If you like intellectual intrigue then Paul Robertson’s An Elegant Solution is the book for you.
Young Leonhard is a math student of Master Johann, the stern Chair of
Mathematics at the university in Basel, Switzerland in the eighteenth century.
By morning Leonhard works for Mistress Dorothea, wife of
Master Johann, to pay for his afternoon mathematics lessons. By routine and by
accident Leonhard finds himself at the heart of Master Johann’s family intrigue
when the local coach driver disappears.
As devoted as Leonhard is to mathematics and elegant
formulas, he is likewise devoted to Nicolaus and Daniel, the highly competitive
sons of Master Johann, who have unexpectedly returned to Basel leaving behind
prestigious university chairs in foreign countries. Leonhard finds himself
inextricably drawn into a mystery of spirals, deaths, and unanswered questions
as he seeks to understand what is happening to the quiet town of Basel he knows
so well.
Paul Robertson is methodical as he sets the scene and
provides the history surrounding the mystery behind university chairs at Basel.
He spends a lot of time describing what young Leonhard’s world in Basel was
like, and he is effective in transporting his readers to that same world. On
the downside, Robertson takes his time creating Leonhard’s world, and I found
myself at 100 pages into his novel still waiting for that pull that would take
me completely into the book.
Yet, I found Robertson’s writing, descriptions, and meticulous
research compelling because he introduced me to a new world of intellectual
intrigue and jealously. And I even found myself not minding the mathematical
discussion that gave credibility to his plot. Bethany House Publishing sent me
a complimentary copy of An Elegant
Solution by Paul Robertson to review.
