A witty, fast-paced thriller, with a dash of mathematics and a large dose of danger.

Tom Winscombe and his ex-girlfriend Dorothy Chan are on a mission to crack a code – a code embedded in a chip inside two alpacas that used to belong to the famed dead mathematical geniuses, the Vavasor twins.

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Their search leads them to a secretive mathematical retreat at a country house. While there, various members of the party succumb to a succession of bizarre fatal accidents. Will Tom and Dorothy succeed in their mission – and get out alive?

Join Tom and a cast of disreputable and downright dangerous characters in this witty thriller set in a murky world of murder, mystery and complex equations.

My Review

“She dies from food poisoning and leaves everything to her cat…”

“What happened to the cat?” I said.

“….someone stole her just after Mrs Standage died.”

“Right,” said Dorothy. “But what if the cat were to turn up again?”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” said Munt. “She was a very old cat.”

“But what about any kittens she might have had?” said Dorothy.

Munt was temporarily lost for words. At this point, so was I. I knew this book was going to be good.

Fast-paced and often shocking, The Code Of The Vavasors is a hilarious romp into mathematics and murder. A strange combination, I know. This is actually the sixth book in the Vavasors series, but a lot of the previous goings on are briefly alluded to throughout the story, so it’s relatively easy to keep up.

Apart from the cat (which we don’t really hear much about later on), the book also includes two alpacas – Stephen and Dolores – who appear to have some kind of chip inside them, plus a bluetooth-enabled alpaca figurine, and an Angora rabbit called Mr Snuffletrousers. The figurine is up for auction, and our two main protagonists – Tom and Dorothy – try to buy it, because it is highly collectible by Vavasor fans. This is after they try to break into a cottage previously owned by the Vavasor twins where they find a dead body. The first of many I hasten to add. I may be getting confused here, but hopefully you are getting the gist.

Eventually they succeed in inveigling themselves into a mathematics-themed Vavasports weekend on a remote island, owned by a collector of Vavasor memorabilia, where hopefully they can recover the alpaca. The body count rises and it’s touch and go whether our intrepid heroes can get away with their deception. I’m exhausted just thinking about it, I probably need to go and lie down. Brilliant book – enjoy!

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Jonathan Pinnock is the author of Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens, the Scott Prize-winning short story collection Dot Dash, the memoir Take it Cool and the poetry collection Love and Loss and Other Important Stuff.