The beauty of the 8th Detective is that it is a mystery that tells you exactly what happened and who did it before you even open the book. 

Literally just from reading the back of the book, I knew Grant had to have killed the girl mentioned there

However despite knowing the inevitable place the book will end up, it’s almost impossible to deduce the “why” and “how” of much of the story—but it is possible, which makes it a perfect example of the detective genre. 

While I loved the smaller murder mystery stories, what really made this book special was the thought given to what makes the genre and how those details can be manipulated to tell an infinite number of unique stories. 

However, parts of the last two or three chapters felt like rushed resolution. I would have liked to have seen more of both characters as they grappled with their own problems independently. 

I also wish the alternate endings to the stories had been written in differently, or perhaps had a reference point back to where that change became relevant to the story itself, as I found the alternate/original endings being thrown into the middle of a chapter one after another to be dizzying. Had I not read it all in two days I wouldn’t have been able to follow what was happening there at all.

Overall it was a solid detective story and definitely one I’d recommend to others. 

This is a murder mystery story for murder mystery fans. Part anthology, part deconstruction, this book is creative and clever and gives the reader so much to uncover. Mysteries upon mysteries upon mysteries, and each one is cleverer and more enjoyable than the last.