Publication
Abacus, c2005.
Series
Status
Available
Description
When an Argentine math student discovers the smothered body of his landlady, conventional wisdom points to a family member with the most prosaic of motives. But then renowned logician Arthur Seldom, author of a book on the mathematics of serial killers, tells of a strange note left in his mailbox. The note indicates that the murder is the first in a series linked by a mysterious pattern. Each new death is accompanied by a different mathematical shape. It seems that the serial killer can be stopped only if someone can crack the next symbol in the sequence. The leading Oxford logician and the math graduate team up on a quest to crack the cryptic clues.
Media reviews
The mix of mathematics and murder mystery makes for a powerful cocktail. The Oxford Murders is not the first thriller to combine the two, but it is one of the first to do it successfully.
User reviews
LibraryThing member curlygirl
This book is truly awful.
The main character is arrogant, dull and with no appealing characteristics, and yet (of course) is meant to be irresistible to women.
I read a third of the book, until I hit a description of a tennis match, where the female lust interest left skid marks all over the court.
The main character is arrogant, dull and with no appealing characteristics, and yet (of course) is meant to be irresistible to women.
I read a third of the book, until I hit a description of a tennis match, where the female lust interest left skid marks all over the court.
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This is my absolute favourite bit of the book - did the translator do it on purpose? Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnGrant1
We saw the 2008 movie of this (John Hurt, Julie Cox, Elijah Wood, Leonor Watling) a while ago, and were charmed by it even though the "mystery" part of it didn't seem to make much sense. The book, despite some continuity problems, is a lot more coherent. The landlady of an Argentinian student
The translation is generally very good, although every now and there's a glaring mistranslation (because literal Spanish rather than colloquial English) of a single word. I blame the copyeditor for not picking these few instances up.
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mathematician in Oxford for his PhD is murdered; he and a distinguished mathematician who was an old family friend of the dead woman assist an astonishingly well educated copper in the quest for this killing and the series of "almost imperceptible murders" that follows. The joy of the book lies not so much in the mystery plot, although that's (despite aforementioned qualms) fair enough, as in the frequent digressions as the central characters discuss (sometimes cod) mathematical philosophy; my favourite part of this was the consideration that more than one mathematical series might be defined by the same first three terms. In case that might sound forbidding, it isn't. This is great entertainment; I can imagine, though, that the publisher's efforts on the cover to make it seem like just another murder mystery must have led to some mightily puzzled commuters . . .The translation is generally very good, although every now and there's a glaring mistranslation (because literal Spanish rather than colloquial English) of a single word. I blame the copyeditor for not picking these few instances up.
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LibraryThing member Dorritt
The plot centers around a string of murders connected by messages containing a series of enigmatic symbols. Eminent Oxford mathematician Arthur Seldom is at the center of the crimes, but is the murderer trying to engage him, impress him, avenge himself upon him, or maybe destroy him?
The story is
The author devotes large sections of the text to wide-ranging philosophical and mathematical explorations of life, fate, patterns, reality, and illusion. I found these explorations to be well-written, accessible, and thought-provoking, though I'm grateful I brought some background knowledge to the party as Martinez is no Dan Brown - there's not a lot of coddling here. (Brush off your Godel and Escher if you've got them; reintroduce yourself to Heisenberg's uncertainty, and refamiliarize yourself with Schroedinger's feline before beginning.) True, little of this turns out actually to be relevant to the mystery, but it was entertaining enough that I was willing to forgive the author these excesses.
What I'm decidedly less willing to forgive is a plot that was unnecessarily obscure and complex, sloppy, lacking in excitement or suspense, and disturbingly soulless. There's simply no reason for some of the elaborate red herrings the author strews across the path, and no excuse for leaving some of the "clues" (ex: the missing blanket, the apathetic cellist, the married man) unexplained; little excitement (forget suspense) to be derived from hundreds of pages of dialog punctuated by three of the of the dullest murders ever captured in prose; and a disturbing lack of compassion in everyone's reaction to the final act of violence in the story.
Add the nondescript narrator, an unimaginative supporting cast, several strained metaphors (the grossest being a dead badger in the middle of the road), some extremely dubious explanations that seem to require a belief in supernatural forces (or at least a vengeful fate), and a denoument that feels rushed and contrived, and you get a murder mystery where the real mystery is whether others are going to be as willing as I was to stick this out to the end.
