The Eighth Detective, Alex Pavesi
The Eighth Detective, Alex Pavesi
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

The Eighth Detective
A Novel

Author: Alex Pavesi

Narrator: Emilia Fox

Unabridged: 11 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/04/2020


Synopsis

A New York Times Top Ten Thriller of the Year

"One of the most innovative mysteries in recent memory." - The Wall Street Journal

Alex Pavesi's The Eighth Detective is a love letter to classic detective stories with a modern twist, where nothing is as it seems, and proof that the best mysteries break all the rules.

There are rules for murder mysteries. There must be a victim. A suspect. A detective.

Grant McAllister, a professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked all the rules out – and wrote seven perfect detective stories to demonstrate. But that was thirty years ago. Now Grant lives in seclusion on a remote Mediterranean island, counting the rest of his days.

Until Julia Hart, a brilliant, ambitious editor knocks on his door. Julia wishes to republish his book, and together they must revisit those old stories: an author hiding from his past and an editor keen to understand it.

But there are things in the stories that don’t add up. Inconsistencies left by Grant that a sharp-eyed editor begins to suspect are more than mistakes. They may be clues, and Julia finds herself with a mystery of her own to solve.

"Dizzying, dazzling… When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over."—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

"[Narrator Emilia] Fox's warm, calm British accent is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie production, which fits perfectly with the mid-century setting" -- Booklist

About Alex Pavesi

Alex Pavesi lives in Surrey, England, where he writes full time. He previously worked as a software engineer and before that obtained a Ph.D. in Mathematics. He enjoys puzzles, long walks, and recreational lock picking. His debut novel, The Eighth Detective, has been published in more than twenty languages and was picked by the Sunday Times and the New York Times as one of their books of the year.

About Emilia Fox

Emilia Fox lends her voice to various BBC Radio productions as well as audiobooks by Agatha Christie, Chris Cleave, and Jeffrey Archer. Her narration of River Boy River Boy by Tim Bowler won an AudioFile Earphones Award. She also narrated the character, Lady Winters, in the Doctor Who Adventure Game, The Gunpowder Plot, and previously played Berenice in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Nevermore.  She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her film appearances include The Pianist, Blink, Ballet Shoes, and My Name is Sabina Speilrein. Her television roles Silent Witness, Merlin, David Copperfield, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Pride and Prejudice. On stage she has portrayed Isabel in Richard II and Virgilia in Coriolanus for the Almeida Theatre have garnered her acclaim. She lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on January 04, 2021

This is FAN-TAS-TIC! 7 different murder stories with Christie-esque vibes, smart mind games, a grotesque, claustrophobic, extremely witty world building and high tension, slow burn mystery with more than one twists and shocking ending(s) A murder needs: victim-perpetrator and a detective! Julie Hart......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on July 20, 2020

What a clever and complex story this was! I have some much respect for the author in creating this ambitious tale within a tale, and will surely be looking out for their future work. As a fan of "old timey" crime fiction, the mysteries set inside the modern day narrative was a really nice touch, alt......more

Goodreads review by luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) on August 27, 2021

| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | | The Eighth Detective is not quite the "thrilling, wildly inventive nesting doll of a mystery" it'd be promised to be. I approached this novel hoping for something in the realms of Anthony Horowitz. Sadly, The Eighth Detective seems closer to The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Har......more

Goodreads review by Erin on October 16, 2020

Man am I the odd man out with this 1?! So as I trudged through the 7 “short stories” that make up a good part of this book, I realized it was taking effort.. I was bored. But I kept on.. Thinking that it must all be worth it when I get to the end, or the point, or whatever. But no.. In my humble opi......more

Goodreads review by Ceecee on July 06, 2020

Former Maths Professor Grant McAllister writes a paper ‘The Permutations of Detective Fiction’ in which he demonstrates that crime fiction comprises of four ingredients:- Suspects, The Victim, The Detective, The Killer(s). He then writes seven short stories collectively known as The White Murders in......more


Awards

  • Amazon.com Best Books of the Year