April, 2028, and independent Edinburgh is facing a mounting crime wave. Experts from the utopian university-state of New Oxford recommend an extreme deterrent β a maximum security prison alongside the central tourist zone. At the prison opening ceremony, the unthinkable happens β an Edinburgh guardian is shot. Having linked New Oxford to the assassination, maverick investigator Quintilian Dalrymple travels there to close the case. Once there, he discovers evidence of a ruthless conspiracy extending to his home city and the only way to stop it is to penetrate New Oxfordβs mysterious heart β the place known only as the House of Dust.
From Publishers Weekly
In the Edinburgh, Scotland, of the near future, crime supposedly doesn't exist. But no utopia stays perfect for long, and in Johnston's fifth and final crime novel featuring the grizzled Quint Dalrymple (Water of Death, etc.), the city's leaders are contemplating high-security prisons to house society's troublemakers. Dalrymple, the narrator, is a private investigator in a police state that doesn't welcome him, a blues aficionado in a world that has outlawed music. Caught in a vicious game between the guardians of Edinburgh and the prison consultants of New Oxford, Dalrymple is bullied into service when a guard is shot and a high-ranking official threatened. Johnston makes the well-worn idea of crime in a crime-free world fascinating by wrapping it inside layers of political intrigue and subterfuge. Indeed, this is as much a commentary on modern-day England as it is a stylish mystery. Plot elements like insidious youth gangs, cybernetic implants, stealth assassins and a severed arm in a politician's bathtub at times take a backseat to Johnston's convoluted political preaching, but never for long. While this novel can stand alone, readers familiar with the previous volumes will derive the most enjoyment from Johnston's richly textured brave new world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
βHugely entertainingβ¦ engagingly imagined.β -- The Times
βIntelligent, thoughtβprovokingβ¦ an excellent series.β -- Booklist
βThis series is getting better all the time.β -- Val McDermid
βThrilling, accomplished.β -- Ian Rankin, The Sunday Times