theory — the mathematics of mystery fiction, no less. One of the characters thinks that each story also holds a clue to a particular murder, and spends her time trying to pry into it and figure out the puzzle within the mysteries.

It all fell apart a bit for me with the alternative endings to each of the stories — too much recapping, and sometimes the story as you first read it makes more sense. Of course something like it is needed to bring the stories together and complete the puzzle around in the frame story, but it felt clunkily done. Maybe if there had been just one or two changed endings, or if the changed endings were shorter.

Also, it’s a silly thing to nitpick, but for some reason one of the characters says that nobody was interested in mystery fiction after the war, meaning World War II. I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a genuine explanation (which would be ridiculous) or if it’s meant to be highlighting a certain character’s inconsistencies and lack of knowledge. I suppose I’d think better of it if it were the latter, and it would make sense given the givens, but hmm…!

It’s an interesting puzzlebox of a story, all the same.

I read this book years ago, but couldn't write my review immediately at the time, and unfortunately now too much time has passed for me to be able to do so without having to read it again. Still, I wanted to relay the impressions it left on me, which are good impressions: I do remember the Christie-like vibes it had, and how good it was to unveil the mystery gradually, with little elements adding up to blur the tracks and yet reveal other truths at the same time. I would recommend this book to other readers of mysteries in general.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Was looking forward to reading this but it felt pretentious and over thought and couldn't get past the first third.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is a clever, original mystery. A mathematician wrote a book of murder mystery short stories in the 1930s. The book was meant to outline the necessary rules for a mystery. ”The number of suspects must be two or more, otherwise there is no mystery, and the number of killers and victims must be at least one each, otherwise there no murder...Then the final requirement is the most important. The killer must be drawn from the set of suspects.”

Smart, intriguing & complex.
This novel had serious Agatha Christie vibes which I adored.

The short story set up makes it easy read if you're haven't got heaps of time and the final twists took me by surprise.

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

I read this fairly quickly once I picked it up, and enjoyed the writing style. Would definitely pick up another from this author.
3.5 stars.

Review hadn’t saved. Really enjoyed this one- writing what fantastic and drew me in, didn’t want it to end!

This is one of the cleverest books I have read, I was highly impressed. There is a lot going on and I was blown away by how Alex Pavesi brings it all together effortlessly. This feels like a fresh take on a well trodden genre and it was refreshing to see an author approach it in such a new and original way.

A super fun addition to the mystery genre. Intriguing and fresh plot, pacing done well, characters interesting. Really good time

Eight Detectives is so brilliantly structured!

A crime author and his editor are working through his old collection of stories, reflecting and commenting as they go. Both the commentary and the stories themselves are entertaining and kept me engaged throughout. There’s plenty of twists and I liked picking out the familiar tropes and homages to other crime stories.

A great read - an immersive voice and a unique take on the genre. Very pacy and gripping, and genuinely unpredictable which is rare! Would definitely recommend.

This was a unique and interesting way to tell a murder mystery. It's kind of a book within a book. Each chapter is a short story from Grant McAllister's original book and then the following chapters are Grant and Julia discussing what they (and us as the reader) have just read.

My favourite story was one which is a homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. It did seem to 'borrow' a lot from Christie throughout the book though.

There are lots of twists. Just when you think you've figured it out, something else changes and you're left to think how clever it all is, especially the ending.
3.5 stars

“Did it not occur to any of you that it might have been me that killed him? You could at least have shown a little bit of gratitude.”

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, an author of crime fiction and professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out. But that was thirty years ago. Now he's living a life of seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island - until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor, knocks on his door. His early work is being republished and together the two of them must revisit those old stories: an author, hiding from his past, and an editor, keen to understand it. Eight Detectives is an interesting take on a crime novel and written very cleverly. Interspersed throughout Grant’s seven stories he wrote, we have his current meetings with Julia and her thoughts on the stories. She has a very keen eye and picks up ‘mistakes’ in every story which she believes to be a link to a real life murder that happened many years ago, but can she unravel what actually happened?
I really enjoyed the layout of this book, and the way that Grant makes the rules fit into each of the stories so well. There are a fantastic mix of crime stories that you read but then I also really enjoyed watching Grant and Julia recap and revisit his life as well as they make their way through and watch as she tries to unravel the secrets of his past.
Whilst it was cleverly written and I liked how all the plot points came together with a few twists here and there, I did feel like I was expecting a bit more from the story overall. It is very much a story based plot rather than having characters to follow and fall in love with but having said that it is still an enjoyable read and something different from the crime genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Alex Pavesi’s Eight Detectives is an unusual and intriguing murder mystery that will likely particularly appeal to fans of works from the Golden Age of Crime and those featuring the most famous of literary sleuths, such as Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey. It’s essentially a murder mystery about murder mysteries, the hows and the whys, and the art of misdirection.
Editor Julia Hart is working on republishing a collection of crime stories by Grant McAllister, a writer and former professor of mathematics who famously compiled a list of rules that all murder mysteries follow. After publishing his debut collection, McAllister disappeared from public view, living in apparent near-isolation on a Mediterranean island for thirty years until Hart tracks him down to work on the new edition of his book. However, as the two of them work through the book, with Hart reading a story at a time and McAllister offering some surface-level input, she begins to spot that something is wrong. Clues hidden among the stories seem to point to a murderer who has gotten away with their dastardly crime for years…
Billed as the perfect book for fans of Agatha Christie, Eight Detectives has a lot to commend it. The seven suspenseful stories are all perplexing tales of murder and mystery, although some of them are rather more sordid than Christie’s works, and the overall book is clever work of slight of hand that really keeps readers guessing.

Eight Detectives is a little misleading to begin with. It took two chapters for me to realise that it was a story within a story. Or stories as the case is. Once I knew that I was in for the ride.

It was a good read and I was enjoying it. Some of the detective stories where a little bit long but I never managed to find the clues that were then highlighted in the long narrative.

The third act twist was very clever and left me open mouthed with shock. A very good book for detective fiction fans.

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi is available now.

For more information regarding Alex Pavesi (@pavesi_alex) please visit www.alexpavesi.com.

For more information regarding Penguin (@PenguinUKBooks) please visit www.penguin.co.uk.