Read Body Politic (1998)

Online Book

Author

Paul Johnston

Genre

Fiction

Series

quint dalrymple

Rating

3.85 of 5 Votes: 4

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ISBN

0340694912 (ISBN13: 9780340694916)

Language

English

Publisher

new english library

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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Body Politic (1998) - Plot & Excerpts

This book is one in a series set in Edinburgh, Scotland in the 2020's after the world economy has collapsed into scattered city-states due to wars and drugs. Edinburgh is tightly run by the Guardians with the support of auxiliaries, who are referred to by their numbers rather than their names. The Guardians proclaim the city crime-free, but then hire Quint (Quintilian) Dalrymple to solve the crimes that occur. Quint is supported by a great group of friends and acquaintances who are interesting and well fleshed out. The series is amusing and entertaining. This, the first book, introduces us to Quint who is brought in to solve the murder of a woman auxiliary. The murder resembles a cold case. We meet Davie, Quint's side kick.

Not my usual choice of crime novel. I currently need to have an audio book on the go, but the library choice for downloading is limited and in a way this is good because I have to go a little outside my comfort zone. This is set in an alternative Edinburgh in 2020 (and does remind me a little of a Rebus novel) and is a convincing and compelling world. The writing is more violent and explicit than I can normally stomach, but by the time I'd discovered this I was too far in to give up. I probably wouldn't try a second book simply but for a change this was enjoyable.

What do You think about Body Politic (1998)?

I thought this was a nifty dystopia, very evocative of Yevgeny Zamyatin's We. There was a thing that was supposed to be a surprising reveal, though, and I totally saw it coming. Sometimes the main character was a little annoying. He got the ending he deserved, though. (view spoiler)[You know how you have to earn your happy ending? He didn't, and he didn't get one. I think this was handled well. (hide spoiler)]
—Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides