The Brightonomicon by Robert Rankin
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In the sunny resort of Brighton, nothing is as it seems. And by 'nothing,' we mean precisely that. H.P. Lovecraft—yes, you read that right—is suffering from amnesia, and it’s up to our protagonist, Rizla, to help him crack 12 perplexing cases to regain his memories. Not only does the tale boast a macabre smorgasbord of supernatural occurrences, but it also defies traditional narrative norms in a way that's both delightful and, dare we say, rankinesque.
Every case offers a more tangled conundrum than the last, each solution requiring a mental gymnastic routine that would make Sherlock Holmes dizzy. With its oddball character assembly and a plot as unpredictable as a jack-in-the-box operated by Loki, 'The Brightonomicon' holds up a distorted but engaging mirror to the detective genre, fitting perfectly into the SFcrowsnest pantheon of quirk.