The Existential Detective

by Alice Thompson

William Blake is a private detective. When he is asked by an eccentric scientist to investigate the where-abouts of his amnesiac missing wife, Louise, Will finds himself entangled in layers of deceptions and disappearances that lead him inexorably back to an unsolved mystery in his own past: the loss of his young daughter Emily. The case takes Will to brothels, nightclubs and amusement arcades in the Scottish seaside resort of Portobello. Identities become con-fused as his sexual obsession with a nightclub singer becomes entwined with sightings of Louise, his own torturous memories, and new visions of the lost Emily. The Existential Detective is a surreal, dreamlike story of loss, incest and what it means to remember.

Genres: Scotland, Contemporary

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2010

About the author

Alice Thompson is a Scottish novelist.

Thompson was educated at St George's School, Edinburgh, then read English at Oxford and wrote her Ph.D. thesis on Henry James. In the 1980s she played keyboard with rock band The Woodentops.

She has a son and lives in Edinburgh. Her novel Justine was the joint winner of the 1996 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She has also won a Creative Scotland Award in 2000 and was a Writer in Residence in Shetland.

Reviews

[George Ellerby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so awful it was hilarious. I've never chuckled at a book anywhere near as much as I did at this one. It's the B-movie of the book world.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first third wasn't particularly compelling, but the prose sufficient to keep me reading. The middle third established a wonderfully eerie mood reminiscent of _Hawksmoor_ or _Fludd_ or _City of Glass_; what would one call it? Gnomic realism? The final third was a bit of a let down: as (some of) the pieces of the puzzle literally/figuratively came together, the novel began to fall apart. ***MINOR SPOILER*** Some of that fragmentation, sure, is supposed to resonate with Wm Blake's mental disintegration, but felt also like a gimmick compensating for failures of imagination, as if the author didn't quite know how to proceed and therefore opted for a change of scenery ***END MINOR SPOILER***. An interesting and atmospheric novel, though certainly not one for those who prefer tightly plotted mysteries.

[Sandeep Ellawala · Rating 3 out of 5]

After struggling with a couple of not so good books, I must say that I liked my random library pick this time. I just snatched it off the shelf for no reason but the fact that it was not a heavy book. Once I read the back cover I was intrigued, so I started reading it right away.

There is a lot of craziness in this story. Perverseness of the society, complacence of people towards evil, and purely bizarre human rationale for the webs of deception they weave are beautifully captured by the author in this book. The best thing about it is that the whole experience feels like you had a lucid dream of vivid colours that surrounded you in all aspects.

One may argue that it is not exactly a page turner. But I would have to disagree because at least in my case I could not just put this book down till I knew how it ended. Weird! Bizarre! But I did like it.

[Selene · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was good, but... what is it all about. A man who loses his daughter, finds her, doesn’t know it’s her blah blah. If I were you I’d just read the last three chapters, nothing interesting here... move away.

[MrsB · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was okay, but there were far too many coincidences - which, funnily enough, the main character doesn’t like either. It was a pretty quick read though and interesting character descriptions. Too convenient for my taste though

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Book Collector, but this was a disappointment. The characters were unrealistic, and the plot trite. It failed to capture my attention, and to pull me in.

[David Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks like a thin fancy at first glance but the edges still draw blood.

[Mitchell Hadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strange, yet compelling and affecting, story. It leaves one asking as many questions as it answers.

[Tommy Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat frustrating reading experience.

[Marie Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not my kind of book. I found it difficult as one minute it seemed to be fantasy and then in the present.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this partly because of Ali Smith's glowing blurb, and surely Ali Smith is never wrong. Well, she was wrong. It's weird all right, but not surreal or uncanny. And it's not suspenseful.

[Yvann S · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Oh, I’m ordinary. Detectives have to be”

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this book, I just couldn’t! I guessed part of what had happened to Will’s disappeared daughter very early on, and found it implausible that he didn’t spot it too. There were also clues dropped in along the way (like the camera wrapper in Will’s office and the jigsaw) that have nothing to do with the actual story or the solution to the mystery, which just annoyed me. Will kept having fits and blackouts and crazy dreams, which were initially disconcerting and as they went on, came across as a frustratingly lazy way to drop hints about the plot. Maybe it was supposed to be a reflection of his existentialism. The characters were pleasantly varied and each a very distinct individual, although all a bit extreme. Adam was a true mad scientist, and quite an unsympathetic one at that, Lord and Lady Verger both a bit senile and dotty in their own ways, and Will is by no means unflawed (I won’t give away just how awful his sexual desires turn out to be, but it’s not nice). Emily and Lily are both sympathetic little girls, wise beyond their years – everyone likes at least one of those in a book. I struggled with Olivia, at first robotic and later with plenty of other flaws. Thompson has a pretty turn of phrase and does well at evoking Edinburgh; the run down feel of the arcade and the beach and Portobello were well conveyed. The writing itself is rather good:

