The Fine Art of Invisible Detection

by Robert Goddard

Purchased in 2023.

Date read: 24 October 2025

First published in 2020.

372 pages. Paperback.

I have the Corgi edition published in 2021.

Typeset in Times NR MT.

I like the paper and typeface. Good line spacing and margins. Sufficient to scribble notes when needed.

Cover design by David Wardle.

This book has a sequel!! The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction.

I am surprised I haven’t come across books by Robert Goddard before. Have you? Which one have you read?

Thoughts:

Some things are unexpected. Nothing is anti-climatic. New characters are introduced which further determine the direction of the plot, but it somehow does’t seem out of place of forced. The back stories and motives are integrated to give the readers a seamless, non-jarring experience, so that we don’t end up being cynical about the randomness and convenience of the introduction of new information. Quite neat and meticulous and considered.

This is properly one of those books that bring to mind those investigation board maps – complete with coloured threads and pushpins that link data, people, locations, evidence. Although the book itself doesn’t have one.

Keen emphasis on resourcefulness, the importance of knowledge, the belief that one can find a way out of even the most seemingly hopeless situations. Tackling problems headfirst, hunting for options and solutions, not giving up, and making things happen. Acceptance of adverse situations, the patience to struggle through, the foresight that comes with experience (not determined in years, only in frequency and a deep understanding of people).

There are a lot of reasons to like this book. Good ones.

You'll like this book if

• You like action, proper action, James Bond style minus the perpetual opulence

• You like plot twists and fast-paced reading

• You like quirky, grey characters with arks that are double-crossing and deceptive

• You like a no-nonsense book – there’s absolutely nothing that I felt was unnecessary, everything that was there was supposed to be there, it’s a lean, well-considered book

• You are a travel junkie and jet setter, you like to travel light and unpredictable

• You like edge-of-the-seat thrillers, cliffhangers with eventual resolutions following a marked lack of options

• You like books with underdogs and surprises

• You like something immersive and detail-oriented

• You like writing steeped in observation

• You like old cases, cold cases

• You like the magic of watching events unfold

• You like far-fetched things

• You like detective fiction (this is the obvious one)

• You like jigsaw puzzles

• You like languages and translations

• You like witty lines and poker faces

• You believe in patience

• You like probability, permutations & combinations

• You like illusion

  
  

Esoteric observations

• The justified formatting with even spacing and use of hyphens for breaking-up words across lines.

• Single quotes for dialogs.

• Repetition of certain iconic lines by different characters on different occasions – ‘Nothing for me. Except answers.’

• The font on the cover reminds me of a typeface I came across recently while working on a project – Thierry Leonie (look it up).

• I’ve been observing the opening lines of books. This one starts with – Umiko Wada wasn’t a private detective. She just worked for one.
 Quite the hook.

Quick vocab booster

• anodyne: not likely to cause offence or disagreement; somewhat dull

• refulgent: shining very brightly

• dormer: a roofed structure, with a window, that projects from a sloped roof

• poignant: evoking a keenly felt sense of emotion, especially of bittersweet sadness or regret

Some fun lines from the book (subject to confirmation bias and personal preference, but quite free from spoilers)

She found the tangled problems of other people’s lives grimly fascinating.

The world went on its way. It was business as usual. Until it wasn’t.

‘Why do problems always seem simpler when I discuss them with you?’

Her view of jet lag was dismissive. She intended to simply view Monday as an unusually long day, but her resolve didn’t sustain her much beyond struggling through disembarkation, baggage reclaim and immigration checks at Heathrow.

Even on foot, she was blocked and diverted several times by building work and found herself wondering why such an ancient city still seemed under construction.

...and the strange sensation that her brain was lagging a fraction of a second behind her body.

Wada thought as quickly as she could, which she sensed was not as quickly as usual.

It felt good to be on the move. What he was going to learn he didn't know. Maybe nothing. But at least he'd know there was nothing to learn. That would be an end in itself.

She even found herself illustrating a linguistic point to him by explaining that the Toyoda family were thought to have changed their corporate name to Toyota because it could be written with the numerologically auspicious eight strokes foretelling prosperity.

They were likely to have more questions for her than she did for them.

She wasn't going to learn much without taking a few chances. It was time to take one of those.

It was as if he'd lost all hope. Wada didn't wait for him to rediscover any.

An empty fuel tank and a dead battery.

'The doctor's list has been doctored.'

'It's greed on a grand scale. With treachery and ruthlessness thrown in.'

'That's right. I'm not sure at all.'

'OK. So what are we going to do about it? More specifically, since I don't understand enough to do very much, what are you going to do about it?'

'Perhaps the question can't be answered. We are where we are.'