The Oxford Murders

"I picked it up when it first came out because it had Oxford in the title, so I suppose that proves my editor’s point. The author has a mathematics PhD, and you can really tell. It’s very pared down, very lean. In effect, it’s a puzzle written about a puzzle. The narrator is an Argentinian maths student who has come over to do a term or two in Oxford. One day, in the company of a famous mathematician who’s written a book about mathematical series with a chapter about serial killers, he finds his landlady dead. Little cryptic messages are left that indicate this may be part of a series of murders. The book is very clever. The characters are barely more than two dimensional, but you’re not reading it for that. It has some of the same puzzle elements that you would get in a Morse but from a mathematical—rather than a verbal—point of view. Definitely! It’s not like you have to do calculations. He does give you a lot of theory, sometimes in slightly indigestible chunks, but it is fun. It reminds me of Eight Detectives , by Alex Pavesi . That was quite clever and very theoretical too. In his case, he looks at the different permutations of suspect, victim, and investigator. He proposes eight permutations, and the book includes eight short stories illustrating each of the possible combinations. Again, it has that very cerebral quality and isn’t so much about the characterisation or the settings; it’s about the puzzle."