Review of "The Eighth Detective: A Novel of Suspense" by Alex Pavesi

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.

Rating: 3 stars