If someone asks you for an example of a dynamic debut novel, you need look no further than The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi. It's a really riveting read. The reader immediately finds themselves engaged by this masterclass book. Pavesi skillfully throws twists and turns at the reader which work wonderfully within the format of the book. Each of the "short stories" contained in this novel are enjoyable in their own right. The premise is brilliant and perfectly executed. Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

This book reminded me of something Anthony Horowitz might write....a book within a book within a book all surrounded by an incredibly entertaining mystery. Clever with great dialogue and interesting characters. This story is very unique but so very entertaining. I am looking forward to more from this writer.....soon! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the free arc of this book.

Fans of Agatha Christie and slow burns will love this book. It is written in a format that I have been seeing more and more of: a book within a book. The chapters are set up with a murder mystery being told and then followed by a discussion of the story. This goes back and forth for 14 chapters. It's a good set up because you find out right away the answer to who the killer was and so forth. The ending was everything. I felt very satisfied with how everything ended up. A great first book for Alex Pavesi and I'm excited to see whatever else he has up his sleeve.

This book will be a delight to fans of classic mysteries. The idea of creating a mathematical model for the plots of mysteries is really interesting. It would be fun to have a discussion among these fans to see if they can recognize other stories that fit the patterns described in The White Murders. However, for most mystery readers now, people are looking for more character development. (Think Louise Penny's books.)
Since I read this as a electronic prepub, I found it hard to keep track when I was reading one of the stories in the "book" and when I was reading the real time story. I hope that the print version will have some different typeface or spacing to indicate which was which. This was especially true at the end.