I’m so on the fence about this book but ultimately it was not what I expected at all. The Eight Detective is a series of short stories, within a story. Grant, a math professor and writer of a book all about the rules for writing murder mysteries, gives us seven different formula’s for how to write a murder mystery. He uses short murder mystery stories to articulate and explain each of the seven formulas. While I actually really enjoyed each of the short stories, I was not super into the actually story of Julia, a young editor sent to interview Grant, and her determination to understand the discrepancies found within these short stories.
I honestly almost DNF’d this book. It was slow reading and while I liked the short murder mysteries themselves, the greater story lagged and occasional sounds like a textbook when Grant tries to explain the math behind writing a perfect murder mystery. I never found myself fully engaged into the overarching mystery. I am glad I finished the book. The ending was unexpected and knocked my review up by a star, up to 3 from 2.
Short stories are generally not my cup of tea. Short stories I love, are not near long enough for my taste, and other times they feel rushed. Once again, with The Eight Detective, this was exactly my experience. If you enjoy short stories than you might like this book.
The Eight Detective is out now. Huge thank you to Henry Holt and Co & Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.
