The Riddle of the Fractal Monks by Jonathan Pinnock

The Riddle of the Fractal Monks is the third book in Jonathan Pinnock’s Mathematical Mystery series.

Strap on your seat belts and hold on tight ‘coz you are going on a roller coaster ride, baby!

The Mathematical Mystery Series by Jonathan Pinnock is my all-time favourite. Loads of mathematics, nerd humour, adventure and a high-end chase, what else can a Math nerd ask for?

The Riddle of the Fractal Monks has some serious looking cowled monks, two alpacas, Tom and Dorothy going on a high-end chase, some serious nerd-humour aaannnddd… an exploding helicopter. EXPLODING HELICOPTER!!!

So here’s what happens:

Tom and Dorothy are at a concert and the audience receives a shower of laundry. Hidden in this ‘shower’ is the body of a monk. Dorothy has one look at the dead guy and she knows what’s at stake. Something about a monk was mentioned in one of the online forums. Could this be happening again? Are Tom and Dorothy going on another wild goose chase? (I know you are eager to know about the alpacas but let’s focus on the dead monk for the time being, okay?)

Dotty cannot take her mind off the Vavasors paper she held, even if for a brief moment. Meanwhile, Ali, Dorothy’s business partner has recruited two interns – meet Peter Pan aka Balvinder and Wendy aka Katya.

If you want to know anything about the Marginalia, there is one person you could go to. This person also worked with Issac – the Vavasor twins’ sibling. Meet Margot Evercreech. Tom and Dorothy arrive at Margot’s house only to be welcomed by a rain of bullets from the shotgun. Finally, the truce flag is waved; Tom and Dotty get to meet Margot’s archivist – Benjamin. Now Benji is not new to this series. He was supposed to be dead and only a few people know of his existence…

Oh yes, Tom and Dotty get to meet Dolores and Steven at Margot’s house. Don’t you know who they are? Dolores and Steven – the two alpacas. *I’ll pack a lunch (alpaca), let’s go to the beach. what say?*

Enough about alpacas, Tom and Dotty are here to learn more about Issac. Margot remembers Issac’s fascination with Saint Hildegard of Bingen’s music. She wishes she could tell more but her laptop was stolen soon after she started dealing with… wait for it… Tulpencoins. Now, where did we hear about Tulpencoins? In the previous book – A Question of Trust. Oh, bugger! Are the Channelia goons involved too???? That might not be possible because the channelia ( a ship for the crypto thieves) is presently at the bottom of the Bristol Channel.

Dotty promises she would find Margot’s laptop. Oh sheesh, that’s not good. Why? This is what triggers the chase, the monks, the symbol and the vegetable, harpoons, helicopters … and what do these have in common? FRACTALS!

Phew! I know I got a bit carried over with the blurb but I can’t help it! The Riddle of the Fractal Monks is a new favourite in my favourite series. 😀 I am really impressed by the amount of research Pinnock has put into this series. Tom came face to face with the Belarusian mafia and Channelia goons in the previous books and now he comes face to face with the fractal monks! These psychopathic monks are dangerous and will kill without giving it a second thought.

Ali and Patrice are now a couple (and so there were as the previous story ended) and Ali seems to get along well with Pat’s reptiles. (Snakes, chameleons, and whatsits.) Tom and Dotty are a couple too but this isn’t a romance novel so can I please get to the main story now?

The Chase!! From the bottom of the ocean to the mountain tops, Tom has these psychopathic monks behind him! They want something. Something that Tom, Dotty and their friends have. Then there is this other person who has a ‘thing’ for Tom. She was being a bit of the pain in the backside…

There’s a lot of Greek and Latin in the story – quite literally. The plot is very interesting. The mystery is mind-blowing! I did mention the exploding helicopter, right? Excellent storytelling, mind-blowing adventure, super crazy fun and humour. Tom is a very funny guy. Like, very!!! Poor in mathematics but who’s counting? (c is a constant, Tom! Not a complex number!)

The Riddle of the Fractal Monks is the third book in this series and cannot be read as a standalone. You get to read a little bit about Tom’s previous adventures but this is a series in continuation. I cannot wait to see what’s next for Tom and Dotty, after all, the story ends with quite an interesting revelation. 😀

A highly recommended series. If you are a nerd and looking for some freaking awesome read, do not look further, coz The Mathematical Mystery series is going to blow your mind!

---

Many thanks to Farrago and NetGalley for the ARC. 🙂