FOR YOUR BENEFIT

Two detectives take on a bizarre case with suspicious origins and increasingly personal ramifications in Canning’s mystery novel.

This satiric, at times surreal mystery plunges two detectives into a case involving (but not limited to) experts in public manipulation, corrupt corporate moguls, anarchic artist and feminist groups, assorted crooks, a movie star with alleged cannibalistic tendencies, a search for a rumored-to-be-lethal stockpile of Vietnam War–era Agent Orange somewhere in Southern California, a secret organization with global reach…and a fictional cameo appearance by Tom Hanks. That this wild ride doesn’t spin out of control is down to the sure hand of the author, who balances the antic plot with unexpected heart. This element is personified by Teddy, one of the owners of the Lint Detective Agency, located in a Los Angeles strip mall. Teddy, a “Black Mr. Rogers in an eyepatch,” is a one-eyed, cardigan-wearing “believer in the direct application of compassion.” His protective brother, Ralph, of seeming Mediterranean heritage, is athletic and tough. They bonded as young children after being kidnapped by a twisted cult leader to whom Teddy lost his eye. (Ralph lost a less visible part of his anatomy.) Their reputation for investigative alacrity brings them a client who attempts to bolster his dubious claim of being a CIA agent by bringing actor Tom Hanks with him for a brief, paid appearance as his “legitimacy catalyst.” Canning weaves dark humor, occasional gritty violence, and barbed observations of societal ills into an odyssey of discovery that culminates in a riotous clash of gun-toting feminist “gynarchists”—artists who create public disruptions (“sonic incontinence,” anyone?)—and an “invisible government” of elite corporate manipulators whose mantra is to appeal “to emotion over intellect, bias over information.” A reunion with a sister cult survivor—a secret held by the East LA grocer who rescued and adopted the brothers—and a bittersweet choice facing Teddy provide additional enjoyable texture to the mix.

A surprisingly humane assemblage of unforgettable characters, a fun house plot, and sharply observed societal shortcomings.