Impolitic Corpses

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Impolitic Corpses, the eighth novel set in a dystopian Edinburgh to feature investigator Quintilian Dalrymple.

Edinburgh 2038 and Scotland has returned to democracy with Edinburgh restored as the capital of the federalist state. Financially things are improved but there’s still plenty of work for an investigator like Quint. He is asked by his friend, Detective Leader Davie Oliphant to assist on a strange attempted murder, Jack Nicol was strangled by a tree fish but before he can start he is diverted to investigate the disappearance of the Lord of the Isles, prominent businessman and leader of the opposition.

I thoroughly enjoyed Impolitic Corpses which is an exciting thriller set in a future but recognisable world. I have been reading this series since the beginning, more years ago than I care to count, so a new addition is always welcome and this doesn’t disappoint. The plot is complicated, full of politics, corruption, twists and distrust, but the motives behind it all are universal. I found it gripping and fairly easy to follow.

The plot revolves around the politics of this fractured world. The new Scotland is a fledgling democracy made up of representatives of the various regions which all have very different ideologies and loyalties. A “united” Scotland, however, is not the norm in this brave new world with most former countries fractured into fiefdoms and fighting amongst themselves. Partisan politics taken to a logical conclusion? Of course, Mr Johnston was not so prescient when he started the series, blaming this fracturing on drugs and gang warfare, but now it’s eerie. The new Scotland has brought prosperity to the citizens of Edinburgh but it’s also brought greed and capitalism, nothing new to us but after thirty years of communism the contrast is sharp.

The novel is told in the first person by Quint Dalrymple. He has a sharp, cynical take on life although it’s rather blunted by his new freedom in this novel as he doesn’t have so much to kick against. Still, he’s not short of targets as the novel progresses.

Impolitic Corpses is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is a great series featuring investigator Quint Dalrymple set in a alternative future, low tech, Edinburgh and Scotland by Paul Johnston. A fragile capitalist democracy has replaced the totalitarian government of Edinburgh but the Scottish unity is paper thin with conflict and different groups in charge in other parts of Scotland. It is 2038, Quint has become famous writing of his past experiences and cases although he has left out parts of his history, a history that is to come back and haunt him in the present. This has made him well off, but he misses working with Davie, Detective Leader in a ScotPol headed by the Scottish Police Director, Hel Hyslop, the lover of Andrew Duart, the presiding minister of the Scottish government. Davie involves Quint in a strange case of a treefish attempting to murder Jack Nicol by strangulation in Leith, a treefish emulating one painted by Hieronymous Bosch in The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

However, Daunt and Hyslop take him and Davie off the case to look into the disappearance of the Scottish Conservative opposition leader, Angus Macdonald, the Lord of the Isles, a key player in Scotland's strategically important oil and gas companies, industries that are great contributors to the country's wealth. A finger found in Macdonald's room is a cause of great concern to Quint, a hint of a past he has kept secret, and it seems there is something personal in this case directed at him. Macdonald's disappearance appears to have some connection with the Jack Nicol and treefish case, as numerous leads point to the existence of Bosch cults and Bosch's other painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights and figures from the picture. Indeed, before long they have a murder victim posed in a manner that replicates a part of the painting. Quint uncovers political intrigue, abduction, greedy money grabbing politicians, elements from Nor-England and abroad interested in the oil and gas companies, a villainous teratologist, and there are those who seek personal vengeance.

Johnston ends this book on a huge cliffhanger, one of my least favourite ways to conclude a story. This does, of course, set up the next book in the series, and makes me keen to read it as soon as possible. It can be hard to keep up with the complex storytelling, there are many references to the political shifts and changes in the past, and the present unity is a difficult act to maintain, and politicians being politicians, they are not exactly exemplary role models that can be trusted, echoing much of our contemporary realities. This addition is a compulsive and gripping read, Johnston's Edinburgh and Scotland is an ongoing source of interest, one where almost anything can happen and very little can be relied on, leaving Quint surviving on his wits and his ability to negotiate his way through the obstacles in his path. Great book. Many thanks to Severn House for an ARC.