The Three-Body Problem by
Catherine Shaw
hbk out January 04
Published by Allison Busby
at £17.99
This interesting and unusual historical mystery earned Catherine Shaw a place on the
shortlist for the CWA's John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel
of 2004. It brings together mathematics and murder, a good combination given that
mathematicians, like detectives, yearn for proof of the theories. The story is told by
Vanessa Duncan, a young teacher recently arrived in Cambridge, in remarkably long
letters to her twin Dora. One by one, Cambridge mathematicians are being murdered
and a colleague of the victims, Arthur Weatherburn, becomes the chief suspect.
Vanessa forms an attachment for Arthur and when he is arrested and tried for murder,
she determines to find the evidence that will exonerate him. Her investigation takes
her overseas, and ultimately to a meeting with the King of Sweden, who has organised
a mathematical competition concerning the unsolved 'n-body problem'. As with most
debut novels, there are a few flaws. The epistolary form works well with some
Victorian mysteries but is perhaps most effective when there is more than one
correspondent and we never hear directly from Dora. The murder trial did not strike
me as convincing, and more ruthless cutting would have resulted in a much pacier
narrative. Nevertheless, the mathematical background, the Cambridge setting and the
likeable character of Vanessa are all major positives. Catherine Shaw is a writer to
watch.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
The Three-Body Problem by
Catherine Shaw
