his futuristic mystery novel is the third in a series, following 1999's Body Politic and last year's The Bone Yard. Quintilian Dalrymple--Quint to his friends, Bell 03 to the stern, rigidly principled autocrats who rule the isolated city-state of Edinburgh in the year 2025--is an ex-cop, or Demoted Auxiliary in the jargon of his time. Quint helped clean up the drug gangs that ravaged the independent city during its early years, but during the process lost his lover, Caro, a fellow auxiliary. Quint left the force and for a time worked as a common laborer, until the Guardians needed his skills once again, to solve a
string of hideous murders. After that case and another, Quint now has earned the unique status of private investigator, called out whenever the authorities cannot handle an unusual crime.
This time around, the mystery begins with the disappearance of a semi-public figure, the latest winner of the state lottery, one Fordyce Kennedy. Assisted by his sidekick, Davie, a burly and brusque auxiliary known officially as Hume 253, Quint visits the Kennedy household and interviews daughter Agnes and wife Hilda. But Quint's attempts to track down the missing husband and father are soon detoured with the discovery across town of a murder victim, Frankie Thomson, victim of some poisoned whiskey of a brand never before seen in the tightly regulated city.
On the trail of the poisoners, who soon reveal themselves to be rebels and dissidents intent on extorting the state, Quint discovers that his two cases are converging into one bizarre and intricate plot. Questioning a sordid cast of citizens, venturing into many odd corners of his metropolis, Quint must also contend with pressure from the Senior Guardian, Sophia, chief medical examiner for the state and also his current lover. The reappearance of an old flame, Katherine Kirkwood, hinders rather than helps his investigation. But despite deadly assaults from the mad killer ultimately revealed to be the kingpin of the whole affair, Quint manages to protect
and save the government he half-loves, half-loathes.
A magical SF mystery tour
Johnston's historical scenario runs like this: a few years into the 21st century, when Prince Charles became involved with a woman who was later revealed to be linked to drug cartels, the monarchy was abolished and the United Kingdom collapsed. In Edinburgh the rulers imposed a puritanical system of government loosely based on the teachings of Plato. Citizens were rendered homogenous, and individualism was discouraged. Limited resources were parceled out in a kind of bare-bones socialism. Entertainment was restricted to reading and drinking and sanctioned folk music.
Meanwhile, to draw tourists from the more prosperous regions of the globe, Edinburgh's famous Theater Festival is made a perpetual Disney-style sideshow. But the older folks recall the freedoms of an earlier age. Quint lives for his illicit American blues music, and retains his independent spirit and curiosity. This makes him a necessary evil to the state, one they employ warily.
Johnston's sterling ability to concoct and deliver an intriguing mystery tale is supplemented by his stefnal portrayal of his dystopia. A major move on Johnston's part is to show a changing, not static, state. The first book takes place in 2020, when the founders of the state, grown rotten, are brought down. The second book occurs two years later, when a new cadre of overzealous younger Guardians are dominant. And the current offering shows the pendulum swinging against the deposed "iron boy scouts" and toward liberalization. Additionally, Johnston introduces the effects of the "Big Heat," or global warming, showing us a grimy, smelly populace whose members are limited to one 60-second shower a week. The title of this book works on several levels, referring to both the deadly whiskey and the lack of water resources.
Utilizing a strong cast of secondary characters, including Quint's curmudgeonly father, Hector, and his conflicted lover, Katherine Kirkwood, Johnston establishes a delicate balance between personal lusts and hatreds and sociopolitical shenanigans, telling us shocking things about both.