The story is
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narrated in the first person by an Argentinian exchange student on a maths grant; however, don't bother getting excited about him as a character because nothing he says, thinks, or does imbues him with any qualities either foreign, exotic, or engaging. Honestly, his sole function seems to be asking Seldom to explain how he arrived at his latest brilliant deduction. Even Dr. Watson managed this with more style.The author devotes large sections of the text to wide-ranging philosophical and mathematical explorations of life, fate, patterns, reality, and illusion. I found these explorations to be well-written, accessible, and thought-provoking, though I'm grateful I brought some background knowledge to the party as Martinez is no Dan Brown - there's not a lot of coddling here. (Brush off your Godel and Escher if you've got them; reintroduce yourself to Heisenberg's uncertainty, and refamiliarize yourself with Schroedinger's feline before beginning.) True, little of this turns out actually to be relevant to the mystery, but it was entertaining enough that I was willing to forgive the author these excesses.
What I'm decidedly less willing to forgive is a plot that was unnecessarily obscure and complex, sloppy, lacking in excitement or suspense, and disturbingly soulless. There's simply no reason for some of the elaborate red herrings the author strews across the path, and no excuse for leaving some of the "clues" (ex: the missing blanket, the apathetic cellist, the married man) unexplained; little excitement (forget suspense) to be derived from hundreds of pages of dialog punctuated by three of the of the dullest murders ever captured in prose; and a disturbing lack of compassion in everyone's reaction to the final act of violence in the story.
Add the nondescript narrator, an unimaginative supporting cast, several strained metaphors (the grossest being a dead badger in the middle of the road), some extremely dubious explanations that seem to require a belief in supernatural forces (or at least a vengeful fate), and a denoument that feels rushed and contrived, and you get a murder mystery where the real mystery is whether others are going to be as willing as I was to stick this out to the end.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Not long after his arrival in Oxford, a Argentinian graduate mathematics student discovers his elderly landlady's murdered body. The murder doesn't appear to be an isolated event. An Oxford mathematics professor arrived at the scene at the same time as the mathematics student, explaining that he
When I learned fairly early in the book that the mathematics professor had written a book in which he discusses crime in mathematical terms, I thought the plot might develop like an episode of Numbers. Although there are complex mathematical theories and philosophical discussions sprinkled throughout the book, the plot is actually very simple for a mystery novel. I was generous with my rating because I liked the main characters and the Oxford setting. Other readers may find it difficult to overlook the weak mystery and underdeveloped secondary characters.
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had received an anonymous note about the murder. The note included a mathematical symbol and it claimed it was the first in a series. More deaths follow, each one with a new symbol to add to the series. How quickly can the mathematicians solve the code to catch the killer and prevent more deaths?When I learned fairly early in the book that the mathematics professor had written a book in which he discusses crime in mathematical terms, I thought the plot might develop like an episode of Numbers. Although there are complex mathematical theories and philosophical discussions sprinkled throughout the book, the plot is actually very simple for a mystery novel. I was generous with my rating because I liked the main characters and the Oxford setting. Other readers may find it difficult to overlook the weak mystery and underdeveloped secondary characters.
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LibraryThing member Gary10
Slow moving murder mystery centered around mathematicians at Oxford.
LibraryThing member teckelvik
I read this several years ago. I remember thinking that the math problem was trivial, and being much more interested in the Assyrian frieze, and also that either due to the writing style or the translator, it was very wooden and not worth reading again. Checking about on-line, I find that people
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either liked it or didn't based on the math, that everyone agrees about the writing style, and that apparently no one else cares about the Assyrian frieze. Also, people didn't like the movie. Still, it's set in Oxford, and gets points for best use of math. And also, the Assyrian frieze. Show Less
LibraryThing member EJStevens
Mystery, Murders, Motivations and Mathematics.This books has it all.The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez is not just a fascinating murder mystery but also a puzzle that captures the reader and keeps you feverishly turning pages until the end. The story is told from the perspective of an
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Argentinian mathematics graduate student who has just arrived at Oxford and is enjoying the novelty of English subtleties and a tendency toward reserved silence until this tranquil world is upset by a series of murders. The first murder is of his elderly landlady, Mrs. Eagleton. He discovers her body in her parlor while accompanied by the renowned logician Arthur Seldom. Seldom then reveals that he had received a message with the words, "the first of a series" and the address of Mrs. Eagleton with the time 3 p.m. written beneath. The paper also contained a symbol, a carefully drawn circle in black ink. The beginning of a logic puzzle, the solution to which may be the only clue to stopping the murders. Show Less
LibraryThing member abbottthomas
This prize-winning novel has not left me with the feeling of reading time well spent. I was attracted by the Oxford connection but, for the most part, I did not really recognise the city. The description of the Radcliffe hospital was particularly odd, coming over as a Dante-esque multi-layered
I don't know enough mathematics to judge whether or not Godel, Fermat, Wittgenstein, et al. can really be applied to serial killers bur the inclusion of a chapter on multiple murderers in an academic mathematical work (written by one of the novel's characters) strains belief.
