The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is a 1988 humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams. It is the second book by Adams featuring private detective Dirk Gently, the first being [Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163714W). It was followed by the [Salmon of Doubt](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2163715W), an incomplete Dirk Gently novel included in a posthumous collection of the same name. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul has been adapted for radio, and several plot lines appear in the 2010 BBC TV series.

Hm, much preferred the first one

I used to be obsessed with Greek mythology, and would sometimes think, “What if the Greeks were right, and everything is run by gods who are barely different than people?” This book takes it to the next logical level: if the gods of mythology really exist, how the hell would they cope in today's world?

Update: Second time around is as good as the first.

Part of the tragedy of being a sequel to something amazing is that you can be quite good, yourself, and you still end up being judged harshly.

Adams must have been under pressure to write a sequel to the bizarre and excellent [b:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency 823528 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently, #1) Douglas Adams https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641305482l/823528.SY75.jpg 1042123], and this is what he came up with in a hurry, but it's a bit of a mess, a collection of half-baked ideas. It's a story primarily about the Norse gods lingering on into modern times, immortal but behind the times and generally ignored by mortals, who don't believe in them. That could be a good basis for a story, but he didn't have quite enough inspiration to make a good novel out of it.Because it was intended as a sequel, and because Dirk Gently was still on his mind, Dirk Gently is present and active and gets quite a lot of attention, although his effect on the plot turns out to be minimal.The book also features Kate Schechter, an American woman resident in London. She's a new character who also gets quite a lot of attention, although her effect on the plot is minimal.Fittingly, I suppose, the gods are the only characters here who have a real effect on the plot, such as it is—it's the sort of plot that another author might have fitted into a short story, without all the mildly entertaining digressions.Overall, despite not being a worthy sequel to [b:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency 823528 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently, #1) Douglas Adams https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641305482l/823528.SY75.jpg 1042123], it's not a bad book, and if you want more Dirk Gently you can get some here. Kate Schechter's main function is to be generally baffled by Dirk Gently and the Norse gods, but she nevertheless manages to be a character in her own right, and is quite likeable. The story is readable, and amusing in places.