We all love a good murder mystery… an Agatha Christie, a Val McDermid, an Arthur Conan Doyle. We’ve all read them and we’ve played at being an armchair detective and worked out who the murderer is, feeling both frustrated and excited by the twists which change the game and throw us off track.

But what is it that makes a good murder mystery story? What are the key ingredients to making it work?

These are the questions that Alex Pavesi seeks to explore and decode in his first novel, inspired both by his love of reading and his background in mathematics.

Eight Detectives is really eight stories, wrapped up in a ninth, that on the surface seems to be the means by which Pavesi can convey his mathematical theories to the reader, but which quickly becomes a captivating mystery in its own right.

The concept of a one time writer, revisiting his work from decades earlier in order to republish for a new audience is effective, especially as the eight stories contained within the book move from simple to complex, demonstrating both the writer’s growth and the development of his perfect murder mystery story.

It is also a journey the readers follow, as each story and it’s corresponding chapter takes us back into the ninth work providing new information, new clues to consider, new concepts to explore and new theories to form.

I have read numerous murder mysteries over the years and been captivated by many, but I have never been so enthralled by, engaged in or surprised by any like Pavesi’s Eight Detectives. The nuances and complexities are so brilliantly woven through the tale that they pull you in so quickly and effectively, you feel like you can’t put it down because you just have to know how it ends!

And trust me, the ending is worth the build up, as it exceeds every expectation!

E