The Manual of Detection

If Kafka had a sense of humor, he might have written THE MANUAL OF DETECTION. Pete Larkin's performance takes Jedediah Berry's absurd and fantastical situations and his tightly controlled, intelligent, and downright funny writing, and turns the plight of hapless Charles Unwin into a rollicking audio romp through surreal chaos. Unwin is a simple clerk in an ultrasecretive detective agency who is mysteriously (possibly erroneously) promoted to detective. As Unwin deals with cases like "The Man Who Stole November 12th" and "The World's Oldest Murdered Man," Larkin wisely keeps things low-key yet unmistakably sardonic, especially his tongue-in-cheek handling of separated conjoined twins, a mountain of missing alarm clocks, a criminal mastermind dream thief, and the seductress Cleopatra Greenwood. High marks for a spectacular narration of Berry's unadulterated nuttiness. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

December 8, 2008
Set in an unnamed city, Berry's ambitious debut reverberates with echoes of Kafka and Paul Auster. Charles Unwin, a clerk who's toiled for years for the Pinkerton-like Agency, has meticulously catalogued the legendary cases of sleuth Travis Sivart. When Sivart disappears, Unwin, who's inexplicably promoted to the rank of detective, goes in search of him. While exploring the upper reaches of the Agency's labyrinthine headquarters, the paper pusher stumbles on a corpse. Aided by a narcoleptic assistant, he enters a surreal landscape where all the alarm clocks have been stolen. In the course of his inquiries, Unwin is shattered to realize that some of Sivart's greatest triumphs were empty ones, that his hero didn't always come up with the correct solution. Even if the intriguing conceit doesn't fully work, this cerebral novel, with its sly winks at traditional whodunits and inspired portrait of the bureaucratic and paranoid Agency, will appeal to mystery readers and nongenre fans alike.

Starred review from March 30, 2009
Berry's debut novel stars Charles Unwin, a clerk for the famous detective Travis Sivart, whose own promotion to detective is followed by a series of bewildering events. Sivart goes missing, the supervisor of the detectives turns up dead and Unwin is left to solve the many mysteries. Pete Larkin is perfectly suited for this whimsical, Kafkaesque noir; his smooth and sympathetic narration makes the bizarre twists perfectly logical and sensible. He also provides homage to the hard-boiled staples: the seasoned detective, the naïve but clever clerk, the eager assistant, the brutish thugs, the sinister mastermind and the femme fatale. The strength of the story and the talent of the reader mesh beautifully. A Penguin Press hardcover
(Reviews, Dec. 8).

Starred review from May 15, 2009
In an effort to locate a missing detective, an agency clerk investigates that detective's most renowned cases. Is he following the right clues? Is he trusting the right people? His steps through the surreal City, the Agency Archives, and the Travels-No-More Carnival take him ever closer to his destiny. Merging a comedic yet dark fantasy world with the hard-boiled school of detection, this clever debut novel both amuses and confuses. Pete Larkin's ("The Last Campaign") carefully fashioned portrayals of the stock charactersworldly Detective Sivert, innocent, clueless clerk Unwin, femme fatale Cleopatra Greenwood, folksy janitor Arthur, elderly Colonel Baker, and evil magician Enoch Hoffmanhelp the listener keep track of who's who but never what's what! Fans of Jasper Fforde and Dashiell Hammett will appreciate. [Audio clip available through www.highbridgeaudio.com; see Major Audio Releases, "LJ" 2/1/09.Ed.]Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA

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