Necrophenia

British humorist Rankin's latest journey into absurdity manages, sometimes in spite of itself, to be a entertaining read. Teen narrator Tyler spends the 1960s alternating between playing glam rock with his band, the Sumerian Kynges, who signed a fame-and-fortune contract in blood with the mysterious Mr. Ishmael, and working as a private detective. His adventures eventually lead to encounters with “the Spirit of the Nineteen-Sixties,” the Rolling Stones and the evil Papa Keith Crossbar. Frequent Rankin readers will recognize '50s private eye Lazlo Woodbine and the secret Ministry of Serendipity (last seen in The Brightonomicon ) as well as plot twists involving time travel and parallel worlds. The narrative occasionally gets muddled—notably during the mid-book scenes with Elvis and the hurried denouement—but fans of Rankin's zany style will find more than enough humor to outweigh their quibbles. (Dec.)