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abi_sarah's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh the drama!
Firstly, I loved all of the short stories, they would have been excellent stand alone mystery novels in their own right! They were expertly written and very clever in their plots.
Secondly, I really really enjoyed the to and fro of the interviewer/ interviewee dynamic between “Julia” and “Grant”. They had a really fascinating relationship as supposed author and publisher, both so analytical of one another’s opinions of the stories. Saying that, Grant’s misremembering or not remembering at all what he had “written” really bugged me. His overall demeanour and his reasons for living alone on a tropical island really struck a nerve with me. So, from quite early on in the book, I was suspicious of his character.
Thirdly, I found the cross-over of the theory behind mystery novel writing and the mathematical formula for a good murder mystery which Grant had come up with, such a fascinating addition to the whole novel. Venn diagrams have always been a favourite of mine, and hearing one being spoken about in such an unusual circumstance really drew me in.
Penultimately, I loved Julia’s alternative endings to each murder mystery that she presented to Grant at the end of their interview. She had really analysed each of the stories and wrote completely convincing - sometimes much preferable - alternative endings. I got the sense throughout the book, that the stories troubled her in some way and made her uncomfortable, so she felt the need to change them. In my opinion, she changed a fair few of them, for the better. I realised that she was also doing this to “test” Grant and see what his reaction would be to her having changed his stories. When his reaction was reactively relaxed, we (the reader) and Julia, knew there was something more to this situation.
Finally, the final twist(s) was genuinely a jaw-dropping moment for me. The reveal of Julia’s true identity and her link to Grant was very well done - I thoroughly enjoyed listening to that part. Also, the reveal of Grant’s true identity and therefore the true identity of the man who Julia had been interviewing this whole time, was excellent, I was hooked and was listening with eyes wide, perched on the edge of my seat. There was one thing that bothered me about “Grant” though - why, if he had liked another author’s work so much, had he not put more time and effort into revising the text before his interview with Julia? It made me feel like he almost wanted to be found out and didn’t care if he didn’t come across as the genuine author of ‘The White Murders’. But maybe this was just another one of his inconsistencies, played out in real life.
I couldn’t believe that there was yet another surprise reveal when the origins of ‘The White Murders’ was explained! The writing was just so incredible in this book and I am so glad I listened to it as an audiobook and I’m not sure the surprises would have hit as hard if I had been reading it in my own head. (Emilia Fox was absolutely the best person to have performed the reading of the audiobook, her accents really made it for me!)
Fantastic!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Firstly, I loved all of the short stories, they would have been excellent stand alone mystery novels in their own right! They were expertly written and very clever in their plots.
Secondly, I really really enjoyed the to and fro of the interviewer/ interviewee dynamic between “Julia” and “Grant”. They had a really fascinating relationship as supposed author and publisher, both so analytical of one another’s opinions of the stories. Saying that, Grant’s misremembering or not remembering at all what he had “written” really bugged me. His overall demeanour and his reasons for living alone on a tropical island really struck a nerve with me. So, from quite early on in the book, I was suspicious of his character.
Thirdly, I found the cross-over of the theory behind mystery novel writing and the mathematical formula for a good murder mystery which Grant had come up with, such a fascinating addition to the whole novel. Venn diagrams have always been a favourite of mine, and hearing one being spoken about in such an unusual circumstance really drew me in.
Penultimately, I loved Julia’s alternative endings to each murder mystery that she presented to Grant at the end of their interview. She had really analysed each of the stories and wrote completely convincing - sometimes much preferable - alternative endings. I got the sense throughout the book, that the stories troubled her in some way and made her uncomfortable, so she felt the need to change them. In my opinion, she changed a fair few of them, for the better. I realised that she was also doing this to “test” Grant and see what his reaction would be to her having changed his stories. When his reaction was reactively relaxed, we (the reader) and Julia, knew there was something more to this situation.
Finally, the final twist(s) was genuinely a jaw-dropping moment for me. The reveal of Julia’s true identity and her link to Grant was very well done - I thoroughly enjoyed listening to that part. Also, the reveal of Grant’s true identity and therefore the true identity of the man who Julia had been interviewing this whole time, was excellent, I was hooked and was listening with eyes wide, perched on the edge of my seat. There was one thing that bothered me about “Grant” though - why, if he had liked another author’s work so much, had he not put more time and effort into revising the text before his interview with Julia? It made me feel like he almost wanted to be found out and didn’t care if he didn’t come across as the genuine author of ‘The White Murders’. But maybe this was just another one of his inconsistencies, played out in real life.
I couldn’t believe that there was yet another surprise reveal when the origins of ‘The White Murders’ was explained! The writing was just so incredible in this book and I am so glad I listened to it as an audiobook and I’m not sure the surprises would have hit as hard if I had been reading it in my own head. (Emilia Fox was absolutely the best person to have performed the reading of the audiobook, her accents really made it for me!)
Fantastic!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
sarahna's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
lexslittlelibrary's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
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.
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.
Overall it was a solid detective story and definitely one I’d recommend to others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
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