â[An] ingeniously plotted novel . . . Norman knows how to weave an enticing and satisfying mystery, one tantalizing thread at a time.â â New York Times Book Review
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A witty, engrossing homage to noir, from National Book Award finalist Howard Norman
Jacob Rigolet, soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector, looks up from his seat at an auctionâhis mother, former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, is walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of ink at master photographer Robert Capaâs Death on a Leipzig Balcony. Jacobâs police detective fiancÊe is assigned to the ensuing interrogation.
                 My Darling Detective delivers a fond nod to classic noir, as Jacobâs understanding of the man he has always assumed to be his father unravels against the darker truth of Robert Emil, a police officer suspected of murdering two Jewish residents during an upswing of anti-Semitism in 1945. The denouement, involving a dire shootout and an emergency deliveryâitâs the second Rigolet to be born in the Halifax library in a three decadesâis Howard Norman at his uncannily moving best.
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âNorman works with an offhand ease and grace . . . Whimsy is balanced by moments of powerfully evoked realism.â â Washington Post
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âAn unconventional, lively literary mystery.â â Kirkus Reviews