Alex Pavesi

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Eight Detectives

Ink Ribbon Red

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

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&rsquo;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&rsquo;s only natural to use what you know. Secrets. Grudges. Illicit love. 
 
It&rsquo;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&hellip;

The problem with telling tales is that you might get caught out by the twist: discover the most original literary thriller of 2024, from the author of the sensational Eight Detectives 
'A spectacularly crafty puzzle with characters who come more and more to life as the stakes get higher' Mail on Sunday 
'More fun than Eight Detectives' The Times 
 ‘Today's greatest exponent of playful detective fiction’ Guardian 
 
 ----- 
Six friends gather at a country house for a birthday weekend. They decide to play a game. 
 All six names go in a hat. Choose two, and imagine one murdering the other. 
Write it down. Type it up. Read it out. 
 Points are given for making the murders sound convincing. 
 Of course, when given such a task, it’s only natural to use what you know. 
 Secrets. Grudges. Affairs. 
But once you’ve put it in a story, that secret is out. 
So with each fictional murder, someone gets a motive for a real one. 
Which leads to the most important question: 
When a real murder comes, will you be able to spot it in time? 
---- 
‘The master puppeteer of literary crime’ Janice Hallett 
Praise for the sensational bestseller Eight Detectives 
‘One of the year's most entertaining crime novels’ Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month 
‘So, so clever . . . Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one - bravo!’ Sarah Pinborough 
‘A wonderfully tricksy debut and a loving tribute to the golden age of crime fiction’ Mail on Sunday 
‘A box of delights . . . Pavesi's revelations are completely unexpected, right up to the end’ New York Times

Six friends gather at a country house for a birthday weekend. They decide to play a game. 
 
All six names go in a hat. Choose two, and imagine one murdering the other. Write it down. Type it up. Read it out. 
 
Points are given for making the murders sound convincing. 
 
Of course, when given such a task, it’s only natural to use what you know. Secrets. Grudges. Affairs. 
 
But once you’ve put it in a story, that secret is out. 
 
So with each fictional murder, someone gets a motive for a real one. 
 
Which leads to the most important question: 
 
When a real murder comes, will you be able to spot it in time?

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.

Ink Ribbon Red

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