Death of a Typographer

by Nick Gadd

Martin Kern has a special sensitivity to fonts, a skill that he uses to solve typographical crimes. When a local printer is found dead in his workshop, his body in the shape of an X, Martin and his co-investigator, journalist Lucy Tan, are drawn into a mystery that is stranger than anything they have encountered before.

Someone is leaving typographical clues at the scenes of a series of murders. All the trails lead back to Pieter van Floogstraten, a Dutch design genius who disappeared without trace in the 1970s, and who has since been engaged in a mystical scheme to create the world's most perfect font, which is concealed in locations around the globe. But is he really the killer, and how are the crimes connected to his secret font? In solving the mystery, Martin and Lucy may have to expose Martin's hero as a psychopath.

The main plot of the novel unfolds in Melbourne, while interleaved chapters set variously in a Tibetan monastery, on the plains of Peru, in London, Naples and Amsterdam, gradually reveal the story of Floogstraten in flashback. Other characters include a noir-style private font investigator, a typographical monk from the Renaissance, a Dutch prog rock group named I Am A Dolphin, and a collective of Italian typo-terrorists.

This novel takes the reader into the arcane world of typographers and their typefaces, of symbols, swashes and glyphs, where the difference between a serif and sans serif could mean life and death.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Book Club, Australia, Contemporary

316 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2019

About the author

Nick Gadd's first novel Ghostlines won a Victorian Premier's Literary Award and a Ned Kelly Award. His second, Death of a Typographer, was shortlisted for a Ned Kelly Award in 2020 and was described as "clever, stylish and very funny" (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald). His latest book, a work of non-fiction, is Melbourne Circle: Walking, Memory and Loss. His essays have been published in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, and Griffith Review among others. He lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne and his interests include psychogeography, typography and urban wandering.

Reviews

[Nick Grammos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Premise: typeface can change the world. Amsterdam 1960s, the love revolution had a face and to was the great Floogstraten, Dutch Typographer and all around believer in human goodness. Bands, political movements, love ins, everyone used the variants of Floog Fonts.

Then Floogstraten disappears, and slowly, corporates dominate the world. But then a series of murders in 2016 places the focus on the long missing Dutch typographer. Where had the been? Tibetan monastaries, out of the way towns, his ideal to design the most loving typeface still wth him. Was he the killer?

There's a plot to kill off the last of the 1960s idealism and introduce corporate Helvetica. One of those corporates is a fellow called Avery, think Steve Jobs and Mark Zukerberg rolled up.

But Martin, typo nerd, and long standing enemy of corporate non serif typeface is the opposite of Avery. he joins up with wunderkind journalist Lucy Tan (everyone is named after a typeface from what I can gather) to solve the murders and correct the brutish fonts taking over the world.

It's cartoonish, sure. Fun at times, dreary at others. Plot driven. Not my thing. But the first chapter had it been sustained would've made it a 4 star books. Set in my hometown of Melbourne. Yippee.

[Alexandra Lemke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most unique plots I've ever read. Thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable.

[Victoria Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable read, a whodunnit with a big sense of humour. Some lovely descriptions of Melbourne too.

[Jane (Avid reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable, strange and quirky murder mystery that won’t be to everyone’s taste. Full of clever, witty typographical puns and jokes it moves backwards and forwards through time and location and mostly keeps you guessing as to what might be going on. It opens with a murder victim laid out in the shape of an X. I’ll never look at fonts and typefaces in quite the same way again. It had me googling different fonts and events and made something I’ve always taken for granted interesting.

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much fun! Death of a Typographer is a geeky font lover's crime novel written by talented Australian author Nick Gadd and is unlike anything I've read before. Set in Melbourne, our main character Martin Kern has typomania and an unusual sensitivity to bad font. Martin uses his skills to solve typographical crime (brilliant, right?) but when a local printer is murdered, he's drawn to investigate the death of the title along with journalist Lucy Tran.

"Like all journalists, she used fonts daily, but it had never occurred to her to wonder where they came from or who made them. It was like peering through a microscope and discovering that a glass of clear water was teeming with life." Page 70

Death of a Typographer is full of clever font references but you don't need to know much about font in order to enjoy the jokes. I'm sure there were some I missed, but that's all part of the charm. For instance, I loved the description of the world of Dark Type (Dark Web) on page 185 as containing: font anarchists, urban type guerrillas, swash junkies, glyph hackers, psychotypographers, punk calligraphers, cryptosymbolists and anarcho-punctuationists.

