Britten and Brülightly

Britten is a depressed private detective who hates his life, mainly because he's known for delivering news that ends marriages, a fact that has earned him the nickname of "The Heartbreaker". Brulightly is his partner, a lecherous tea bag that sometimes has a good idea. The latest case involves a wealthy young woman who hires Britten to prove her fiance didn't commit suicide, as she believes he was murdered by the same someone who was blackmailing her father. The detectives quickly find that everyone the woman knows has something to hide.
A graphic novel, noir style. The mystery holds til the very end, where there are not one, but two twists. The artwork is mostly shades of gray, with Britten himself being a raccoon-eyed fellow who show more dresses like Gomez Adams. show less

“Ten years ago I began a private investigation agency with the glorious aim of serving humanity and righting wrongs. In all those years the only wrongs righted have been on my tax returns.”
Meet private detective Fernandez Britten, although he actually prefers private “researcher”. He is hired by a young woman to look into the mysterious suicide of her fiancé. Along with his highly unconventional sidekick Brulightly, Britten begins to investigate and quickly finds himself entangled in a complex web of danger and deceit.
This wonderfully atmospheric graphic mystery, has a classic noir texture, echoing both Chandler and Hammett. The illustrations, shaded in blues and grays, are beautifully rendered. This is Berry’s first novel show more and it’s a knock-out. show less

This neo-noir graphic novel follows Britten and his sidekick Brülightly, a teabag, as they investigate a suicide at the behest of a doubtful widow. It uses cinematic-style art, hand lettering, and washed out colors to capture the world weary investigator as he discovers that some information is best left unknown. Witty but extremely sad at times, this is probably not for everyone. For me, I so wish it wasn’t a standalone.

Nowadays I don't get out of bed for less than a murder. I don't get out of bed much.

Britten is a private investigator, whose inquiries into relationships, prompted by people's jealousy or revenge, has left him in a dark place. His rather unusual partner, Brülightly, suggests that they be more discriminating about their cases, hence the above quote. Britten does get an intriguing case, and follows it up with his customary care. I didn't see the resolution coming, and it's brilliantly handled in very Chandleresque noir style, with lashings of sadness. And a touch of insanity.

The art in this graphic novel was lovely and evocative, although I would have liked it if the lettering was clearer.

Imagine a slightly unhinged and downbeat Hercule Poirot winding up in a Hammett plot set in a wet and mundane England. If that sounds good then you'll probably enjoy this slightly old-fashioned feeling noir.

Not sure the device of the talking teabag adds much. It helps with exposition a bit, but feels like an early idea that was neither fully explored nor excised.

This is very atmospheric and enjoyable, and beautiful to boot. Not entirely successful and the plot felt more complex than it actually was, but still a very original and impressive debut.

A noir-ish graphic novel detective story featuring troubled PI Fernandez Britten, who is hired to prove that an apparent suicide was in fact murder and along the way discovers some truths that neither he nor his client really wanted to know. The artwork is wonderful, full of dark, rain-washed street scenes, and the writing is also great, combining an air of melancholy with a dry, droll sense of humor. My one big complaint is that the narrative text, written in a cramped, handwritten font, was uncomfortably difficult to read, I also think I probably should have read this when I was a little more awake, as the solution to the mystery, once it was unveiled, did not come together in my brain nearly as readily as it should have. Even given show more that, though, it was still a highly worthwhile read. show less

Fernandez Britten is a depressed private investigator in this inventive noir graphic novel.

He's seen so many cases that have ended badly for the people that have asked him to do investigations that he's earned the nickname “Heartbreaker”.

But he agrees to take one more case, the apparent suicide of a client's fiance.

I so wanted to love this novel. How many detectives have a partner, who, is in fact a teabag (Brulightly) which he keeps with him and consults about cases? And the artwork is darkly wonderful with many faces and figures hidden in clouds and reflections.

And yet, I didn't love it. The written text was sometimes hard to read against the gray background, and when the dark gray pictures became the story line I also found it show more hard to follow. I actually read it several times, looking for what I missed.

This one just didn't quite work for me. show less