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  • The Manual of Detection See large image

    The Manual of Detection (Paperback) By (author) Jedediah Berry

    05

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    Short Description for The Manual of DetectionIn this tightly plotted debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed only with an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people's dreams.
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  • A Flawless Debut5

    Sholto Spradbury Here is a delightful little story, quaint and sinister, told in pleasingly plain prose, yet with a rich noir aesthetic. I enjoyed everything about the feel of this book - the embossed boards, pithy epigraphs, playfully named characters and ponderous formality. As a first novel it is remarkable for its discipline and clarity. This is a literary artifact, retrieved from dreams, elusive of meaning and achingly familiar at the same time.
    It unfolds like a pared-down confection of 'The Man Who Was Thursday' with 'The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman', to which there are several winks and acts of explicit homage. For all this, the author hasn't tried to be too clever - assisted by a clockwork-steady narrative pace, a small collection of resonant motifs, and an almost affectless protagonist, he creates an hypnotic reading experience. That said, the plot is elaborate, but like those of Chandler, it is ultimately inconsequential - merely a vehicle -and the book would probably be disappointing if read purely as a roman a clef.
    The Manual Of Detection eschews pathos, depth or worldly relevance, and presents as a work of pure imagination - a procession of images, impervious to parsing or psychological analysis, that remain with us long after we think we have awoken from Berry's dream. by Sholto Spradbury

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