THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK MYSTERY AND MAYHEM SERIES, No. 1. The problem with modern detective novels, Dr. Boli has concluded, is that they attempt to appeal to our baser instincts with entirely too much action, and not nearly enough sitting around and discussing philosophy or the works of obscure classical authors. This is all the more surprising considering that many of those authors have been pressed into service as amateur detectives by inferior novelists.

Dr. Boli has filled this gaping hole in the mystery market with Madcap Manor, the first in a projected series of detective novels in which the part of the detective is played by Thomas Love Peacock. Following the pattern set by that great author’s own novels. Dr. Boli has arranged the story so that the obligatory murder occurs on the first page, and is not mentioned again until the antepenultimate page, when it is promptly solved, the culprit brought to justice, and peace and order restored to the community. Between those points is a series of delightfully witty conversations between Mr. Peacock and his literary friends on abstruse topics that Dr. Boli personally warrants have never been discussed in a detective novel before.

“At last, here is a detective novel we can recommend to our members without reservation” —Association of Long-Term Cardiac Patients with Nervous Dispositions.

“The character of Peacock is pretty much as you might expect him to be” —Publisher’s Monthly Echo Chamber.

“The one detective novel this season that has succeeded in leaving us speechless” —East Carson Street Review of Books.