New-locked-room-mysteries-1536×1024

Reading lists

Locked room mysteries that keep you guessing

Eight Detectives

THE BIGGEST MYSTERIES ARE MURDER TO SOLVE . . . 
 
'TODAY'S GREATEST EXPONENT OF PLAYFUL DETECTIVE FICTION' GUARDIAN 
 
'One of the year's most entertaining crime novels' SUNDAY TIMES 
'When did you last read a genuinely original thriller? The wait is over' A. J. FINN 
'An elegantly structured, intellectually challenging and completely unique thriller that grips like a vice' SOPHIE HANNAH 
_______ 
 
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. 
 
In the 1930s, Grant McAllister, a mathematics professor turned author, worked them out, hiding their secrets in a book of crime stories. 
 
Then Grant disappeared. 
 
Julia Hart has finally tracked him down. She wants to know what happened to him. 
 
But she's about to discover that a good mystery can be murder to solve . . . 
_______ 
 
'One of the most creative detective novels of the year . . . If not of all time' Samantha Downing 
 
'Intelligent and inventive . . . It's the most fun I've had in ages' Cathy Rentzenbrink 
 
 'So, so clever . . . Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one - bravo!' Sarah Pinborough 
 
**Winner of the Capital Crimes Reader Award for Debut Book of the Year** 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GLASS BELL AWARD AND THE BARRY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

TODAY'S GREATEST EXPONENT OF PLAYFUL DETECTIVE FICTION. A gloriously original, intricate and often very funny series of practical jokes played on the reader

Terrific. Alex Pavesi knows the genre inside out. One of the year's most entertaining crime novels

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!

Alex Pavesi is a lively writer . . . It feels like a game of Clue-do-ku

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

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

A brilliantly twisty thriller. I adored this clever, game-playing book - it's like Agatha Christie for bibliophiles

A box of delights . . . Pavesi's revelations are completely unexpected, right up to the end

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

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

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

An absolute juggernaut of a novel.

This debut novel, constructed with clockwork precision, has an understated creepiness that gets under your skin

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

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.

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

An ingenious exploration of the crime genre

An enthrallingly layered literary mystery

A brilliantly conceived novel . . . "I didn't see that coming", you'll say

Ingenious . . . perfect for fans of Agatha Christie

[An] impressive evocation of the golden age of crime fiction

Alex Pavesi lives in Surrey, where he writes full time. He previously worked as a software engineer and before that obtained a PhD in Mathematics. He enjoys puzzles, long walks and recreational lock picking. His debut novel Eight Detectives 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.

All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. Grant McAllister, a mystery writer and mathematics professor, once sat down and worked them all out. 
 
But that was thirty years ago. Now he's living in seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island - until Julia Hart, an ambitious young editor, knocks on his door. Grant's work is being republished, and together they must revisit those old stories. 
 
But Julia soon realises that something's not right. Grant's stories seem to reference a real murder - one that's remained unsolved for thirty years. 
 
Julia wants answers. But some mysteries can be murder to solve...

Alex Pavesi

A spectacularly complex, crafty puzzle with characters who come more and more to life as the stakes get higher

Ink Ribbon Red is the epitome of the artful murder mystery and Alex Pavesi the master puppeteer of literary crime, creating a unique yet relatable cast on pages that won&rsquo;t stop turning. I was utterly hooked

Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal

Ink Ribbon Red is a thriller for clever people. This dark-hearted, light-footed mystery-thriller — an inspired mash-up of And Then There Were None, Cluedo, and Lucy Foley — plays fair, fierce, and fast: like the what-could-go-wrong party game that goes very wrong indeed for its cast, it’s dangerous fun, and just the tonic for readers hungover on same-old-same-old crime fiction.

There are reveals within reveals as the bamboozled reader tries to decide what’s real and what isn’t. More fun than Eight Detectives

A new spin on the traditional country house murder . . . when the style is this good, it’s worth the investment.

A brilliant work of illusion: murders, real and imagined, nestled within one another! The clues are all there, if you can see them. A book you finish and then start again just to see how thoroughly you&rsquo;ve been fooled!

Quirky and unpredictable, Ink Ribbon Red is a Rubik's cube of unreliable narratives

Praise for Alex Pavesi's sensational bestseller, Eight Detectives

One of the year's most entertaining crime novels

So, so clever . . . Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one - bravo!

A wonderfully tricksy debut and a loving tribute to the golden age of crime fiction

A box of delights . . . Pavesi's revelations are completely unexpected, right up to the end

A group of friends gather in a country house for a birthday party. 
 
At their host’s request, they each write a short mystery. They draw names from a hat: in each story, one of the group is the killer, and another the victim. 
 
Of course, when given such a task, it’s only natural to use what you know. Secrets. Grudges. Illicit love. 
 
It’s just that once you put it in a story, the secret is out. 
 
Oh, and just one more thing: this is a story that ends with a murder…

Alex Pavesi

Books by Alex Pavesi

Articles featuring Alex Pavesi

Locked room mysteries that keep you guessing

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter