"The Manual of Detection"

This novel by Jedediah Berry is one of the most unique mysteries I've read in a very long time. It is so strange, though, that there were times I thought about just returning it to the library's "best picks" shelf without finishing it. Although it was slow going (I wasn't able to just sit down and read it in a few hours.), I just couldn't give up on it for some reason and by the time I neared the end, I no longer wanted to. Charles Unwin is a clerk at a large detective agency with very segregated departments. Detective Travis Sivart is his charge -- the man he compiles details about -- determining what facts from Sivart's cases will be saved for prosperity in the archives. When he accidentally has direct contact with Detective Sivart (forbidden by agency rules), Charles Unwin's life is turned upside down and he himself is promoted to Detective without a clue as to why or as to what that entails. This is where his adventure begins and where he meets a host of new characters while trying to unravel a mystery along the way. I found the conclusion so satsifactory that it was worth wading my way through the book's beginning.

pazt