Missing good old fashioned murder mysteries with a twist? Then, 'Hello Agatha!", you've found JUST what the reading doctor ordered! This mystery reminds us why we love mystery fiction- the puzzles, the misdirects, the book that makes you go, 'wait, what?" at the end! Taking the reader through a fictional book, including 8 different mysteries, you get a bit of everything you love about them here, while trying to fogure out what is really going on- is Julia what she seems? Why does Grant live in isolation? It's a fun book that can easily be stopped and picked back up again, but you may find yourself rapidly turning the pages by midway and not wanting to stop reading!

This novel harks back to the very early days of detective fiction, when crimes were usually solved by observation and deduction rather than forensics.

The story: Grant McAllister, a retired mathematician from Scotland, now resides on a beautiful Mediterranean island. In 1937, when McAllister was a graduate student, he wrote a research paper called 'The Permutations of Detective Fiction', in which he posited that every detective story has characters in four categories: victim(s), suspect(s), detective(s), and killer(s). The categories can overlap, however, so a detective can be the killer, etc. McAllister illustrates this with a Venn diagram:

To illustrate his ideas, McAllister wrote seven detective stories, and published them in a book called 'The White Murders.'

Twenty-five years later, a publisher called 'Blood Type Books' wants to re-issue McAllister's stories, with an introduction explaining the mathematical basis of the tales. To this end, the publisher sends editor Julia Hart to interview McAllister.

At each session with the author, Julia reads one story aloud, and then she and McAllister discuss it in detail.
The seven detective stories, respectively, have the following victims:

◆ a man murdered in his bedroom.

◆ a woman who dies when she goes off a cliff.

◆ a young woman who's drowned in a tub.

◆ a man killed at a private party in a restaurant.

◆ ten people killed on a tiny island.

◆ an old woman smothered in her bed.

◆ a victim who comes back as a ghost.

As Julia and McAllister discuss each of these tales, it's clear the editor has an agenda. She thinks McAllister killed a woman called Elizabeth White decades ago, a crime the press dubbed the 'White Murder.' Furthermore, Julia thinks McAllister left clues about this in his stories....which she tries to winkle out. Thus, it's a bit of a cat and mouse game between Julia and McAllister, with each one keeping secrets.

The Eighth Detective is an entertaining read, with some clever surprises. However I felt like I was REALLY reading stories published in the early 1900s....stories that had very unrealistic premises. For instance, more than one character in the book finds a dead body (or bodies) and never bothers to call the police. Instead, they proceed to investigate the crime themselves. Moreover there's an instance of police brutality that's over the top for me.

That said, fans of old timey detective stories would enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Alex Pavesi), and the publisher (Henry Holt and Company) for a copy of the book.

A clever and original addition to the thriller genre. A recommended first purchase for collections where crime fiction is popular.

It's hard to come up with a truly original idea in the mystery genre, but Alex Pavesi has done so with The Eighth Detective. More twists and turns than a roller coaster, and nothing is as it seems -- but that's the fun of it! Many details in the book will resonate with seasoned mystery readers, but even the casual fan will find it an entertaining adventure.

This book is like an onion with many layers waiting to be unpeeled, and pays homage to many classic mystery styles. This one will require your full attention, so make sure that you've got some uninterrupted time before you start reading.

A unique mystery thriller, it’s a story within a story that is engrossingly good fun to read. Julia is re-editing a book that was written several decades ago. As she gets closer to the author, each chapter of the editing process is interspersed with chapters from the actual book, all murder mysteries. Soon, Julia finds herself also in a mystery concerning the author who doesn’t want to elaborate on his past, is very stoic, and quiet. Slowly, the story unfolds but it’s not a slow story. Especially with every other chapter being a short murder mystery, this was a page turner. If murder mysteries are your catnip I would say read this book!

What a clever mystery! There was so many twists and turns I didn't see coming, which is rare, to be honest, since I read so much in this genre. Recommended!