It is difficult to crticise the story line without introducing 'spoilers' but I have to say that the Oxford police officer in charge of the investigation is a pale imitation of Inspector Morse, who, I'm sure, would have banged up the true culprit by the end of Chapter 6. In fact, the author himself puts a fairly clear indication of the way things are headed in the first paragraph.
The writing flows well, not suffering from translation, and the book is a quick read - an 'airport' novel. It won the Planeta Prize - not one I recognize - and the blurb finds a lot of positive comment from press reviewers. It passes the time agreeably enough, but don't expect to feel well fed after the meal.
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hell. I don't know enough mathematics to judge whether or not Godel, Fermat, Wittgenstein, et al. can really be applied to serial killers bur the inclusion of a chapter on multiple murderers in an academic mathematical work (written by one of the novel's characters) strains belief.
It is difficult to crticise the story line without introducing 'spoilers' but I have to say that the Oxford police officer in charge of the investigation is a pale imitation of Inspector Morse, who, I'm sure, would have banged up the true culprit by the end of Chapter 6. In fact, the author himself puts a fairly clear indication of the way things are headed in the first paragraph.
The writing flows well, not suffering from translation, and the book is a quick read - an 'airport' novel. It won the Planeta Prize - not one I recognize - and the blurb finds a lot of positive comment from press reviewers. It passes the time agreeably enough, but don't expect to feel well fed after the meal.
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
An Argentinian mathematics graduate student arrives in Oxford only to have his landlady murdered a short time later. There is a note left for Arthur Seldom, a renowned logic and mathematical expert who authored a book with a chapter on serial killers, indicating that the murder is the first in a
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series of mathematical murders. The key for investigators is to find the pattern. Other murders soon follow. I was a bit disappointed in the book as the mystery was fairly simplistic and easy to solve. There were some advanced mathematical theorems discussed in the course of the book. Characterization was not a particularly strong suit either. It was a pleasant way to spend a few hours, but I had hoped for a more challenging mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member debavp
Someone mentioned the author on Library Thing and so off I went in search of a copy thinking it would be along the lines of The Da Vinci Code, but alas not. At less than two hundred pages, it was anemic compared to Brown’s work. But for a small book, and one that was translated to boot, it was
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not an extremely quick read, and really did encompass some interesting character tics. The discussion among the key characters in their mathematical language piqued my interest -- perhaps that arena might be worth exploring. Show Less
LibraryThing member redfiona
An intriguing murder mystery. I enjoyed the mathematical aspect to the mystery, even though I know next to nothing of maths. I'd also love to read the book that one of the characters in this, Arthur Seldom, wrote.
The writing in this, despite having gone through a translator who must have done a
While I'm not sure how accurate the Oxford setting is, the sections featuring the strange parochialism of a faculty are true to my experiences of academic life.
A clever, tricksy plot, with interesting characters.
The writing in this, despite having gone through a translator who must have done a
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fantastic job because it's still very stylised, is fantastically sharp, something I've noticed in other Spanish-language writers (hence one of my tags), and comes at things from a different angle.While I'm not sure how accurate the Oxford setting is, the sections featuring the strange parochialism of a faculty are true to my experiences of academic life.
A clever, tricksy plot, with interesting characters.
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LibraryThing member kewing
The mystery is rather weak and contrived, the characters thin and cliched. What I did enjoy somewhat was the cultural lack of comprehension of a foreign student in a strange land.
LibraryThing member Tanya-dogearedcopy
This is an intellectual vanity piece on the part of the author, a South American mathematician who features himself by another name in this mystery about serial murder. There are some academically interesting passages about serial logic, a couple red herrings, and a reasonable conclusion but not
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enough in the story arc itself to direct the reader to the same conclusion. Jonathan Davis reads the text carefully and does a nice Scottish accent for one of the major characters, but makes no effort whatsoever for any of the British characters. Overall, TOM is a rather dull, cerebral story. BTW, the solution to the “M-Heart-8” puzzle is as easy as “1-2-3” Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
An interesting murder mystery set in Oxford and written by an Argentinean maths professor. A serial killer at work in Oxford leaves notes announcing the time and place of each murder where professor of logic Arthur Seldom will find them. Each note also includes a mathematical symbol as if the
Unfortunately, the characterisation was very one-dimensional and there were a few blatant mistakes about the way things work in the UK. For one thing, desperate parents whose children need organ transplants do not get to plead in person with the bereaved parents of possible donors. But if you are interested in maths, or like mysteries that are driven by plot rather than character, you should enjoy it.
