The Three Body Problem

Cambridge Mysteries #1

by Catherine Shaw

Cambridge, 1888. Miss Vanessa Duncan is a young schoolmistress recently arrived from the countryside. She loves teaching and finds the world of academia fascinating; everything is going so well. But everything changes when a Fellow of Mathematics, Mr. Akers, is found dead in his room from a violent blow to the head. Invited to dinner by the family of one of her charges, Vanessa meets many of the victim’s colleagues, including Mr. Arthur Weatherburn, who had dined with Mr. Akers the evening of his death and happens to be Vanessa’s upstairs neighbor. Discussing the murder, she learns of Sir Isaac Newton’s yet unsolved ‘n-body problem’, which Mr. Akers might have been trying to solve to win the prestigious prize. As the murder remains unsolved, Vanessa’s relationship with Arthur Weatherburn blossoms. Then another mathematician, Mr. Beddoes is murdered and Arthur is jailed. Convinced of his innocence and with a theory of her own, Vanessa decides to prove her case. But when a third mathematician dies, it becomes a race against time to solve the puzzle. . .

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, British Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

CATHERINE SHAW is a pseudonym used by Leila Schneps. She is a mathematician and academic and writer of murder mysteries. She lives in Paris, France.

After taking an undergraduate degree in pure mathematics at Harvard University, Leila Schneps moved to France definitively in 1983, where shortly after obtaining her Ph.D., she was hired by the French National Scienctific Research Centre as a researcher in mathematics. Over twenty years of doing maths, teaching, and mentoring graduate students, her interests have widened far beyond the horizons of pure algebra to aspects of mathematics - such as probability and statistics- that play a more visible role in the world around us, and to the way in which people absorb, reject or react to mathematics.

At the same time, a lifelong passion for mystery stories led Leila to try her hand at writing one herself, eventually leading to a series of "Cambridge Mysteries" published by Allison & Busby.

Reviews

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 stars - English Ebook

Cambridge, 1888. When schoolmistress Vanessa Duncan learns of a murder at St John's College, little does she know that she will become deeply entangled in the mystery. Dr Geoffrey Akers, Fellow in Pure Mathematics, has been found dead, struck down by a violent blow to the head.

What could provoke such a brutal act? Vanessa, finding herself in amongst Cambridge's brightest scholarly minds, discovers that the motive may lie in mathematics itself.

Drawn closer to the case by a blossoming friendship with mathematician Arthur Weatherburn, Vanessa begins to investigate. When she learns of Sir Isaac Newton's elusive 'n-body problem' and the prestigious prize offered to anyone with a solution, things begin to make sense.

But with further deaths occurring and the threat of an innocent man being condemned, Vanessa must hurry with her calculations.

A fun book in an academic setting. The story contains a somewhat unusual mystery involving the mysterious deaths of mathematicians at Cambridge University.

The narrative also includes puzzles, problems, and literary quotes that the school teacher-amateur sleuth-protagonist includes as part of her discussion of her teaching duties.

I found these diverting by themselves, but they become important for the story as well.

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 1 out of 5]

B for boring … DNF for … you know what :)

[Deanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have liked this more but for the way the story is narrated. Our heroine writes letters to her twin disclosing the story, but we only have letters going one way, so we have one point of view.
Did find one annoyance, our heroine mentions the lack of fingerprints on a bottle of the prime suspect. The book is set in 1888, fingerprints weren't used until at least 10 years later. So after a snort of disbelief I decided to carry on whilst disengaging the part of my brain which knows trivia and gets annoyed at such things.
I've already picked up the next book in the series from the library, have to see if the next one in the series is better.

[Isaac Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres estrellas y media.

+++++
- Formato epistolar. Curioso, cuanto menos, y diferente a lo habitual.
- Historia centrada en el siglo XIX, con la investigación matemática de fondo, que brinda un planteamiento y contexto muy interesantes.
- Tintes que me han recordado a la lógica deductiva de Sherlock Holmes, aunque sin llevarla tan al extremo.
- La trama judicial me ha resultado vibrante.

- - - - -
- La narración de la resolución del caso me ha parecido que contenía excesivas especulaciones, siendo que se situaba en contexto judicial.

