Mushroom Blues is the mold breaking debut novel of Adrian M. Gibson, the first book in the noir fungalpunk series The Hoffman Report, a deliciously dark and weird proposal which tells a compelling story while doing a deep social commentary partly based in the post WWII Japan (and you can totally see many of the influences of it in the city of Neo Kinoko, and in the Hōpponese culture in general).

Two years after its defeat in the Spore War, the island nation of Hōppon is under the occupation of the Coprinian forces, with its native fungal inhabitants suffering a difficult situation, shortages and the corruption of the ocuppiers; tension is rising as a consequence. Detective Henrietta Hoffman has been transferred to NKPD as a sort of punishment, and the apparition of the body of half-breed child forces her to pair with mushroom-headed officer Koji Nameko as part of her investigation; one that will take her on a trip into the heart of a city in the brief of war, crime gangs, and the corruption of the own colonizers.

All the story is told using a close first-person narrative voice, from the perspective of Henrietta, perfect to reflect the change she experiences alongside her vision and knowledge about the native population of Hōppon is expanded and increased. Hoffman is a character tortured by her past, who starts with a point of view that is incredibly racist against the fungal population, partly due to her lack of knowledge, and the perspective of war winner, but who progressively changes, opening herself, in a gradual trip (and sometimes quite literal).

Gibson has made a masterful work portraying through fantasy many of the problems created after the WWII and the American occupation of Japan, but not keeping it at the superficial aspects, but exploring often overlooked parts of the society, such as the rise of crime due to shortage and corruption and the own abuse made by the colonizers (general MacArthur is a good example). All paired with mushroom derived elements that add a layer of originality to his narration, creating some psychedelic situations.

A police procedural story that is not afraid to go deep and, as a result, we have an excellent debut novel; Adrian M. Gibson has created something unique that I can't recommend enough. I need the second book as soon as possible, because I want to return to Neo Kinoko.