In this cozy mystery, amateur sleuths Martin and Lucy put their investigative skills to use in order to get to the bottom of a series of murders and determine if there really is a secret font designed by the reclusive - and possibly deceased - Dutch designer Pieter van Floogstraten. Is he a genius? Is he crazy?

"There's something about a life spent fiddling with serifs and glyps that can addle the brain. They call it 'font rot'. The history of type is littered with madness, destruction and death. Remember Cobden Sanderson? Tossed all his type into the river Thames to stop anyone else from using it." Page 184

This reference to T.J. Cobden-Sanderson was my favourite moment of the book, having learned about the legend of Dove Type while reading Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem in October 2019.

Death of a Typographer by Nick Gadd is an entertaining read, with a fresh slant (get it?) on the cozy crime genre. Highly recommended.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very cleverly written and well researched book. I enjoyed it, especially the wry humour and all that detail on type and fonts! A great, fun book. You won't regret reading this one.

[Em__Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Beky · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the rare books, that has made me laugh out loud. One can see the love for typography. Great read.

[Alistair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky doesn't even begin to sum up this clever, inventive murder mystery. Studded with word-play jokes and employing popular tropes of fiction: gum-shoe P.I.; the traveller to the East in search of mystical wisdom; international terrorism, all with a wink lurking behind the words.
Martin Kern, a typographer, has a unique sensitivity to (bad) fonts, a skill he uses to solve typographical crimes. Yes, there are crimes in the font-world, and Martin has stumbled across a big one.

[Ross Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good crime novel. It is very well researched and written, as Gadd is very much a craftsman. It zings with humor and imagination and the cameos in the flashback chapters outside Melbourne are more than convincing. It is so imaginative and clever that one is forgiving when it becomes a little silly and the characters become a little too weird to be true. I must say that I agreed with an earlier review that felt that the two main characters were a little unmemorable. They seem to get lost in the cast of oversized characters that they encounter. The plotting and actual solution seem a little improbable as well but this is a book definitely worth reading.

[Alycia Ashcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed all the flashback chapters and found them so intriguing, well researched and could get lost in them.
Definitely a comedy that takes you on a journey. I didn't connect as well with the two main characters as I did with some of the more minor ones.
Overall it was an interesting and unique read and anyone in the design or type world would thoroughly enjoy. I now know more about typography than I ever thought possible and I question my use of the genetic Helvetica and Ariel every day.

[Amy Fabry-Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rollicking good ride. Clever, imaginative, both absurd, silly, funny and full of pathos. Many queer characters (some of them die, but many don't - and it's a noir detective spoof, so lots of people die).

[Ann Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm and witty. Can one actually say "warm" about a book full of murder? Anyway, the lead characters are engaging; the side stories were rich in humanity; and the whole premise of the importance and impact of fonts was fascinating.

[Tiffany Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging and funny romp. Will always be indebted for the introduction to Font rot.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. Highly unusual.
If you love a thriller / mystery. If you have ever felt irked by bad grammar and punctuation. If you can appreciate the quirkiness of an unusual sleuth, deeply affected by bad font-type and equally as lifted by the perfect font, who can use this 'affliction' to solve crimes - you're going to love this.
Yes, it was sometimes distracting and offputting for me trying to keep track of the font conversation. BUT it was so worth it.
I laughed out loud. The slow burn connection between Martin (a typographer, but not the dead one) and Lucy Tan (the journalist who becomes his sleuthing partner) is excellent. She is young and smart with a journalist's burning ambition to grab the headline and the curiousity to stick with the story. He is older, nerdier, insular (ish) and convinced that his 'typo hero' cannot be the killer.
And there we have an Australian (set mainly in Melbourne) quirky, hilarious, thriller mystery - well worth giving a go.
I'm impressed and wish Nick Gadd mainstream success.

