The Last Equation of Isaac Severy: A Novel in Clues

by Nova Jacobs

"The Family Fang meets The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry in this literary mystery about a struggling bookseller whose recently deceased grandfather, a famed mathematician, left behind a dangerous equation for her to track down--and protect--before others can get their hands on it. Just days after mathematician and family patriarch Isaac Severy dies of an apparent suicide, his adopted granddaughter Hazel, owner of a struggling Seattle bookstore, receives a letter from him by mail. In it, Isaac alludes to a secretive organization that is after his final bombshell equation, and he charges Hazel with safely delivering it to a trusted colleague. But first, she must find where the equation is hidden. While in Los Angeles for Isaac's funeral, Hazel realizes she's not the only one searching for his life's work, and that the equation's implications have potentially disastrous consequences for the extended Severy family, a group of dysfunctional geniuses unmoored by the sudden death of their patriarch. As agents of an enigmatic company shadow Isaac's favorite son--a theoretical physicist--and a long-lost cousin mysteriously reappears in Los Angeles, the equation slips further from Hazel's grasp. She must unravel a series of maddening clues hidden by Isaac inside one of her favorite novels, drawing her ever closer to his mathematical treasure. But when her efforts fall short, she is forced to enlist the help of those with questionable motives"--

• ISBN10: 1501175122
• ISBN13: 9781501175121
• Publish Date: 6 March 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Atria Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I feel like this book was both better than I thought it was, but not quite as good as I expected.  The former because my reading was more fractured than I'd like and the book never got a chance to really suck me in; it was always getting interrupted.  The latter, because its novel-to-mystery ratio was higher than I'd have wished.   Isaac Severy was a brilliant mathematician whose last act before dying was writing a bombshell of an equation, which he hid away.  Days after his death, his granddaughter receives a letter from him with his last wishes: to burn all his work save this equation, which she should delver to one trusted colleague and no one else.  But first, she must find the equation using the clues left for her as she goes about fulfilling his final requests.     At the same time, the rest of the Severy family - blessed with brilliance and saddled with dysfunction - is left to pick up the pieces of their lives, re-orienting themselves after they lose their axis and another death unmoors them completely.  Hazel's uncle, Philip, is receiving mysterious notes and visits from someone eager to meet up with him and discuss his father's work, someone who was harassing Isaac in his final days.    I ended up caring about most of the characters except Hazel herself.  She was pretty unmoored from the start, and never felt like she had much resolve.  For me this resulted in the impression that she never took any direction action to find the equation, so much as the clues threw themselves at her in desperation.    Speaking of clues, my biggest annoyance of all was that one of the clues was not only not discovered by Hazel, but the reader didn't got left out too.  Both discover the solution after the fact, and it's a letdown.   These are minor grievances though, and I'm not sure I'd have felt the same way about these things had I been able to commit my time and attention to the book as it deserved.  Perhaps more focus would have allowed me to connect more with Hazel and the story's mystery.  Either way, it was an enjoyable read and kept me entertained, if not deeply invested.

[Quirky Cat]

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy was my BOTM pick for March (side note: I love BOTM because it does a great job getting me to read books I wouldn’t have picked for myself; nine times out of ten I end up loving my pick too, so win-win!). I’m a sucker for blue covers, so obviously I loved this one, but more than that I loved the red circles used to accent the title of the novel. It does a great job of demanding attention (plus the cover itself does a decent job of reminding us that this book is somehow about math). It’s a murder mystery novel, with the focus on math, of all things. But still, it looked like an interesting and new read, and therefore was worth giving a shot.



The Last Equation of Isaac Severy succeeded in both surprising and charming me. Before I dove into the pages of this novel I anticipated it to be along the lines of a typical lighthearted mystery – a little danger, a lot of clues being dropped, and an eventual conclusion that makes sense. What I got was so much more. This is not just a mystery or a puzzle to solve, but an exploration of the complications and intimacy that comes with family bonds and what it is like to have those bonds suddenly cut. It’s a tale of loss as much as it is a tale of discovery. It was a touching and heartbreaking story at times. If you’re looking for a mystery with surprising depth to it, then I suggest you give this one a try.
There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that is this novel. We have multiple main characters, all of whom share the same family group (though not necessarily the same genes), many of whom share the same joys in life (math most importantly), and all of whom who have a secret or some part to play in secret keeping. Twisting and turning throughout this large group of people is the mystery that Isaac Severy dropped amongst them like a bomb. The secret he unleashed upon his death.
The trouble is most of them don’t quite know what the secret is, why they’re looking for it, or even what questions they should be asking. Since math was Isaac’s life it’s safe to assume that his secret has to do with his work, but what could possibly be so dangerous about a math equation that he felt so compelled to hide it? What did he discover?
The twists and turns of Isaac’s last equation are slowly revealed during the course of the novel. During this time we get to know many of the family members he left behind, but a few more than most. Hazel and Gregory, Isaac’s adoptive grandchildren (it’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but let’s not get into that right now) play major roles in this mystery, as does Phillip, one of Isaac’s sons. Adam is another grandchild of Isaac whom also has a part to play in this story.
I imagine each reader will reach their own conclusions and opinions about the motivations behind each character, though I believe we’re led to believe in and like Hazel (at least I know I did). I rather enjoy this type of storytelling, where everything but the major points are left up for reader interpretation.
Despite how emotional and moving this novel was, I found it to be a very relaxing read. There were some tense moments, to be sure, but they were always built up and thanks to the details revealed previously we had an idea of how they were going to go (which is an interesting concept for a mystery novel).
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy is Nova Jacobs debut novel, though I wouldn’t have gassed that on my own. He writes with the confidence of an established author. I do hope to see more from him in the near future. I wonder if he’ll continue with mystery novels, or give something else a try?


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks