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Spam & Eggs: A Johnny Denovo Mystery

Andrew Kent
Dog Ear Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9781598588644
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (3/09)

“Spam & Eggs” begins with world-famous detective Johnny Denovo sitting at his computer sorting through his many emails.  He comes across a spam message that was not caught by his spam filter.  Unsure of what draws him to it, he decides to open it.  “The message looked like the majority of spam e-mails he typically received.  It was quite short.  Yet something had caused his eyes to hover longer than normal over the nonsensical text, and after a moment, it began to emerge.  There seemed to be a subtle rhythm to it, a kind of abstract moiré pattern developing across his neurotransmitters as he peered at the scrambled letters.”  (p.10)  Once he deciphers the code, he finds a message referring to chickens and France.  Intrigued by the hidden riddle, Denovo starts to search for more and decides to put himself on the case of solving this mystery, even though he is not commissioned by a client.    

The title of the book, “Spam & Eggs,” is so wonderfully appropriate for the writing that follows.  The text is filled with metaphors and word plays that will stimulate your mind.  Even the titles of all thirty-five of the chapters are in some way related to an egg, such as “Rotten,” “Caviar,” “Scrambled,” and “Benedict.”  Although the novel is fiction, the premise of messages being hidden in spam emails is something that could truly happen.  In fact, I think that the reader will begin to think about spam in a whole new way.  I especially enjoyed when Denovo was contemplating why spam emails have survived when they don’t really work.  One of his theories was that it is the corporations that sell spam protection programs who are creating the spam emails so that their businesses would survive.  Who knows, this idea could very well be true!

Andrew Kent’s book is very fast paced and contains a cast of well-developed characters.  The plot is unique, as is the writing style.  This book is different from any other that I have read.  “Spam & Eggs” is a clever, intellectual mystery that will leave you wanting more of Johnny Denovo in the future.  I look forward to many more intriguing cases!

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