This was different to.any book I've read before and I really enjoyed it. The stories were all great little mysteries linked together seemlessly through the main plot of the book. It had an Agatha Christie feel to it and I loved playing detective trying to figure out what happened. Very clever book

What a curious book. A story within a story, it's very clever, I loved the twists and turns and the whole premise using mathematics to write detective stories. Good fun.

After the first dramatic chapter, the reader realises that this is no ordinary murder mystery novel. That chapter is one of several short stories in a book collection, "The White Murders", and was read by one of the two main characters of this novel, "Eight Detectives". Chapters alternate between these readings, showcasing the different types of murder mystery, and the interaction between the book's author and its editor.

That part of the book reminded me of Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveller", where each chapter takes the previous one in a new direction.

The short stories continue, the dead bodies mount up, the discussion and theorising between author and editor dissects murder mysteries. Then there are a few final twists and revelations at the end, as well as some alternative endings to the stories themselves. I found this part of the book a bit repetitive and difficult to read. It was a clever play on the genre, itself and on the reader, but it felt contrived and far-fetched to me.

This is a really clever, cerebral, intriguing detective story. More a series of short mysteries than a novel, the tales and the mathematical concepts driving them keep you guessing. There's a real edge of nastiness to some of the short stories, and the voice is quite removed, so they're not typical detective stories where you feel an urge for justice to be done. Although it was clever, I did think that the individual stories worked better than the wider mystery they were suspended in - it was still a great idea, but possibly just too constricted in terms of word count to have the impact I hoped it would. A great book if you want a puzzle, rather than an immersive read.

30 years ago a book of murder stories were written. They all followed a set of rules set out by a mathematician.
The book is set to be re-published and the publisher sends out Julia Hart to Greece to interview the author who has been living in seclusion for many years.
They revisit each story and discuss the complexities of each story and in some cases certain discrepancies. Could they actually relate to a real murder?
The more Julia digs the less the author is prepared to reveal.
Can Julia solve the murder but also put her own demons to rest?
This is an intriguing book, written from a different angle, which twists and turns right to the last page. It will certainly make you think!

I adored this book! Seven short murder mystery stories, with another mystery overarching them all. The mysteries were so well-written and kept me on the edge of my seat. I was disappointed to finish!

I am afraid that this book was not for me. Maybe it is because I read either at bedtime or in the middle of the night, when I cannot sleep, but the whole complex story was too complex for me to take in. Sorry. I am sure it is very good, but just not for me.

This was a really clever and original book.

It is built around the interaction between an editor and a secluded professor of mathematics who wrote a collection of short murder mystery stories 30yrs ago. We get a short murder mystery, followed by discussion between the author and editor around each plot and the mathematical rules of a murder mystery as they work through each story in the collection. As they go, the editor notices discrepancies within each short story that when taken together hint towards knowledge of a real unsolved murder.

I liked each of the short stories, I really enjoyed the discussion about the set of rules and what makes a murder mystery satisfying to a reader and I enjoyed the overarching mystery and intertwined plots.

This read like a classic murder mystery.

An interesting foray into the 'rules' of the murder mystery story. It took me a while to get into this book as the style of short stories in 1930's literary style is not my taste. I stuck with it and began to realise the connection between the stories and loved the real twists in the tale towards the end. Not at all what I was expecting!

I was really interested in the premise of this novel, the idea of interspersing the short stories with the story of the author and the editor but I really didn't get on with the writing style and struggled to finish it.

I was immediately interested in reading this book because the synopsis sounded so intriguing and unique in many ways. Plus I'm a fan of a good thriller or mystery so I felt like this was a book I'd enjoy a lot, and there were definitely elements I did like and others... slightly less so. What did work for me was the 'book within a book' element and I liked how we weave in and out of the different short stories to the plot occurring in the current day and how we get a sort of analysis of each tale and how they fit into conventions of a murder mystery. I also enjoyed the ending and thought it was dark and a bit twisted and I think it fits the tone of the novel overall really well.

What didn't work for me was the pacing and how the novel felt quite repetitive and I had to force myself to continue reading a lot of the time because I wanted to see what would happen, more than genuine interest or immersion in the story or writing. I also thought that the consistent mentions of the mathematics of the stories took me out of the zone a little, especially since this isn't a story where there's a lot of character work and it's more about the function of the story itself and how it fits or defies conventions. Overall, it was an interesting read at points but not a book I can recommend wholeheartedly.

r an honest review

A cleverly concocted homage to the classic murder mystery, Eight Detectives (also called The Eighth Detective dependent which country you're in) promises an 'inventive nesting doll of a mystery'. It follows editor Julia who travels to a Mediterranean island to meet writer and mathematician Grant McAllister. Years before, Grant self-published a short collection of murder mysteries to demonstrate the framework and formula he believes can be applied to every story in the genre. Julia arrives with the aim to learn more about the man behind the work in order to re-publish his book to a wider audience.

The book runs through each of Grant's original murder mystery short stories, each interspersed with a short 'conversation' chapter in which Julia and Grant discuss the story and she probes the reclusive writer in an attempt to learn more about the man behind the book.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It promised a clever twist on the classic murder mystery genre, a mind-bending story of books and mysteries within mysteries. The short story format probably doesn't help - I'm not a fan of short stories, but I thought because there's an underlying story running through all of them it would make for an interesting format. Unfortunately there's really not enough of the main story between Julia and Grant here for me, and I didn't feel able to connect with these characters aside from a vague sense of intrigue as to where it was all leading.