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murderer is taunting him, so with the blessing of the police, Seldom and an Argentinean graduate student who was lodging with the first victim, take up the murderer's challenge and attempt to solve the problem of predicting what the next symbol will be and what the series means. Although I had some ideas about the murderer's identity, I didn’t guess the true motive for the crimes.Unfortunately, the characterisation was very one-dimensional and there were a few blatant mistakes about the way things work in the UK. For one thing, desperate parents whose children need organ transplants do not get to plead in person with the bereaved parents of possible donors. But if you are interested in maths, or like mysteries that are driven by plot rather than character, you should enjoy it.
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LibraryThing member cmbohn
A young Argentinian math student gets drawn into a series of murders after his landlady is killed. I'm not sure I want to say more than that, since it will give too much away however, the inside flap of the book tell you everything that happens - except who the murderer is.
I'm not sure who
I'm not sure who
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recommended this one, but I couldn't put it down until I was done. It wasn't so much the events, really, although I enjoyed the plot. It was style and the fact that I really had no idea what would happen next. I found the math parts hard to follow, but I still raced through the book to the end. I'm not sure if the writer has any more books available in English, but I would like to read more by him. Show Less
LibraryThing member benfulton
Tries a little too hard to be literature to be a good murder mystery, and a little too hard to be a mystery to be literature. It's fun to try to follow the mathematical puzzles that come up, but some of the characters and vignettes tend to be a little disjointed, and I would agree that the police
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do a pretty poor job of following procedure. The villain is fairly obvious from the beginning, although there is a small surprise twist in that that particular villain is occasionally only an accessory. Not as good as I'd hoped. Show Less
LibraryThing member gilly1944
A good read but lacking a little in both atmosphere and depth of characters. A good story line with an interesting link to mathematical series.
LibraryThing member GlebtheDancer
I'll keep this very short, because I haven't got too much to say. I almost never read crime fiction/mysteries, because I find that I just don't get much from them. Consequently, I was unlikely to like The Oxford Murders from the start. Part of the point of doing reading jags is to force myself to
The book follows a young Argentinian maths student spending a year studying in Oxford. Shortly after his arrival, his landlady is murdered, and a cryptic note left with Arthur Seldom, an eminent professor of maths. As more bodies turn up, accompanied by notes and symbols, Seldom and the student find themselves in a race to interpret the symbols and find the killer.
This was a very quick read (200 easy pages), but there was nothing to raise it above the level of by-the-numbers 'genre' fiction. We have sexy femme fatale suspects, eminent mathemeticians, disgruntled academics, policemen who appear to feel the need to include civilians in all their conversations, red herrings aplenty, you know the rest. As a mathematician himself, Martinez takes the opportunity to weave in some fairly complex ideas (Godel's theorem as a motive for murder, anyone?), and he just about keeps it above the level of a silly analogy. There is even something vaguely Eco-esque in the unfolding of the mystery, with false trails, semiotic trickery and an almost meta-physical twist at the end. However, whatever interest this may have generated in me was lost in his determination to stick to the most mundane, formulaic thriller mould he could find. The entire book, with its multiple deaths, felt about the same length as the amount of time Eco takes to describe a doorway (some may see this as a positive). Anyway, as I said, I have no real frame of reference, because I don't read many thrillers, but I didn't really enjoy this one.
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encounter different types of literature I wouldn't normally read, so I went in with an open mind.The book follows a young Argentinian maths student spending a year studying in Oxford. Shortly after his arrival, his landlady is murdered, and a cryptic note left with Arthur Seldom, an eminent professor of maths. As more bodies turn up, accompanied by notes and symbols, Seldom and the student find themselves in a race to interpret the symbols and find the killer.
This was a very quick read (200 easy pages), but there was nothing to raise it above the level of by-the-numbers 'genre' fiction. We have sexy femme fatale suspects, eminent mathemeticians, disgruntled academics, policemen who appear to feel the need to include civilians in all their conversations, red herrings aplenty, you know the rest. As a mathematician himself, Martinez takes the opportunity to weave in some fairly complex ideas (Godel's theorem as a motive for murder, anyone?), and he just about keeps it above the level of a silly analogy. There is even something vaguely Eco-esque in the unfolding of the mystery, with false trails, semiotic trickery and an almost meta-physical twist at the end. However, whatever interest this may have generated in me was lost in his determination to stick to the most mundane, formulaic thriller mould he could find. The entire book, with its multiple deaths, felt about the same length as the amount of time Eco takes to describe a doorway (some may see this as a positive). Anyway, as I said, I have no real frame of reference, because I don't read many thrillers, but I didn't really enjoy this one.
