In Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes,Matt Kindt crafts a careful and intricate homage to detective fiction and film noir. As with the best examples of those genres, Kindt’s graphic novel is a labyrinth — dark and twisted. And as in any good detective story, the reader will enjoy trying to put the pieces together before it’s too late.

The nominal center of Red Handed is Detective Gould. Thanks to his skill, the city of Red Wheel Barrow hasn’t had an unsolved murder for 10 years. His keen observation, high-tech gadgets and unfailing sense of right and wrong have put him at the pinnacle of his profession. Although murder is a thing of the past, bizarre criminal activity has moved in. Red Handed chronicles Gould’s crackdowns on street sign thieves, pickpockets and fur smugglers. But Gould begins to suspect connections between these odd crimes. Can his impressive brain put the pieces together?   

Kindt slowly pulls the curtain back on the story; the structure of Red Handed is as convoluted as the criminals’ schemes. The beginning of the novel feels like a series of unrelated vignettes, with  each chapter presenting an unusual crime from the perspective of the criminals. Woven throughout are newspaper clippings of Gould’s triumphs, flashbacks to different characters and snippets of ominous dialogue about the meaning of crime and the purpose of the law. Each tale ends with Gould methodically untangling the scheme and bagging the perp. These crimes at first make little sense to the reader or to the star detective. But more is happening than meets the eye, and when it begins to come together, it is worth the wait.

If I have any criticism of Red Handed, it is that Kindt is too slow to raise the stakes. Although the beginning is witty, interesting and obviously sophisticated, the novel doesn’t start to deliver until about a fifth of the way in. That’s when the true mystery aspect of this mystery story becomes clear. All mystery writers must surprise readers without leaving them feeling cheated, and Kindt succeeds. The twisted climax is satisfying and shocking, but the clues were there for the prescient. As a result, Red Handed richly rewards a careful eye and at least one re-reading. 

Despite its slow start, Red Handed is thought-provoking throughout. Kindt questions whether the law — faceless, merciless and devoid of humanity — can ever properly regulate the affairs of people. His criminals are not evil, but are humans of all shapes and sizes, driven by unremarkable eccentricities. Gould is robotic in comparison, an unfailing instrument of the law. Kindt seeks to force the reader to question Gould’s heroism in light of his seeming inhumanity. Mishandled, this sort of theme could seem trite. But Kindt examines this question thoughtfully.

Red Handed is an ambitious endeavor. Happily, Kindt’s talent is a match for his ambition, and his book is nothing if not clever. The details reveal care and thought, as Kindt takes full advantage of the graphic-novel medium to impart his themes. One character has no identity — someone who is as women want him to be. The art style and medium change to match this character’s shifting identity, panel to panel. In other places, Kindt imitates the styles of other cartoonists in illustrating the fictional comic pages of the Red Wheel Barrow Gazette. 

Unlike some graphic novels, it is impossible to imagine Red Handed as a traditional text-only work. Kindt’s artwork is on full display and is as important as the dialogue in telling his story. Long portions of the novel are entirely visual. The art itself highly stylized, evocative and done almost entirely in ink and watercolor. Kindt’s work seems somewhat hastily done, but that is consistent with the noir styling of the novel. Similarly, bright colors are rare — Red Wheel Barrow is a city of grays, browns and blacks. When he wants to, Kindt paints clear panels of bright colors. But in a story like this, it is seldom called for.

In sum, Red Handed is one of the best graphic novels I have read in some time. If you have read every Dashiell Hammett novel, you should pick up Kindt’s novel; it’s written with you in mind. But even if you haven’t, the book is a thought-provoking and enjoyable read.

Wilson Freeman is a lawyer who  works for the federal government, and probably the only man in Portland, Ore., who wears a tie. 

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