“The loss of Emily had splintered their marriage like broken shards of glass. They had not fought for their marriage; that which you break you own. No, the opposite: as soon as they had broken it, they disowned it, as if they could not bear to look at their faces reflected in the broken pieces.”

“The gallery was full of history, a different history from Portobello: the history of the establishment, the powerful and wealthy, the centre of the Enlightenment.”

I have a feeling that this book and I just didn’t get on, not that it is a terrible book – for a start I don’t know all that much about existentialism (anything really, apart from having read and loathed Camus’ The Outsider in high school). A quick Wikipedia search gives me

“Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of philosophers since the 19th century who, despite large differences in their positions, generally focused on the condition of human existence, and an individual’s emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts, or the meaning or purpose of life.”

which does very much apply to Will – he is very attuned to his own and other characters’ emotions and the meaning of actions – although I think it is taken a bit far when Adam senses Will listening through the dividing screen.

Similarly, I read a large number of crime books and am used to quite an expansive (? – whatever the opposite of spare and pared-down is!) style which fits well with my fast reading. This is written in a much more concise and stripped-down style, so in my helter-skelter reading I may have failed to appreciate the peaceful rhythm. Or something.

So as much as I have grumbled on about it above, I think its commercial success and status as one of the World Book Night books is not misplaced, just that I am not its ideal reader. I’m going to hang on to it and see if I can read it all in one go in a year or so when I’ve forgotten the answer to the mystery and see if I get on with it any better then. I think it would be well suited to someone who likes philosophical prose (e.g. Life of Pi or The Outsider) with a bit of dystopian science and a dash of dark Scottish underbelly tossed in!

[Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't decide whether I really loathed this: the pretentious, intuitive, emotionally in-touch detective who also happens to be in the middle of a nervous breakdown; the over-use of adjectives and metaphors; the ludicrous plot line (why didn't they go to the police); the fact I worked out very quickly the fact that Louise was his daughter; the buttoned up mother who had an affair with the man who abducted her daughter - I mean p-lease.
Or whether I actually loved the originality and style of writing. It will take a few more days to decide.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting little gem, beautifully written and described (the author doesn't half like her similes - some of these were great, but some were *just* on the right side of annoying) with a plot and a setting well rendered in this short novel format. Much of it reminded me of the films of David Lynch (or, less charitably 'was very confusing') and there were co-incidences aplenty to drive the narrative on, but it resolved itself well at the end without ever being neat and tidy and generic. An enjoyable afternoon's reading.

[Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never thought it would be possible, but this book turned Edinburgh into somewhere ugly, dangerous and disgusting. The story, although it kinda ends in a "happy ending" it's disturbing and you kinda see it coming from miles away, not to mention the male protagonist is as dumb as a brick. Mix in the supernatural/mind desease the character has and it just gets worse.
If the author had been wise enough as to give us a female lead, one to be distinguished among all these male detectives Edinburgh's contained, it may have been a decent novel.
Puag, just, puag.

[Moira McPartlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There should be a label 'couldn't read'. I read forty pages of this 116 page book and could read no futher. The story was going nowhere , the style was telling me what the main character was thinking and was beginning to insult my intelligence. Poor show.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a colossal disappointment. Pretentious and made no sense whatsoever. Only mercy was that it was short - which, at £9.99 made it a rip-off too
re-read 2025 liked it better but still a bit odd in places 3

[Ingrid]

Well worth reading. Set in Edinburgh/Portobello. Not a usual run or the mill detective story.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lines and metaphors, good plot, lovely descriptions of Edinburgh... could have actually used more of the world created in this one, some things felt skipped over. Still a good read.

[Dee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get past chapter 5, gave up, didn't grab any kind of attention, and the fact that the book is printed back-to-front and upside down just seemed pretentious.

[Ramakanth Josyula · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is that it is only 160 pages. Someone could make an interesting movie out of this but as a book, has to be rated at the bottom of the pile. There are times when you just skip over two paragraphs of meaningless descriptions. There are times when you just roll your eyes that the lead character did not do something.