We can see this book getting a dedicated readership. It's certainly unique.
Eight Detectives
by Alex Pavesi
Genre: Murder Mystery
About: Grant McAlister wrote the mathematic formula for a murder mystery, and he proved it with a collection of short stories exploring the conventions. Twenty years later, he's living isolated on a foreign island. A man of mystery himself. But his stories have caught the eyes of Julia, an editor for a small publishing group. She wants to republish them as well as interview the man that seems to have hidden a few strange details in his stories about a real life murder mystery...
Thoughts
This was a really intriguing read. It alternates between a classic murder mystery short story, to an interview with the author about the story and how it fits the conventions of the genre. Only the more conversations with have with Grant, the more apparent it becomes that he's keeping secrets from Julia and the reader. It was really enjoyable to see the hints of these deceptions and Julia herself presents the reader with a masterful solution when she calls Grant out on his lies right at the end. I loved revisiting the short stories again with the twist Julia gives us and thought it was a very clever way of showing just how endlessly fun murder mysteries can be. If you love the genre, you'll really appreciate the homage Pavesi pays here.
The short stories themselves were all captivating. There are dark themes, well crafted settings and memorable murders. The only short story I didn't love was the retelling of And Then There Were None, simply because the way its told is through an onlookers perspective and I felt this took away some of the tense atmosphere we know from experiencing the classic. However, all the other stories were full of dramatics and had a perfect blend of nostalgia and originality. I was fully invested in solving each and every murder and thought the pacing was great - after finishing a short story, I always felt the need to read on to the conversation between Grant and Julia.
I didn't particularly enjoy the mathematics theory. I found those sections a bit dull to read but I do appreciate that it gave the novel something original to focus on and did tie in well with the twist. There are of course several twists and I think they all worked and made sense - some I guessed, some I didn't, but all in all, it came together in a way that was satisfying. I just didn't find the twists the element of the novel I enjoyed the most. It was really the atmosphere of those murder mysteries that had me hooked. If the novel had simply been a collection of seven short stories, I would have loved it just as much as I think each short story was really strong and had something special about it.
Overall
I definitely want to read more mysteries from Alex Pavesi. His stories have all the hallmarks of what makes Agatha Christie's novels so hard to put down and were each entertaining in their own right.
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