Reviews

The Devil's Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth

shawnlindsell's review against another edition

2.0

Really disappointing. A fairly predictable story, but mainly I dislike this for two reasons. Apart from the author being fairly obsessed with blood/ shit/ vomit throughout, there was his constant need to remind us of the main character's name TWENTY TIMES A FRICKING PAGE. At one point, a single four line paragraph of dialogue used his name six times. The whole book was just infuriating.

athenareader's review against another edition

1.0

I couldn't finish this one. Written quite poorly with very predictable plot. Not for me.

shaynexb's review against another edition

4.0

This was a powerful, thoughtful, sometimes-gory, and all-the-times kick-ass novel.



(Oh, man, I used an animated gif. THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!)

We follow Thomas Fool (great name, right??) as he investigates crimes in Hell. Not like "I have to pay taxes and go to work? This place is HELL!" but like "Here be the souls of the damned, toiling for eternity." There's a slight difference. Sometimes.

He is one of Hell's Information Men (another great name). Usually he just stamps the crime reports with what amounts to "Eh, whaddayagonnadew?" But this time, there's a serial killer in the hoary Netherworld, and he's not just droppin' bodies, he's poppin' SOULS! Souls that explode in a blueish light. Like a glow. Almost like a...


I really dug the descriptions of Hell. It's not Old Testament Hell, with whips and cloven hooves and screaming sinners bent on racks. It has evolved with the mindset of humans, and is now a frustrating bureaucratic nightmare. (Sound familiar?) But still with demon-birds and demon-rapes and forced poo-eating and uncomfortable clothes. Some things are too classic to go out of style.

So, excellent world-building + memorable characters + a never-before-seen landscape + classic fuckin' noir = one of the best books I've read this year. Cheers!

booksandthebronxgirl's review against another edition

3.0

I can't say I loved it but it was good. I didn't really like the main character much, but maybe that's the point? I mean, can one really like anyone in Hell? I did enjoy some of the other characters, especially the Man of Plants and Flowers and Balthazar. It addressed some interesting philosophical points and I'll definitely be mulling some of those over for a while. Everything is a part of everything else, and everything has its opposite, its Dark Twin...

joshua_williams's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

frodo_wesseling's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

shalini_rasamdaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love detective mysteries, I love fantasy and spec-fic, so when those two are combined I will 

absolutely feel some type of way so I was positively biased towards this book even before I started. 

The Devil’s Detective takes place entirely in Hell, and our hero Thomas Fool is an Information Man for Hell (roughly a sort of policeman). His job is to receive crime cases, and mark it as “Do Not Investigate, until The Case(™) arrives that leaves him questioning everything he knows. Of course it’s a murder case, and the setting has such a noir vibe that you’re unsurprised to learn that the victims are mainly sex workers.

David Rintool is a great narrator and brings Thomas Fool’s character to life (there are places where he gets overwrought and it feels unnatural but it’s all good) and Unsworth’s writing is grimly efficient and descriptive, clinically describing the horrifying (and really, really viscerally disgusting) realities of life in Hell. Can’t help feeling sorry for those people, even though if they’re in Hell, there’s a reason they’re there, I mean some of those people I felt sorry for might have tortured a dog to death, so there’s that conflict. 

I was hooked completely from the first line to the last, even though this story doesn’t use groundbreaking mystery devices (apart from the setting) and  it was obvious from the start who is pulling the puppet strings and who the villain is, but to have it all laid out was still an exciting ride. Fantastic worldbuilding - just when you think Hell couldn’t get worse, it does. And man, the tragedy of it all. Looking forward to what the Fool gets up to in the next story.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

theredpanda87's review against another edition

DNF - And interesting idea, but I didn't care one way or another about the characters. After two weeks, I couldn't remember much of the story.

hamsandwich6's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

againanew's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent. Very well written. Original. And the narrator of the audiobook was perfect. Some people are rating this lower because they find the description of Hell to be 'gory' and 'depressing'. Of course it is - its Hell. I found the description and full creation of the world to add to the story.