The basic pitch for this book would make it seem like it's a fairly straightforward detective novel: a world-famous detective goes missing and his lowly file clerk is promoted to take his place. But nothing in this debut novel by Jedidiah Berry is that simple - Berry takes the straitlaced format of the hard-boiled detective novel and twists and manipulates it into something dazzlingly new.
Charles Unwin has been a clerk for years, cataloging the exploits of Travis Sivart, a man he's never seen, until Sivart goes missing and the hapless Unwin finds himself promoted to take the place of the star detective. Unwin's mission is simple - to find Sivart and go back to clerking and the safe world he's used to. But as the search begins, Unwin discovers that Sivart's famous cases (with delightful names like The Man Who Stole November Twelth and The Twice-Murdered Man) were solved wrongly, and that Sivart's greatest nemesis, previously thought defeated, has now returned. Armed with a narcoleptic secretary - yes, you read that right - and the Agency's manual that forms the title of the book, Unwin blossoms as a character as he tracks down the answers he seeks.
Berry creates an entirely new world with his Manual, mixing the familiar worlds of Dashiell Hammett and Arthur Conan Doyle with the more darkly fantastical worlds of Kafka and Borges. This novel reminded me of movies like Dark City and Brazil, and is an ideal read for people who like their genres mixed and their imaginations challenged. With a debut like this, I'll be looking forward to the kinds of novels Mr. Berry comes out with in the future.