There are mysteries within mysteries within mysteries in Alex Pavesi’s The Eighth Detective. We as readers have no idea about any of this at the outset of the novel. All we know at the beginning is that Julia Hart is visiting reclusive author Grant McAllister on a sunny Mediterranean island. McAllister’s book of stories—based on his theories of mathematical rules for detective stories—is being considered for a reprint. Julia quizzes Grant about those theories and his past, but when she starts to ask strange questions that Grant evades or replies to with claims of a bad memory, it becomes clear that something else is going on. This is no simple visit between an editor and a writer.

Sometime in the 1940s, Grant McAllister published a collection of seven stories and one essay. The essay outlines mathematical definitions for mystery stories. English majors will recognize the work as genre analysis, but the math is an interesting touch. McAllister reduces genre conventions to Venn diagrams and the smallest feasible number of characters that a story has to have. The stories illustrate different variations on this mathematical model, usually by showing how categories of victim, suspect, detective, and killer can be combined. Mystery readers will recognize some of these in stories where the detective is the killer or where everyone who is a suspect also turns out to be a killer. Even readers who haven’t read Christie’s greatest hits will probably recognize one story that is a retelling of And Then There Were None.

Julia’s very close reading of the collection brings up a series of inconsistencies. One story constantly substitutes the word black for white. In another, a dog is mentioned and never reappears. Others have logical issues that a good editor will clear up before the book is sent for printing. Julia has a theory that these inconsistencies are really a confession to a long-unsolved murder—a murder that oddly shares the same name as McAllister’s collection. McAllister blames his memory when questioned about them, or insists that they’re little jokes he put into the text.

The Eighth Detective is written in alternating chapters. Julia reads the stories from the collection to McAllister then, in the next chapter, she’ll ask him about his thought process or why he left Scotland all those years ago and never returned. Julia’s close reading is a powerful clue to readers that we need to pay attention to everything. Thus we have the pleasure of not only trying to work out the solution to each of the seven stories; we’re also asked to figure out what the hell is going on with Julia and Grant. I loved every chapter. Readers who like challenging reads where there are constant twists and turns will relish The Eighth Detective.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I was expecting, and mostly in a bad way. The book alternates between short murder mystery stories written by one of the protagonists and chapters where the woman wanting to republish the stories grills the author about said stories. I liked some of the short murder stories, but this format got old after a while, and nothing really happens in the main story until basically 85% of the way in.

Grant McAllister, professor of mathematics, knows there are rules for murder mysteries. Victims, suspects, and detectives must always be part of the mathematical sequence and he had the formula figured out when he self-published 100 copies of his seven-story collection of mysteries, The White Murders, 30 years ago.

Editor Julia Hart finds McAllister living on a remote island where she arrives in hopes of republishing his book. Julia has a sharp eye and is quick to notice inconsistencies in his stories that all seem to point to facts in the real-life murder of Elizabeth White. When pressed, Grant claims he doesn’t remember his stories so well now that 30 years have passed and they have nothing to do with Elizabeth White, whom he never met.

Has Grant McAllister hidden clues in his stories that could solve a real murder?

The Eighth Detective is a clever novel. Author Alex Pavesi gives readers a murder mystery set within seven mini murder mysteries. Julia reads each story and then follows it up with questions for Grant about his successful formula. She points out the mistakes she noticed, which Grant is quick to shrug off. These mistakes culminate into suspicion about Grant’s motives and even his identity, creating an eighth and final mystery to solve.

I wasn’t particularly invested in the seven short stories; they weren’t suspenseful and became somewhat tedious as I realized there was a mystery involving Grant McAllister to solve. In the end, that mystery didn’t satisfy either with the lack of character development as it only took place in short chapters after a story was completed. I did enjoy seeing how well the murder mystery formula worked with interchangeable sequences.

Thanks to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Eighth Detective is scheduled for release on August 4, 2020.