[El · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like 1) Maths with every minute detail given, 2) the epistolary style and 3) suspending your disbelief totally in the face of all the odds then you will like this book. Sadly, I don't so this novel was not for me. There was way too much detailed Maths exposition which was not needed for the storyline and the letter-writing was just one way so we only ever learned the narrator’s viewpoint. Added to this was the very unbelievable plot line of the narrator’s travels abroad which would more likely have seen her arrested on her return rather than the actual events in the work. We were also expected to believe that the narrator had total verbatim recall of every conversation and every utterance in the courtroom so that she could “write to her sister” (relate the plot). I kept imagining the poor sister receiving these huge missives and having to read them – not to mention the cost of the stamp to send all these pages! And the final courtroom scene where she constantly used “maybe, perhaps, I imagine, probably, possibly, could have, might have”, etc would have been laughed out of court by the Prosecutor and Judge. At times this book made me laugh out loud – and it’s not a comic novel! I won’t be reading any more in this series.

[Rachel Jacquest · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book, though enjoyable to read, did assume that the reader would be rather slow to work things out; especially in the earlier pages, I found myself discovering things that had not yet occurred to the protagonist. However, as the plot developed, I began to lag a little behind, and though I came up with the solution before the Big Reveal, it was far after Miss Duncan had figured it out - in fact, it wasn't even while I was reading the book, but rather when in the shower, amongst much shampoo and excitement. The conclusion was most satisfactory, and though the plot did often threaten to become quite fanciful, I had much fun in reading it, and will endeavour to read further books in the series. In short, don't expect a masterpiece or a highly complex murder mystery, but do have a read if you want an entertaining book - it helps to enjoy the occasional mathematical conundrum, too!

[Jim Hager · Rating 4 out of 5]

I meant to read the book by Liu Cixin of the same title. But what a happy accident! Thoroughly enjoyed this delightful novel written as a series of letters from one twin sister to another. Very sweet and satisfying murder mystery.

[Anna Catharina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieser Krimi zeichnet sich eigentlich durch zwei Punkte aus:
- es ist ein mathematischer (!) historischer Kriminalroman
- er ist komplett in Briefform erzählt.

Die Briefform fand ich anfangs etwas irritierend und offenbar konnte auch die Autorin diesen Stil nicht wirklich durchhalten, denn die meisten Briefe (von Anfangs- und Endfloskeln mal abgesehen) lesen sich doch eher wie ein Ich-Erzähler. Normalerweise spricht man ja in einem Brief den Adressaten immer wieder an, nimmt auf gemeinsame Erlebnisse Bezug oder fragt nach. Dies fehlt in diesen Brief fast komplett, weshalb sie sich eben nicht wirklich wie Briefe lesen. Ich denke, die Autorin wollte etwas anderes (und zugleich ganz klassisches) ausprobieren, gelungen ist es hier leider nicht wirklich.

Die ersten hundert Seiten fand ich etwas langatmig, ich dachte schon, das Lesen dieses Buches würde sich endlos wie Kaugummi ziehen. Aber als der Gerichtsprozess begann, wurde es plötzlich sehr unterhaltsam (auch wenn die Handlung kaum voranging). Über die Befragungen vor Gericht konnte ich mich sehr amüsieren und auch danach flog ich geradezu durch die Seiten. Von Langeweile keine Spur!
Die Auflösung der Mord war wirklich sehr interessant und doch anders als der übliche Einheitsbrei.
Nach dem etwas langweiligen Start war es dann doch eine schöne Lektüre.

[Sherrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from the beach house we rented and it proved to be a sweet read. The girl in the book was so innocent and nice and she was so intent on solving the case for Arthur whom she cared for and she took on a motherless child while doing this and all in all I found her to be thoroughly good and kind. She wanted only the best for everyone. I appreciate people like that and hope to be like that in my life.

[SWC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an email advising me that this book contained mathematics in the plot. I was further intrigued to learn that the author has a PhD in mathematics. The plot being presented by a series of correspondence was a novel approach to me. I would have appreciated there being chapter divisions. By that I mean something like dividing the correspondence by the month in which the letters were written. Much thought must have been given to the closing of the numerous letters. Teaching boys and girls in the same class? How scandalous!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un escrito muy bien desarrollado, soy fanático de las matemáticas, eso hace que la lectura se vuelva más amena, hay ciertas pistas desde el principio que te llevan a querer deducir el final, sin embargo la autora remata bien el curso de la historia. Muy agradable.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es sinceramente uno de mis libros favoritos, una historia interesante y un gran planteamiento de conceptos matemáticos sin que esto llegue a ser pesado. Muy recomendado.