[David Kilner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a very strange book. It has elements of mysticism, absurdism, surrealism, magical realism, dadaism and Golden Age detective-ism. Once you get over the quirkiness of typography and what Floog is up to, you are left with a pretty basic and unoriginal story, with a dumb cop, smart unofficial investigators and cardboard cutout villain. It won a Ned Kelly award presumably for its quirkiness. The story is told in Third Person and Gadd lapses often into Telling not Showing. For me, attempts to make Floog seem like the villain were transparently thin. The most interesting character is Monty, who displays some charm and wit. At face value, the story is absurd and the murders are committed for unconvincing reasons. One can however give the book the benefit of the doubt if you see it as allegory on the modern world, with its co-option of originality and creativity into the bland, corporatised and globalised world of uniformity and art for the sake of marketing.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew there was so much to font, typography and graphic design? This is a very clever and quirky whodunnit featuring Martin Kern, a font specialist who assists police in solving fraud and kidnapping cases that involve the typed word. He’s one of a string of great characters in this book. So much research must have gone into this to make typography not only interesting but light and humorous. The murder of a local printer leads Martin and reporter Lucy on a quest to discover the typographical link between this crime and what turns out to be a series of historical murders across the globe all revolving around the development of a secret, new font. On the one hand, somewhat far-fetched, but in many regards, reads like faction. Definitely lots of fun though.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mildly engaging novel which is certainly original in its concept. It irritated me with its bombardment of font names and the lead character’s excessive reaction to typefaces he hated. That said, it was interesting in an Appendix to see a list of the typefaces used in the book though I would have preferred them acknowledged at each chapter heading rather than leaf back to look.
I liked the flashbacks set in different countries and the characters are well drawn. Enjoyed seeing my home city of Melbourne featured. The plot is quirky and I appreciated the humour.

[Alison Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reclusive maker of the world's most beautiful font has re-surfaced, and people are being killed. Can a motley crew of designer, journalist and private eye, in Melbourne, Australia, avert typocalypse? Yes this novel is a little absurd, but that's part of the fun. If you are a book or word nerd you'll enjoy the puns and word play, even if the crime's slightly unreal. 'Death of a Typographer' reminded me of Thomas Pynchon's 'The Crying of Lot 49' (searching for secret signs etc) but wasn't half so frustrating and pointless. If you like Jasper Fforde ('The Eyre Affair') this is one for you.

[Eleah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the worst book I've ever read but not the greatest either.
It certainly portrayed a concept I have never read about before and I did learn a few new things about type that I didn't already know. Like, the rare punctuation mark known as an interrobang (which I love the idea of).
The plot did drag on a little at times but it was just insane enough that I had to keep reading to find out just what the heck was going on.

[Pina Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enjoyable and fun books I’ve ever read. Down to be one of my favourites. Wonderful characters and a unique and imaginative plot. The book just zipped along with drama and intrigue every step of the way. Based in Melbourne mainly but tripping across to London, Amsterdam and Peru as well. I read it in two days.

[Cel Jel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a fun read, and I learned more about fonts. I had laugh out loud moments with the humour of writing at certain sections. I suspected aspects of the culprit, but had not worked out who the murderer was till the reveal.
If you like learning new things and want a different style Murder mystery this is a good book to read.

[Rose Mercer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned lots of interesting things about fonts and their designs but from time to time it felt too much like "info dumping". It is obviously the author did a load of research to bring all the threads of the story together, though every once in a while I wished the story would just move on.

Certainly worth reading if you like quirky and somewhat mystical stories.

[Jess Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a graphic designer this book totally hit all of my nerdy type buttons!
Outrage at poor font use is brilliantly and hilariously illustrated by Martin Kern (main characters) physical aversion to bad typography.
It certainly makes fun of designers and typographers in general but it’s done in a warm and light hearted manner!
Loved it!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Without needing to be a graphic design nerd to appreciate it, this novel successfully weaves together a detailed understanding of typography (of course), a noir crime setting, impending apocalyptic doom, a bunch of very clever puns, and sharp twists of the knife in the gut of corporate brand culture.
It’s fun and familiar, do yourself a favour and read it.

[Sarah Guscott]

An interesting book with an unusual premise centering around font crime. I enjoyed learning about fonts and typography and the style and tone with which it was written. Towards the end I’d had enough and just wanted it to finish.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a clever and novel idea for a story!
Ironic, in my review for the book I finished before commencing this one I actually commented how I HATED the font !
" It is a matter of typo diversity'...a whimsical read with wondrous imagination and Melbourne as its back drop.
Highly recommend.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the typography gimmick, and the flashbacks which gave the plot a rich texture. The mystery was fairly predictable and the characters could have had more depth. But, it was a nice light read.

[Pippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such good fun. I loved the recurring typo humour and the likeable characters. An easy and enjoyable read.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great lark.