The Eighth Detective

The endings were stupid but the rest was a lovely read, very clever.

Entertaining, clever and very readable. Well-structured and clearly thought out. Fun, intriguing and ultimately frustrating. I couldn't think of anything negative to say except that I felt frustrated at the end and I wasn't sure why, except that maybe it was a cleverly constructed house of cards, and it fell down at the end. But I enjoyed it, so...

Holy complicated plot! I like the mathematical proofs as applied to detective stories, but including each permutation as a short story within this novel packed it with far too much information (and characters, and storylines) to allow for an enjoyable read.

2.5

Tries to be clever but is just kind of tedious.

This was a very quirky novel and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the format of the book and how there were seven different short murder mystery stories within the overall novel. This made it quite the page-turner I was anticipating. I loved the narrative between the editor and author and was intrigued to hear about the inconsistencies that she stumbled upon in each of the stories. I completely missed these each time and found myself overtly trying to find them in the next story. I failed every time!

This book was very unique and written in such a clever way. I was hooked from the beginning and loved how there was a running thread which linked the stories. For me, the ending was shocking and one I didn't see coming. I adored the twists that just kept coming. What an exhausting, invigorating read! Highly recommend.

I wasn't all that taken with this one, I ‘m afraid. The concept sounded intriguing, like a high level deconstruction of the classic mystery, but the reality didn't live up to it. The short mysteries that are the core of the book are flat and repetitive. They all take place in the same kind of milieu with the same kind of cast, and the prose is workmanlike at best. The envelope story that surrounds them all isn't a great deal better, with characters that never seem anything more than mouthpieces for the author to explain how clever he is. The climactic twist relies on reveals that have gone unseeded, which is frustrating (I'd love to think this was some kind of metatextual joke highlighting that all the rules that have been discussed at such length up to now are bunk, but...). In the end I found it a dull retread of Golden Age mysteries, lacking in spark or joie de vivre. From the blurb I was expecting something cleverer and more playful. A lot of people seem to have enjoyed it more than I did and good for them, but it just didn't do it for me.