Science Fiction Mystery book set in a world made of multiple dimension. Read around 2019-2023. Spoilers.

[Kaeli]

SPOILERS



To be honest, I don't know if the details I remember are important or interesting enough to be considered spoilers, but I decided to put the warning there just in case. There will not be any specifically hidden details after this point.

Some basics before I get into the plot (skip ahead if uninterested):
* Author: wish I remembered
* When: I think I found the book around 2019-2023; it was in a Barnes and Noble, so I assume it had been published relatively recently
* Cover: Dark blue or black background with white sort of building floating in the middle, made entirely of contradicting stairs and platforms; like a penrose triangle but, y’know, a building
* Genre: science fiction/detective mystery, but with a sort of roaring 20s tone if I remember correctly
* Title: I think had the word “door” in it, but I could be so wrong about that

And now the plot…
The story follows a male detective and his young, also male, assistant (whose name may have been Christopher? Not sure). They live in a world that is a patchwork of different dimensions. Like, you could take a train that goes from New York to Chicago in real space but pass through a dimension made of cotton candy along the way somewhere in Michigan.

Anyway, a female celebrity hires Detective to find her missing… Aura? I guess? It’s like a sentient, non-physical entity that can attach itself to humans (and influence them) and lend them its charisma to boost their success. This particular Aura is very charismatic and very valuable and left Celebrity without warning, so she wants him back.

Along the way to find Aura, Detective and Assistant get separated. Detective gets stuck in a dimension where everyone has inside their head a fictional character that sort of embodies who they are or a character that was formative to them in some way. Detective’s fictional character is a guy who turns into a beetle sometimes. Sometimes, while stuck in fictional-character-in-your-head dimension, Detective also turns into a big giant beetle. The Beetle man in Detective’s head carries on a full conversation with Detective at one point and manifests a physical note into existence which leads Detective to two other people who have the Beetle man as their fictional character in their heads. There doesn’t seem to be a plot relevant reason for this but it happens.

Meanwhile, Assistant has gotten himself attached to Aura. Aura has taken Assistant on a bender for reasons unknown. When Assistant finally comes down, he runs into Detective in fictional-character-in-your-head dimension and reveals that his fictional character is Frankenstein. He broods for a while about this darker side of him, which he knows began when his sister read Frankenstein to him that one time growing up. Once he finishes brooding, Assistant immediately pivots to show Detective a hole (or maybe it was a small disk) that he found in a building. This is where I put the book down and took it to a thrift store.

It was not for me. If you know what book I'm describing and loved it, I am totally cool with that and I will not argue with you. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m trying to find it now because it’s been stuck in my head ever since I read it, and no matter what combination of phrases I search on the Internet, I can’t seem to find it. Thank you!

[EchoOfBronte]

"His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman?

[Genesistrine]

EchoOfBronte wrote: ""His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman?"

Are you serious? There's no likeness whatsoever. You might as well suggest Moby Dick.