The short stories, which take up the bulk of the novel, are nice enough but glaringly unoriginal. I think this is intentional - they're extremely Christie-eque in places (at the point of being a complete rip-off in others) and I think there's other subtle nods to classic novels thrown in too - one I noticed was a victim named Bunny, and I'd be intrigued to know if any other readers spotted others. They're generally the classic old-fashioned, cosy mystery of days gone by, but for me they just fell a little short of the real thing. I understood there was supposed to be subtle clues and discrepancies, but I found myself looking deeper than I needed to. Essentially, this mystery - and all those within it - was a fun, light read but it only felt surface-deep and won't bring anything new to die-hard murder mystery fans. But it does offer an easy read with some original takes on classics and a nice homage to the genre.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

alas this book wasnt for me...not a big fan of short stories and i had mistaken this one as a and there there were none type scenario

and then for each short detective story the proclaimed author then went onto explain his reasoning behind each murder mystery....as the publisher was hoping to glam said short stories up and then publish them...

aw well you cant win them all...

Similar to Horowitz's Magpie Murders stories, this is a book within a book. There are more layers than that too, and I was, for the most part, intrigued & engaged throughout. The ending, however, fell flat for me...I didn't feel connected to the final characters, and so after having high expectations for a grand finale I was disappointed.

Some of the inner stories are gruesome. and not plausible, but still I wanted to know what on earth was going on. I read it quickly, & it was an interesting concept for a story.

With thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

Well folks...one thing is for sure. I would make a rubbish detective 😂

Thank you Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of EIGHT DETECTIVES by Alex Pavesi.

It’s no secret that I’m crap at solving mysteries!😆I wouldn’t have made the cut for the Scooby Doo gang BUT what I like to think I’m good at is recognising a clever, original and compelling book which my friends, this is! 👏🏻
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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, probing inside it. But as she reads the stories, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are parts that don't make sense. Intricate clues that seem to reference a real murder. One that's remained unsolved for thirty years. If Julia wants answers, she must triumph in a battle of wits with a dangerously clever adversary. But she must tread carefully: she knows there's a mystery, but she doesn't yet realise there's already been a murder.
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This book is for the crime fiction fans and if like me you are a fan of Agatha Christie (if not - what?! 😂) then I think you will love this. I’m talking proper whodunnits, twists all over the shop, proper mind games AND a big twist at the end which SHOCKER...I didn’t see coming. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤣 The book is so well plotted and structured in order to slowly build and develop the plot. It was lots of short stories within a story. And I loved that Hart became the eight detective. Pavesi gives the reader a chance to play detective. The clues are right there and you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together. So as you can imagine for me, I spent a lot of time like this 🤯🤔😲 my brain hurt.😂

EIGHT DETECTIVES is such an entertaining read and it’s a debut!🤩 If you love a good old mystery then get this on 20th August.
I think I better stick to the books.🕵️‍♀️🤣

This was....confusing, but great. I spend a LOT of time reading this to try and get my head around it all (much like the first Stuart Turton) but once I managed that I loved it! Would definitely recommend to those looking for something a bit different, or for those (like me) who usually just read thrillers of the domestic noir kind and wanted something a little more...er....challenging? The perfect gift for the arm chair detective in your life too.

I'm a fan of the crime genre and must admit to being overwhelmed in the past few years by Scandi-fiction and memory loss whodunnits. This is a refreshing take on the crime genre, harking back to the early years of this fiction and providing a new twist. I enjoyed this and would recommend to anyone looking for something a little different from the standard fare and who enjoys the logical thinking that goes hand in hand with the crime genre.

This is a very clever book. Grant lives alone, on a quiet island when he meets a Julia, who has been sent by a publisher to work with him to edit his work. She reads each of the 8 detective stories to him and they discuss each story and the mathematics of why it works. He wrote the stories so long ago that he cannot remember all he wrote; he no longer has a copy of the manuscript, and so cannot answer all of Julia’s questions, particularly those with reference to the real life White Murder.
I enjoyed this book and it has a great ending. The alternating chapters of a detective story and then the conversation about the story between Grant and Julia was interesting. A very enjoyable detective book.

My thanks to Alex Pavesi, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the ARC of EIGHT DETECTIVES.
A unique and compelling read, eight stories, all designed to test the reader for observation written by an author many years before. Julia has her own reason for interviewing Grant McAllister, but the further she gets into the stories, the more uncomfortable she begins to feel. Are these 'just' stories, or are they leading somewhere else? Suddenly, we have a new genre to keep us on our toes. Enticing!

Eight Detectives is an undeniably clever, unique novel that, via a series of short stories interlinked by an overarching narrative, attempts to deconstruct the classic elements of the detective story.

Unfortunately, it didn't resonate with me as much as I was hoping it would. Alex Pavesi is a skilled writer and he clearly knows his genre, but Eight Detectives seems a little too conscious of its own cleverness for my tastes, and rather cold towards its subjects. Characters exist not to be liked, pitied, hated or identified with, but as lightly sketched placeholders whose only function is to enact the (unpleasant) plot. Their personalities and motives are irrelevant - in fact, Eight Detectives is at pains to make its crimes, its murderers and its victims as arbitrary as possible. There is no need for the why, only the how.

This isn't to say that the book isn't, in itself, an impressive piece of storytelling, and I'm glad to have read it. I have no doubts that I'll find myself thinking about it again in the future. Ultimately, though, I think that I prefer my detective stories with a little more heart.