The Oxford Brotherhood

A Novel

By: Guillermo Martínez

Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan

This literary thriller set at Oxford University puts talented mathematics student G at the center of a murder mystery sparked by the discovery of hidden secrets in the life of famed author Lewis Carroll.

Mathematics student G is trying to resurrect his studies, which is proving difficult as he finds himself drawn into investigating a series of mysterious crimes. When Kristen, a researcher hired by the Lewis Carroll Brotherhood, makes a startling new discovery concerning pages torn from Carroll’s diary, she hesitates to reveal to her employers a hitherto unknown chapter in his life. Oxford would be rocked to its core if the truth about Lewis Carroll’s relationship with Alice Liddell—the real Alice—were brought to light.

After Kristen is involved in a surreal accident and members of the Brotherhood are anonymously sent salacious photographs of Alice, G joins forces with Kristen as they begin to confront that sinister powers that are at work. More pictures are received, and it becomes clear that a murderer is stalking anyone who shows too much interest in uncovering certain aspects of Lewis Carroll’s life.

G must stretch his mathematical mind to its limits to solve the mystery and understand the cryptic workings of the Brotherhood. Until then, nobody—not even G himself—is safe. A thrilling novel inspired by true, strange stories from Lewis Caroll’s life, The Oxford Brotherhood is sure to make you curiouser and curiouser.

©2022 Guillermo Martinez (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Enjoyable literary mystery

The plot is convoluted and in places the story is dense with academic minutiae, but that pretty much goes with the territory of a literary mystery. I gather that this is Martinez’s first novel, and I hope he writes more. I feel sure the next one will have a faster moving plot. But this one was fun and I’m glad I got it. The narration is excellent.

Complex Murder Mystery

I loved this story, and zipped through it quickly. I DO wish, however, that I had written a ‘scorecard’ of sorts, to remember each of the characters— especially at the end. There are a few too many references to mathematical formulas and logic problems, yet nothing too cumbersome. Enjoy!

An old fashioned murder mystery

If you are a lover of old fashioned murder mysteries, then you'll probably love this book. The story revolves around a modern appreciation society to Lewis Carroll, famous author of Alice in Wonderland who had been accused of pedophilia. New evidence comes into the hands of a young woman loosely attached to the society and v is up to another student to help get to the bottom, only members of or connected to the society begin dying, each with striking resemblance to events from Alice.
This is a classic who-done-it so be aware, it stays in that vein the entire time. Most of the plot is advanced by characters talking back and forth about how they view Lewis Carroll and then about their connections to the murders. Yes, there are twists and turns though I rarely read (listen) to these kinds of mysteries.
The performance was spot on. kudos to the VA!

Lots of formal logic

Many readers might find the frequent references to math, philosophy and formal logic to be distracting and tedious but I enjoyed them. As a mystery it unraveled rather neatly. And the many accents (English, Scot, Argentinian, Australian) were performed very well.