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LibraryThing member debs4jc
On a summer's day in Oxford, a young Argentine mathematics student finds his landlady - an elderly woman who helped decipher the Enigma Code during World War II - murdered. Meanwhile, leading Oxford logician Arthur Seldom receives an anonymous note bearing a circle and the words, 'the first of the
My thoughts: I thought this was a bit dry, and the math/logic stuff was a bit over my head but it's not neccesary to follow the story. The characters are a bit flat too. Thy mystery aspect is solid, a good puzzle that wasn't too easy to figure out. Math nuts would appreciate it more and I definitely recommend it if you love math and logic problems. Otherwise it is just an average mystery.
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series. Murders begin to pile up - an old man on life-support is found dead with needle punctures in his throat, a percussionist at Blenheim Palace dies before the audience's very eyes - seemingly unconnected except for notes appearing in the math department, for the attention of Seldom. Seldom guesses that the murders relate to his book about the parallels between investigations of serial killers and certain mathematical theorems. As he and the young student are drawn further into the game, it is up to the mentor and student to solve the puzzle before the killer strikes again. (Summary from the book jacket) My thoughts: I thought this was a bit dry, and the math/logic stuff was a bit over my head but it's not neccesary to follow the story. The characters are a bit flat too. Thy mystery aspect is solid, a good puzzle that wasn't too easy to figure out. Math nuts would appreciate it more and I definitely recommend it if you love math and logic problems. Otherwise it is just an average mystery.
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LibraryThing member riverwillow
I love a good murder mystery and this was an interesting read, most particularly because of how Guillermo Martinez perceives the British and how he uses a very British genre. However I did find the mystery itself less than compelling.
LibraryThing member Ambrosia4
An Argentinian grad student in mathematics visits Oxford and becomes embroiled in a series of murders that are somehow linked to an ancient brotherhood of Pythagoras.
This was definitely not the most amazing mystery ever, but neither was it horrible. The characters are mostly static and unrealistic,
Those who are looking for a good mystery, this is probably not for you. However, if you are interested in mathematics and it's social history, are looking for a quick read, and don't mind a little mystery in the way, this is for you.
This was definitely not the most amazing mystery ever, but neither was it horrible. The characters are mostly static and unrealistic,
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the mystery itself is drab and wearisome. However the prose is nice (if not amazing) and the story moves along at a fast clip, meaning the lackluster mystery does not impact the book's overall enjoyability. The mathematics discussion itself is worth dredging through the rest of the plot.Those who are looking for a good mystery, this is probably not for you. However, if you are interested in mathematics and it's social history, are looking for a quick read, and don't mind a little mystery in the way, this is for you.
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LibraryThing member marient
A whodonit featuring an Argentine grad student who finds his elderly landlady murdered in the parlor of her Oxford home. His mentor, the renowned Oxford logician Arthur Seldon receives an anonymous note bearing a circle and the words 'first of a series'. It would appear that someone is using deaths
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to illustrate a mathematical theorem. Show Less
LibraryThing member judithrs
Oxford Murders. Guillermo Martinez. 2005. In this scholarly mystery, 2 mathematicians work to solve a series of mysteries that seem to be based on a mathematical sequence. The math and logic were a little too much for me, but I enjoyed reading about Oxford.
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
A nicely-written book that does not demand much of its readers, despite its supposedly-intellectual source material. While some modern mathematicians creep in from the sides, this is a book that leans all the way back on Pythagoras and the cult built up around the Greek - a shame, as it seemed
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unnecessary for Martinez to go that way with his ideas. Show Less
LibraryThing member shireling
This was a bit of a disappointment to me.
I had read some favourable reviews, but the chacters didn't appeal to me, the math was way above my head (Wittgenstein, Godel's Theorem anyone?) and the romance (such as it was) felt oddly flat.
Actually I preferred the movie, but that must have been due to
All in all, not a waste of money and time, but I'm not going to re-read it!
I had read some favourable reviews, but the chacters didn't appeal to me, the math was way above my head (Wittgenstein, Godel's Theorem anyone?) and the romance (such as it was) felt oddly flat.
Actually I preferred the movie, but that must have been due to
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the images of Oxford, and the fact that quite some people I know were there as extra's.All in all, not a waste of money and time, but I'm not going to re-read it!
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Language
Original language
Spanish
ISBN
9780349117232
Original publication date
2005-01-20