Eight Detectives

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, an eccentric but brilliant professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out - and wrote a set of seven stories to demonstrate.

Soon after, Grant disappeared to live on an isolated Mediterranean island. No-one knows why he left. He never came home.

Thirty years later, Julia Hart, a smart, ambitious young editor, knocks on his door. Grant's work is being republished, and together the two of them must revisit those old stories.

But as she reads the sharp, twisting tales, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are things that don't make sense- deliberate inconsistencies which Grant is unable - or unwilling - to explain. Might they be a trail of clues? And if so, do they lead towards the topic on which Grant is most evasive- the truth about what happened thirty years before?

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 . . .

“Dizzying, dazzling - a potent potion of a thriller, a brew of bibliophilia (think The Shadow of the Wind ), wire-taut tension ( The Talented Mr. Ripley ), and plot swerves so sharp and sudden you risk whiplash with each turn of the page, as bold as the best of Michael Connelly and Lisa Gardner. When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over. -- A J Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window It's rare for me to read a book in a single day, but I couldn't put Eight Detectives down . Compelling, clever, and beautifully-constructed. It deserves to be huge. I genuinely wanted to applaud at the end --Alex North An absolute triumph of a novel . I read it in two greedy gulps. Intelligent and compelling storytelling. Utterly brilliant --Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me, Bad Me In Eight Detectives , Alex Pavesi constructs a remarkable puzzle that turns readers into literary detectives with every new twist. Both a celebration and a reinvention of mystery fiction --Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of The Dante Club An absolute juggernaut of a novel. --Caz Frear Alex Pavesi's Eight Detectives is a delightfully inventive and enjoyable debut which plays fascinating games with the classic murder mystery and puts a fresh spin on the notion of whodunit. Bravo! --Martin Edwards, winner of the 2020 Diamond Dagger”

Alex Pavesi's Eight Detectives is a delightfully inventive and enjoyable debut which plays fascinating games with the classic murder mystery and puts a fresh spin on the notion of whodunit. Bravo! -- Martin Edwards, winner of the 2020 Diamond Dagger An absolute juggernaut of a novel. -- Caz Frear In Eight Detectives, Alex Pavesi constructs a remarkable puzzle that turns readers into literary detectives with every new twist. Both a celebration and a reinvention of mystery fiction -- Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of The Dante Club An absolute triumph of a novel. I read it in two greedy gulps. Intelligent and compelling storytelling. Utterly brilliant -- Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me, Bad Me It's rare for me to read a book in a single day, but I couldn't put Eight Detectives down. Compelling, clever, and beautifully-constructed. It deserves to be huge. I genuinely wanted to applaud at the end -- Alex North So, so clever. A twisty story and an education in the maths of murder mysteries, Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one - bravo! -- Sarah Pinborough Dizzying, dazzling - a potent potion of a thriller, a brew of bibliophilia (think The Shadow of the Wind), wire-taut tension (The Talented Mr. Ripley), and plot swerves so sharp and sudden you risk whiplash with each turn of the page, as bold as the best of Michael Connelly and Lisa Gardner. When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over. A J Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

Alex Pavesi is a former Waterstones bookseller and has studied mathematics to PhD level. He is currently work as a software engineer in London. Eight Detectives is his first novel.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.