MJ brings Pavesi's debut to life with Zoom murder mystery

Michael Joseph is building anticipation for Alex Pavesi's debut Eight Detectives with a series of innovative Zoom-hosted murder mysteries for retailers, literary festivals, journalists and bloggers. The events employ the talents of trained actors from production company Smoke & Mirrors to perform live to guests as they sit at home, while they also enjoy refreshments delivered direct to their door.

Publishing on 20th August, Eight Detectives by former Waterstones bookseller Pavesi is a mystery novel pre-empted by Michael Joseph publisher Joel Richardson last year. Set in 1930, it tells the story of Grant McAllister, a mathematics professor turned author, who has mapped out the simple set of rules that govern crime fiction in a book of crime stories. But when an editor approaches him about republishing his work, she starts to realise there's something curious about his seven murderous tales, seeming to offer clues to a case that's gone unsolved for 30 years.

To celebrate the book—itself comprising seven short mysteries, tied together by one overarching mystery—Michael Joseph brought in a murder mystery theatre company to dramatise the first "whodunnit" in the book, with a few creative tweaks. In the first event held on Monday night (27th July), attendees including from Goldsboro Books, Cheltenham Festival and Capital Crime watched an acted-out interrogation between investigator and suspect, brought into custody over the deaths of an aging roué and dashing socialite, before being invited to put their own questions to the actors to crack the case. Ahead of the evening, guests were asked what they'd like to drink so that the publisher could send them their refreshment of choice alongside the book to enjoy on the night.

Ellie Hughes, Michael Joseph's head of publicity, who organised the murder mystery evenings, said she had wanted to consider the constraints of lockdown as "an opportunity to try something new".

"Alex’s novel is something so fresh, clever, and fun, and I always knew it was vital to capture that throughout the campaign in order to let the book shine and stand out from the crowd," said Hughes. "The early idea of bringing part of the book to life through special pre-awareness events was something that seemed impossible to continue with when lockdown struck, but after giving it some thought it I decided it could actually be an opportunity to try something new; be agile and creative, with fewer restrictions on who we might reach and encourage to engage with Eight Detectives, without things like travel to consider.

"The company I have brought on board to bring Alex’s story to life—Smoke & Mirrors—have been so enthusiastic from the start, knowing that Alex’s book was something special. They have bent over backwards to make sure this series of evenings are fun and engaging and have the book at their heart.

"Breaking a debut always relies so heavily on building relationships and garnering support—from retailers and booksellers, to journalists and festival organisers, and with bloggers and colleagues. The restrictions in place to keep everyone safe during the pandemic always meant that part of the Eight Detectives campaign was going to be different, and potentially more challenging, but I’m really pleased that these events have been greeted with such enthusiasm and intrigue, with people excited to support and take part."

Three further iterations of the evening will be held this week and next, for crime and literary journalists, for independent booksellers and for book bloggers and bookstagrammers.