Formulaic Thrills 
Thomas Jones
- The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martínez, translated by Sonia Soto Buy this book
As Dashiell Hammett once pointed out, murders, even in fiction, are not like mathematical problems. This hasn’t, however, prevented plenty of other crime writers from treating them as if they were. In the equation are a few constants – the corpse, perhaps the time and cause of death – and a few unknown quantities. The detective isolates y and z by means of some rigorous and attentive sleuthing, and is then able, with a little lateral thinking, to deduce x: the identity of the murderer.
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Thomas Jones is one of the London Review’s contributing editors.
Other articles by this contributor:
Forget the Dylai Lama · Bob Dylan
This Is Not That Place · David Eggers escapes from Sudan
Whisky and Soda Man · J.G. Ballard
Welly-Whanging · Alan Hollinghurst
Diary · My Life as a Geek
Diary · The Last Days of eBay
Rut after Rut after Rut · Denis Johnson’s Vietnam
Intimate Strangers · Thomas Jones reads A.L. Kennedy’s new novel
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