[A.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Epistolary style - Miss Vanessa Duncan writes letters to her twin sister about what’s happening at Cambridge. We don’t get Dora’s responses, or indeed anything much about her twin.
Dr Geoffrey Akers, Fellow in Pure Mathematics, has been killed and the last person to see him was her upstairs neighbour Mr. Arthur Weatherburn. The maths world is trying to solve Newton’s n-body problem and there is a lot of money and prestige at stake with a prize offered by the Swedish King.
When a second mathematician, Mr Beddoes, is found dead in his yard, it doesn’t take the police long to find out that he walked home with Arthur after eating dinner together.
A third man, Mr Crawford, dies of digitalis poisoning.
Arthur is arrested and put in front of a Grand Jury for trial.
But Vanessa can’t believe it. She sits through the trial powerless to help him and becoming more concerned every day.
***
I thought I was borrowing another novel with the same title. Once I realised my mistake, I was walking… usual story.
The court scenes are a little dragging. Okay… a LOT dragging.
The mention of a Grand Jury threw me - I had to go look it up. UK law abolished them in 1917 because they didn’t work. It’s arguable they aren’t working here. I’m an ex lawyer and they have no evidence at all; not enough to charge him with the three murders. The last death even occurred when he was in police custody.
The characters make some odd logic leaps to ‘solve’ the mystery.
She runs off to trek through France and on to Sweden when she has no money and conveniently Emily, one of her students goes with her, and she has money and speaks all the languages they need. She collects Emily’s half brother on the way.
And her entire testimony is conjecture (X probably conceived the idea… he must have…) or hearsay (Beddoes’ sister says…) and should be inadmissible.

2 stars

[Sara Platero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta novela podría entrar dentro del Cozy Misteries por el tipo de investigación y redacción del caso.

Ambientado en Cambridge a finales del siglo XIX. La protagonista principal es Vanessa, una profesora particular que educa a niñas en diferentes ámbitos, entre ellos las matemáticas. Mediante cartas a su hermana Dora, que es el formato de escritura que encontraremos a lo largo de toda la novela, Vanessa irá explicando los acontecimientos sucedidos en Cambridge tras la muerte de un académico matemático.

Aunque al principio el formato epistolar no me acababa de convencer a lo largo de la lectura me he ido acostumbrando al mismo y el lector acaba tomando el involuntario papel de la hermana que apenas tiene influencia en la acción protagonista. Debido a este mismo formato únicamente conocemos el punto de vista y los pensamientos de una única persona a lo largo de toda la novela a través de cuyos ojos vamos viviendo los acontecimientos como actores pasivos.

El estilo de escritura es sencillo aunque hay algunas explicaciones de ámbito matemático en la que es fácil perderse. Dado que muchos de los personajes que aparecen en la novela fueron personajes que existieron en la vida real , resulta una novela muy instructiva y de la que se puede aprender tanto historia como ciencia.

Además, dado que la protagonista es una mujer se ponen de manifiesto todas las limitaciones ligadas al género en dicha época, desde la prohibición de estudiar mujeres y hombres juntos, hasta la negativa a aceptar a mujeres en universidades o estudios superiores o, incluso, los peligros de viajar sola.

Sin duda muy recomendable para todos los lectores, mayores de 13 años, que disfruten con las novelas de misterio y, especialmente, con el ámbito matemático.

[Amalia Frontali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grazioso e sicuramente valido dal punto di vista della trama, ambientato a Cambridge nel 1888, con una vaga tonalità romance, che non disturba. Da lettrice abituale di romanzi vittoriani, rilevo qualche imperfezione nella cornice storica, quale ad esempio la mole di impegni e lo stile di vita di un'istitutrice (la protagonista ha decisamente troppo tempo libero) e in generale la mancanza di formalità e la compiacenza con cui la sua figura (di lavoratrice e di donne nubile) viene accolta un po' da tutti, muovendosi con un'indipendenza, materiale e morale, un po' eccessiva.
La forma epistolare è un pretesto, perché spesso la narrazione perde le caratteristiche di "lettera" e diventa una prima persona passata "narrativa". In tal senso ad esempio le udienze "stenografate" in aula dalla protagonista non si riescono a inquadrare come materia di lettera. Anche la scelta, comprensibile, di non inserire le risposte del destinatario, ma solo lettere della protagonista, contribuisce a far perdere l'illusione epistolare.
Molto convincente l'atmosfera della Cambridge vittoriana e le figure dei matematici, con un campionario di caratteri significativo e un'ottima coerenza di azione.
Le 4 stelline le merita perché, pur con la consapevolezza dei difetti di cui sopra, la lettura è coinvolgente e si chiude il libro con la sensazione di aver letto un romanzo gradevole e ben confezionato. Come dire che l'autrice, solo per la qualità di scrittura e il potenziale di trama e personaggi, riesce a far sembrare i suoi nei non un difetto fisico, ma un vezzo cosmetico.

