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. 

I should start by acknowledging that this is such a clever and ambitious book. A story within a story, it introduces us to a mathematician who has written a collection of murder mysteries exploring the formula of the genre and a publisher interested in re-releasing them but, as in the stories he has written, not all is as it seems. 

I found the premise engaging and the overarching story incredibly intriguing and hard to predict. However, aside from one or two of the short stories which really drew me in, I found myself racing through a lot of them to get back to our protagonists in the present to keep unravelling their own mystery.

I also found it slightly hard to keep up without intense concentration when we revisit and rewrite the endings of every story later in the book.

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. 

"And that's what differentiates a murder mystery from any other story with a surprise at the end. The possibilities are presented to the reader up front. The ending just comes back and points to one of them."

This book applies an intriguing framework to the murder mystery formula. In alternating chapters, we follow an editor discussing seven short stories with the author. He wrote a mathematical thesis about the basic requirements of a murder mystery story and their possible permutations. His stories exemplify some of the weirder combinations of ingredients. These seven stories provide the other half of the book. After each, the editor points out a curious discrepancy she noticed in the story. Part of the game for the reader is seeing if you can guess the permutation before the reveal or notice the discrepancy yourself. It adds layers to the usual fun of trying to uncover the details of the mystery before the detective.

This was a cleverly done book with some good twists and plenty to think about. I actually liked the short format of each mystery. Each had its own tone and intent. The problem for me was that really only my intellect engaged with this story. I wasn't particularly curious, excited, or attached to any characters. So when twists happened or the worst was revealed, my reaction was kind of a *shrug.* It didn't generate enthusiasm even though I was interested.

I think if you're looking for a mental puzzle or like short-form murder mysteries, this book will appeal to you. 

This book is an extremely intelligent, mathematical, murder mystery which I enjoyed, but the variability of the killers disappointed me and seemed more like an extremely intelligent writer showing off. I like more stability in the characters where I form some kind of a stable attachment to the character whether liked or not.