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the complete review - fiction

The Grand Manuscript

by
Zoran Živković

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B : enjoyably playful procedural

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "(T)hese novels interrogate the possibilities and limitations of the detective genre. Živković does so by introducing into the reality of the novels a single fantastic element that undermines core principles of detection." - Michael A. Morrison, World Literature Today

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       The Grand Manuscript begins quite a while after Inspector Dejan Lukić (re)solved the case of The Last Book. While things appear not to have worked out between him and Vera, the former owner of the Papyrus Bookstore (which she closed and which is now a cosmetics chain store branch) -- she seems to be out of the picture --, his interest in literature is undiminished -- and in The Grand Manuscript he is again drawn into a very bookish case.
       It begins with him being called to a writer's apartment by her desperate literary agent, who fears the worst. She hasn't heard from the writer in a few days, and there's an important deadline looming. At the writer's apartment they find the door locked -- from the inside -- but no one answering. Eventually making his way in, Lukić inexplicably finds no trace of the author -- a classic locked-door mystery. But without evidence of any actual crime, there's not much he can do.
       Something fishy is, however, clearly going on. The author, Jelena Jakovljević, was working on a novel apparently titled Find Me (which is also the Serbian title of The Grand Manuscript), and the agent isn't the only one desperate to get her hands on the manuscript. Like the 'last book', it's a very special book, holding potentially great promise to whoever can get to it first.
       There are quite a few mysteries, beginning with the elusive Jelena Jakovljević. Lukić is not familiar with her work, because she just writes popular detective novels (and though an avid reader, his tastes are more discerning ...), but she's very successful. As to her identity, that's more complicated -- with the fact that 'Jelena Jakovljević' is a pseudonym just the first of quite a few twists to that.
       While Lukić doesn't find any trace of her or her manuscript, he does pick up a cellphone at her apartment -- and reads the message: "Find me" on it. The telephone proves of interest to Commissioner Milenković of the National Security Agency, too, because it seems to work untraceably, without SMS card or battery. (A second, similar one comes into play, too, with poor Inspector Lukić eventually going around with four phones on him.)
       And then there's the blind painter living next door to Jakovljević, who has very sharp hearing, and a dog .....
       As in The Last Book, there's a (different) mysterious tea shop nearby that Lukić repeatedly visits. Beyond that, there are quite a few other mysterious circumstances, too -- like the number of stairs he goes up and down inexplicably changing. It's no wonder that Commissioner Milenković finally has to ask:

     "Is this another case like that ?"
     "Like what ?""
     "Like the 'Last Book' ?"

Forget the idealized notions you have about writers. They're all sadists who take particular pleasure in torturing their poor agents.

- M.A.Orthofer, 27 August 2016

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Links:

• Cadmus Press publicity page
• TEA publicity page

• Mangialibri (Italian)
• Sherlock Magazine (Italian)
• Thriller Magazine (Italian)
• World Literature Today

• Official site
• Interview at Dalkey Archive Press
• Interview at infinity plus
• Interview at Strange Horizons
• Interview at World Literature Today

• The Fourth Circle
• The Ghostwriter
• Hidden Camera
• The Image Interpreter
• The Library
• The Papyrus Trilogy:
  1. The Last Book
  2. The Grand Manuscript
  3. Compendium of the Dead
• Steps Through the Mist
• Time Gifts
• The White Room
• The Writer

• See Index of Eastern European literature
• See Index of Mysteries and Thrillers
• See Index of Science Fiction and Fantasy books
• See Index of Series and Sequels under review

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About the Author:

       Zoran Živković was born in Belgrade in 1948.

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