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Fiction Literary

The Devil and the Detective

by (author) John Goldbach

Publisher
Coach House Books
Initial publish date
Apr 2013
Category
Literary, Canadian, Hard-Boiled
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552452691
    Publish Date
    Apr 2013
    List Price
    $18.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781770563353
    Publish Date
    Mar 2013
    List Price
    $10.99

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Description

Robert James, a private detective more interested in chronicling his cases than solving them, gets a midnight call from a young woman whose older husband has been found with a knife in his chest. Murder, corruption, and betrayal ensue as he's drawn into the dark underworld of his client, but hapless Robert and his sidekick, a flower-delivery guy, can't stop drinking, smoking, and philosophizing long enough to keep up. Imagine The Big Sleep via Fernando Pessoa, with a side of Buster Keaton.

'Goldbach's touch is light and his narrative momentum is fierce.'

Globe and Mail

'Told in a sort of punchÂ?drunk, slapstick stream that melds dreams, misperception and dialogue, the story has undeniable momentum, even as it veers persistently and amusingly off course. [Four stars]'

Timeout Chicago

About the author

John Goldbach is the author of The Devil and the Detective, a novel, and Selected Blackouts, a story collection.

John Goldbach's profile page