New British Books This Week + Author With a Maths PhD

August 16, 2025

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Very few authors simply exit their education and begin writing novels. After all, it helps to have a bit of adult life experience if you want to write really great characters and realistic situations.

That’s why I often find it interesting to look into what authors did before they became authors. In the case of English author Alex Pavesi, the answer might not be what you’d expect. Before writing, he was a software engineer - and before that, he earned a PhD in Mathematics.

Having a mind that leans towards logic and systems certainly helped out when he was writing The Eighth Detective (also released as Eight Detectives). The book involves Grant McAllister, a maths professor and crime author who once created a grand theory of murder mysteries.

Now, 30 years on, he’s living in seclusion on a Mediterranean island… until editor Julia Hart comes knocking. His early work is being republished, and as she reads, she realises some things don’t make sense - and might be referencing a very real, very unsolved murder from decades earlier.

A start in maths and engineering may not be as common as authors who got started in teaching, law, or advertising/marketing jobs, but it has certainly worked out well for Pavesi.

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New British Books This Week

The Final Vow by MW Craven

A bride is gunned down on her wedding day at Gretna Green—the 17th victim of a sniper who never misses and leaves no trace. With the nation in panic and no pattern to follow, Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are called in to stop an invisible killer before he strikes again—or before they become his next targets.

Get it: Amazon

The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown

A secret London society sworn to guard magical objects sends Magda Sparks to Hong Kong, where she uncovers deadly enemies, hidden legacies, and a mission more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Death at the Village Christmas Fair by Debbie Young

Alice Carroll’s first Cotswold Christmas is upended when a Santa Runner is found dead after stealing from her mum’s stall—and the trail leads back to her Curiosity Shop, where Alice must uncover why someone would kill for its contents before the bells ring on Christmas Day.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Little Children by Angela Marsons

Detective Kim Stone goes undercover in a corrupt seaside town to uncover why two young boys have vanished, only to find herself racing against ruthless criminals and a mounting body count.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Outlier by Susie Tate

A neurodiverse heroine known as the “Ice Princess” hides her loneliness behind a cold exterior until a terrifying moment throws her into the arms of Mike, the gruff man who’s long rejected her—but as secrets come to light, their enemies-to-lovers bond begins to take shape.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Silent Guest by Sally Rigby

A calculating housesitter infiltrates Vivienne Campbell’s life, gaslighting her into believing she’s losing control, all while hiding a secret connection and a deadly plan for revenge.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

High Season by Katie Bishop

Two decades after witnessing her sister’s drowning in France, Nina—once the youngest to testify in a murder trial—revisits her fractured memories when a true crime documentary threatens to reveal whether her testimony was true or a lie.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

A Silence in Belgrave Square by Jennifer Ashley

Kat Holloway races through the secrets and scandals of Victorian London’s elite when her lover Daniel goes undercover to expose a blackmailer threatening both the Crown and their future together.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Fortunes of Ashmore Castle by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

At Ashmore Castle in 1904 England, Christmas celebrations are shaken by scandal as the Earl’s uncle returns with a young bride, Kitty faces a secret that could end her marriage, and upstairs and downstairs alike, forbidden loves and dangerous rivalries threaten to tear the great house apart.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Secret in Soho by Celina Grace

In 1937 England, when glamorous socialite Helena Davenport disappears without a trace, suspicion falls on her desperate husband Cedric, and it’s up to cook Joan Hart and lady’s maid Verity Hunter to unravel a web of scandal, betrayal, and whispered murder before he faces arrest.

Get it: Amazon

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

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