[Anna B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, the story is interesting —and the ending/solution gets pretty exciting— but the WAY the story is written was annoying to me and detracted from the story. Specifically:

- The book is very slow at first and there are several SUPER obvious plot points that the protagonist is SO SLOW to figure out.
- The book structure (one-sided letters from a woman to her sister) is a clumsy, unnecessary vehicle to convey the story’s detail. She’s writing everything that happened (verbatim, in some cases) so her sister can read the letters and help her solve the mystery? It’s a bit cringe at times and not believable. Would have been nice if the sister had noticed something big and contributed to the sleuthing.

I discovered this book when looking for the other Three Body Problem book and got it for the lols. There was a several month wait for it at my library. I giggle thinking about the poor souls who waited so long to read about aliens and then read something about tea and crumpets in the first few sentences.

[Jimmacc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is very good, and I enjoyed the general flow. There are sections, particularly leading up to the end, where I rolled my eyes. The language was a pure treat. I just finished a Douglas Preston book (this is not intended as a slight to him, whose stories I enjoy). Starting this audio book at the same speed felt like a squall of words. Once the speed was slowed, the prose was as enjoyable to me as the story, if not more. The narrator was excellent throughout.

I am looking forward to reading more from the author.

[Nynke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was rather dull. Methinks there is a reason detective stories tend to be told from the perspective of a detective rather than naive youngsters....

It is mostly a quick read. Except for the little educational trip to the late 19th century near the start, which i found quite tedious. Not what i was after for bedtime reading.

Ordered by mistake. I had wanted to read the book of the same title by Liu Cixin, instead this turned up. Decided to give it a go. Not sure yet if i regret that. Some bits were pleasant but overall i found this quite underwhelming.

[Emtee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the Victorian era and written in the epistolary style popular back then, this is an interesting and unusual detective novel. Maths features prominently (the author is herself a mathematician) but this should not deter the lay reader.
The female protagonist, intelligent and determined, strives to save the man she is growing to love from the gallows.

While the writing and action don’t always feel true to the period, the drama moves along at a good pace. I finished it in three days (unusually quick for me). I expect to read more of Catherine Shaw’s work.

[Timetit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling book that intertwines mathematics with three murders, and a look at women's high education in the late 1800s.
The first part is slow but then there is a crescendo and the last part that I read in one breath is exciting, leaving everything else out…
The writing is clear and elegant and adapted to the historical context.
The final note "Mathematical History in the three-body problem" is a gem!
The author will be in Padua next week

[Beth Levitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems the narrative approach - the book progresses with a series of letters from one sister to her twin - fell flat with many readers. While I found the format a bit clunky, the story still drew me in though the math was way beyond me. I actually read the third book first so I can attest that the author discontinues this format in her later books and that I enjoy the mysteries and the characters.

[Abraham Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque la forma en ma que está narrada puede ser conflictiva en ciertas partes, es una obra histórica ficción bastante buena, emplea muy bien los hechos históricos y da una vuelta a la historia con un caso judicial bastante interesante.
Tal vez la única desventaja es la auto percepción de la narradora, ya que no logras congeniar con ella en muchos momentos.

[Sophie Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun with this! I liked the main character who obliviously decided to do her best for- well, for justice, obviously. Everyone else but her knew who she really did it for and that was a bit cute.

I guessed the mystery at some point but I like those where you can actually guess along because you get to see all the clues during the investigation.

I had fun with this!

[Daniel Finlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up meaning to pick up the popular Chinese science fiction book. This is more of a Victorian era science-mystery, something like if Jane Austen were writing epistelarian mysteries around the time of Mary Shelley. It wasn't bad, but really not my cup of tea.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5. No me ha gustado la forma en que está redactado,en forma de cartas, de la protagonista a su hermana. La trama tampoco me ha resultado atractiva, aunque la temática matemática era interesante a priori.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical whodunit with math!

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. Loved this brilliant book

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

The structure is slightly quirky. A set of letters to the protagonists sister. I really enjoyed the plot and the pace of the second half of the book.

[Lucía Medina · Rating 2 out of 5]

La premisa era interesante, pero está escrito de una forma... fatal. Pero los buenos ganan :)

[Daniel Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un interesante thriller enmarcado en 1880 y en el problema de los tres cuerpos. Bien estructurada la narración en formato epistolar entre la protagonista y su hermana. Interesante.