The Manual of Detection

Berry, Jedediah

ISBN 10: 0434019453 / ISBN 13: 9780434019458

Published by William Heinemann / Random House, London, 2009

About this Item

First UK edition, first impression with full number line. Decorated boards, no jacket as issued. Some very slight edge wear to top and bottom of covers and spine, corners very slightly rubbed, price on back cover (£14.99), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall a vg++ copy. 279pp, decorated endpapers. In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin is a humble file clerk working for a huge and imperious detective agency, and all he knows about solving mysteries comes from filing reports for the illustrious cheif investigator Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing, and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound MANUAL OF DETECTION. Unwin mounts his search for Sivart, but is soon framed for murder, pursued by goons and gunmen, and confounded by the infamous femme fatale Cleo Greenwood. Meanwhile, strange and troubling questions proliferate, why does the mummy at the Municipal Museum have modern day dental work? Where have all the city's alarm clocks gone? Why is Unwin's copy of the Manual missing Chapter 18? When he discovers that the greatest of Sivart's cases, including 'The Three Deaths of Colonel Baker' and 'The Man who Stole the Twelfth of November', were never solved correctly, he must enter the dreams of a murdered man and face a criminal mastermind bent on total control of a slumbering city. The author's somewhat mind blowing debut novel.

Seller Inventory # 005664

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Manual of Detection
• Publisher: William Heinemann / Random House, London
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0434019453
• ISBN 13: 9780434019458
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cover designs by Bill Sanderson & Glenn O'Neill
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

Unusual book

About the Author

Jedediah Berry’s short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best New American Voices and Best American Fantasy. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he works as assistant editor of Small Beer Press.