Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, fifteen-year-old Christopher is autistic and everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. He lives on patterns, rules and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog Wellington is killed and his carefully constructed universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favorite logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in as portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.