Eight Detectives

Author Alex Pavesi
Narrator Emilia Fox
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Run Time 11 hours and 17 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Modern and contemporary fiction, Psychological thriller.

Get in the xigxag app

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.

Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }}

How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

'When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over.' A. J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, an author of crime fiction and professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out.

But that was thirty years ago. Now he's living a life of seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island - until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor, knocks on his door. His early work is being republished and together the two of them must revisit those old stories: an author, hiding from his past, and an editor, keen to understand it.

But as she reads, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are things in the stories that don't make sense. Intricate clues that seem to reference a real murder, one that's remained unsolved for thirty years.

Julia realises she's unwittingly entered a battle of wits where there can only be one winner. But Grant will soon realise that he underestimates her at his peril...

© Alex Pavesi 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critics Review

Terrific. Alex Pavesi knows the genre inside out. One of the year’s most entertaining crime novels
Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month
Dizzying, dazzling – a potent potion of a thriller, a brew of bibliophilia (think The Shadow of the Wind), wire-taut tension (The Talented Mr. Ripley), and plot swerves so sharp and sudden you risk whiplash with each turn of the page, as bold as the best of Michael Connelly and Lisa Gardner. When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over.
A J Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
So, so clever. A twisty story and an education in the maths of murder mysteries, Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one – bravo!
Sarah Pinborough
Alex Pavesi is a lively writer . . . It feels like a game of Clue-do-ku
Times
An elegantly structured, intellectually challenging and completely unique thriller that grips like a vice
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Killings at Kingfisher Hill
This is both a wonderfully tricksy debut and a loving tribute to the golden age of crime fiction
Mail on Sunday
It’s rare for me to read a book in a single day, but I couldn’t put Eight Detectives down. Compelling, clever, and beautifully-constructed. It deserves to be huge. I genuinely wanted to applaud at the end
Alex North
A brilliantly twisty thriller. I adored this clever, game-playing book – it’s like Agatha Christie for bibliophiles
Sunday Times
A box of delights . . . Pavesi’s revelations are completely unexpected, right up to the end
New York Times
An absolute triumph of a novel. I read it in two greedy gulps. Intelligent and compelling storytelling. Utterly brilliant
Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me, Bad Me
This super-smart homage to the Agatha Christie tradition is a must. Stylish, ingenious and great fun
Sunday Mirror
Has an intricacy rare in modern crime fiction. Alex Pavesi deserves huge applause for his plot, constructed with all the skill of the old masters
Sunday Express
In Eight Detectives, Alex Pavesi constructs a remarkable puzzle that turns readers into literary detectives with every new twist. Both a celebration and a reinvention of mystery fiction
Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of The Dante Club
Masterfully told in a unique way – this is sure to get you thinking
Woman's Weekly
An absolute juggernaut of a novel.
Caz Frear
This debut novel, constructed with clockwork precision, has an understated creepiness that gets under your skin
Daily Mirror
Alex Pavesi’s Eight Detectives is a delightfully inventive and enjoyable debut which plays fascinating games with the classic murder mystery and puts a fresh spin on the notion of whodunit. Bravo!
Martin Edwards, winner of the 2020 Diamond Dagger
So clever and a lot of fun, fans of Golden Age crime fiction (of which I am one) will love this unique tale with a modern twist
Jenny Blackhurst, bestselling author of How I Lost You
Alex Pavesi has written one of the most creative detective novels of the year…if not of all time. Sharp writing, crisp dialogue, and the end will leave you reeling. An incredible debut novel!
Samantha Downing, bestselling author of My Lovely Wife
A fantastic read. Utterly original, yet reads like a long-lost golden age classic. The author surprises from the first chapter, is always one step ahead, and constantly gives you this feeling that something macabre is happening behind your back! Bravo
Ragnar Jonasson
I have never read a book quite like this. It’s original, clever and compelling – and the revelations at the end took me totally by surprise.
Rachel Abbott
I loved this intelligent and inventive novel and I’m sure that it will find legions of fans amongst aficionados of classic crime. It’s the most fun I’ve had in ages
Cathy Rentzenbrink
An ingenious exploration of the crime genre
Literary Review
An enthrallingly layered literary mystery
News Letter
A brilliantly conceived novel . . . “I didn’t see that coming”, you’ll say
Shots Magazine
Ingenious . . . perfect for fans of Agatha Christie
Best
A clever read
Woman
[An] impressive evocation of the golden age of crime fiction
Sunday Times

More from the same

Narrator

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.