In a high rise on outskirts of Birmingham, Daniel Quinn has rented a flat that was used for a few scenes in his favourite film noir. He watches the videotape on repeat, searching for the answer to a puzzle he keeps us in the dark about. As Quinn describes the film, its various angles and scenes intersperse with his own life – both past and present. All the while his intense obsession with Out of the Dark specifically, and film noir in general, make us wonder how reliable he is as a narrator. Gaffney describes both the film and Quinn's life with incredible precision, blurring the line between reading and watching. (It’s not surprising given that Gaffney lived in a flat just like Quinn’s.) Just like a film noir, Gaffney deftly handles past and present, dropping both clues and red herrings along the way, all the while pulling us towards the answer that Quinn is searching for. KM

Out of the Dark by David Gaffney, Confingo