The Manual of Detection
core novel 2009 The Manual of Detection
Record
| First published | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.56 (5,183 ratings, collected 2026-11-03) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781594202117 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Charles Unwin has spent years as a clerk at a huge detective agency in an unnamed, rain-soaked city, filing the cases of the celebrated detective Travis Sivart. When Sivart disappears, Unwin is promoted to detective, though he is ill-prepared and has only the agency's guidebook and a narcoleptic assistant, Emily Doppel, to help him. He finds his assigned watcher dead and the evidence pointing at himself. To clear his name he looks into a magician who once pulled off a theft so large that the city lost a whole day. The trail leads through Sivart's old cases and into a dream world where waking and sleeping begin to blur.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Manual of Detection
- Series: The Manual of Detection core; position 1 of 1 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Jedediah Berry
Awards (verified)
- Hammett Prize, 2009: won
- Crawford Award, 2010: won
- Young Lions Fiction Award, 2010: finalist
Notes
- From the series record (The Manual of Detection): A standalone noir fantasy about a clerk promoted to detective in a dream-haunted city.
Sources
← The Manual of Detection dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.