The idea of a frame story containing a bunch of short mystery stories was intriguing, but I didn’t enjoy the framing device or the mysteries. The short stories were plodding and not very suspenseful. The frame of the novel was even more tedious - with the character listing rules for mysteries like there must be a victim or there must be a suspect. Maybe I’m missing something, but these rules were revealed as if they were a great and powerful secret when they just seemed like common sense observations.

This is a title I chose not to finish reading. It's just a bit too Noel Coward-ish for me with badinage taking the place of plotting. I think there are lots of people who will like this title, especially those who enjoy some comedy of manner with their mysteries, but it wasn't for me.

One of the most engaging, most intriguing, most beguiling, intricately plotted novel I have enjoyed for years; twists upon twists within twists -- a veritable mobius strip of plotlines! Very well done! I will certainly look for more from this author! Thanks to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honests review.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book, but the premise was intriguing enough that I decided to give it a try. And I couldn’t be happier that I did! Very Agatha Christie with 7 shorts nestled into one larger mystery that then had a mystery! I also enjoyed the mathematical portions of the story; I may be terrible with sums, but it made this a bit of a Agatha Christie meets Umberto Eco/Katherine Neville for me. If this is only the author’s first novel, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

WOW! This is my first book I've read by Alex Pavesi.
The Eight Detective was a fabulous, well written, clever, twisty, thrilling, brilliant book!
Thank You NetGalley And Publisher for this compilatory ARC
A young editor travels to a remote village in the Mediterranean in the hopes of convincing a reclusive writer to republish his collection of detective stories, only to realize that there are greater mysteries beyond the pages of books.

Wow!! I could not put this book down. This was a great old school detective story with twisty whodunit for you to try and solve. I definitely would give this book 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s.

Julie Hart is a very detailed, read between the lines, smart editor. She set out to meet with Grant McAllsiter, who is a professor of mathematics, and author of White Murders. Grants book has 7 detective stories, which Julie has noticed has some inconsistencies to them. She then realizes she is the eighth detective to help solves these mysteries that Grant has laid out for her. Will she be able to solve the biggest secret that Grant has?

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this advanced copy!!

You'll be running figure eights in your mind before this one concludes. An ingeniously constructed series of mysteries, rather like a matryoshka or Russian nesting doll. And what a doll, more Chuckie than Barbie! This is a book that actually deconstructs the murder mystery while building a new model. The beauty is that it can be enjoyed a number of ways, as bountiful as the murder weapons, motives, suspects and accomplices themselves. Whodunit? Who cares?

I was torn between 3 and 3.5 stars for this one. Probably closer to 3 than 3.5.

The premise is definitely very interesting though the comparisons to "7 1/2 death of Evelyn Hardcastle" are unfair as they are not at all alike in premise or the story structure or even the execution.

However, taking the book on it's own merits, the story of a conversation with a writer (Grant McAllister) who published an obscure book of murder mysteries based on mathematical permutations of possible murder mystery ingredients, interspersed with 7 actual stories from the book held great promise. The eighth mystery is about the conversation with the writer.

The 7 stories vary in complexity and execution. Some are inspired from famous works of other authors (it is acknowledged as such) whereas some are ridiculously simple. Given that the author had to fit 8 murder mysteries in one book, the stories don't get much time to be fleshed out. And they could have gone either way by changing a few words/sentences/paragraphs. For me, it takes away from the mystery if it can be solved with multiple conclusions based on facts that were not presented elsewhere.

Some of the 7 stories felt very tedious and it was a chore to get through them just to get to the main thread of the writer. I could take a guess at the ending though it was not possible to guess it all the way as the facts were only presented with the reveal which made the eighth story of the author (Grant) felt a little forced as well.

I would read the future works from the author as there is promise in the setup.

While I found the central theme regarding the murder rules a bit far fetched, this was an enjoyable novel. The characters were fleshed out nicely and given backstories.

I received a complimentary copy of The Eight Detective from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This was a slow burn mystery, with the premise of other mysteries. I was taken off-guard by the turn of events as they were mostly completely unpredictable. A very cleverly written novel, this book is on my recommended reading list for surprise endings!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.