Author Description

Product Description [Read by Bronson Pinchot] A witty, engrossing homage to noir from National Book Award finalist Howard Norman. Jacob Rigolet -- a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector -- looks up from his seat at an auction to see his mother, the former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa's ''Death on a Leipzig Balcony.'' What's more, Jacob's police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation. In My Darling Detective, Howard Norman delivers a fond nod to classic noir, as Jacob's understanding of the man he has always assumed to be his father unravels against the darker truth of Robert Emil, a Halifax police officer suspected but never convicted of murdering two Jewish residents during the shocking upswing of anti-Semitism in 1945. The denouement, involving a dire shootout and an emergency delivery -- the second Rigolet to be born in the Halifax Free Library -- is Norman at his provocative, uncannily moving best. Review ''Norman is gifted at establishing atmosphere and character, and he pleasurably engages with old-fashioned crime-story patter … Norman pulls off what old-school noir pros like Chandler and Goodis did: mixes romance with blood in the gutter, makes sure the bad guys get theirs, and ensures the good guys don't come out unscathed. An unconventional, lively literary mystery.'' --Kirkus Reviews''Jacob and Martha are delightful characters, young lovers unraveling a complex and very personal mystery. This is a crowd-pleasing old school mystery novel.'' --Publishers Weekly About the Author Howard Norman is a three-time winner of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a winner of the Lannan Award for fiction. His novels The Northern Lights and The Bird Artist were nominated for National Book Awards. His books have been translated into