Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency

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Douglas Adams: Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency (1988, Pan Books)

247 pages

English language

Published Aug. 7, 1988 by Pan Books.

ISBN:
978-0-330-30162-6
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4 stars (3 reviews)

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a humorous detective novel by English writer Douglas Adams, first published in 1987. It is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic".

The book was followed by a sequel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. The only recurring major characters are the eponymous Dirk Gently, his secretary Janice Pearce and Sergeant Gilks. Adams also began work on another novel, The Salmon of Doubt, with the intention of publishing it as the third book in the series, but died before completing it.

26 editions

Review of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Richard MacDuff is somehow neglecting his girlfriend Susan due to his excess of work, and leaves a message on her answering machine that he immediately regrets. Richard then decides to break into Susan's apartment to erase the message, but he is caught in the act by the holistic detective Dirk Gently. When Susan's brother is murdered, Dirk decides to act on behalf of Richard, even if the police is not really suspecting him.

This book gets better every time I read it. I understand it is hard to keep up with the plot and characters, so I would suggest a new reader to just enjoy Adams' marvellous imagination and hilarious character development on a first read. The author is extremely quotable! When you think you understand what happened, then go read it again because the story eventually makes sense and you will be able to laugh twice as much.