House of Dust

Quint Dalrymple #5

by Paul Johnston

It's April 2028. Youth gangs roam the streets of independent Edinburgh, forcing the ruling Council of City Guardians to seek advice. Experts from the utopian university-state of New Oxford recommend a maximum security prison alongside the central tourist zone, but at the prison opening ceremony an Edinburgh guardian is shot. Quint gathers evidence linking New Oxford to the assassination. Sent there to close the case, he finds a ruthless administration beneath the glossy hi-tech veneer, and a conspiracy which leads from New Oxford's mysterious heart to his home city.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Crime

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2001

About the author

Paul Johnston was born in Edinburgh, studied Greek at Oxford, and now divides his time between the UK and a small Greek island. His highly-acclaimed Quintilian Dalrymple series won the John Creasey Memorial Dagger for best first crime novel.

Series:
* Quint Dalrymple
* Alex Mavros
* Matt Wells

Reviews

[Stefania Schiavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it from the beginning and still thinking about it: didn’t expect at all the finale!

[Wendy G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Live near Edinburgh so feels possible!

[Rich B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent entry in the series that takes Quint Dalrymple, and his 2 sidekicks, Katherine and Davie, to New Oxford, a mix of future prison state and corporate education behemoth.

A mutilated dead body turns up in Edinburgh just as the new city councillors are signing a new partnership deal with the academic criminology experts of New Oxford. Quint investigates and, following another death (of a major secondary character), they’re all whisked off to New Oxford to investigate the dubious shenanigans of its ruling professors.

I liked the characters and the intro of new future tech, even the Oxford setting. I also liked the tying up of loose ends from previous books, as 3 characters from the previous books get their storylines neatly resolved.

And yet, there’s a lot of exposition at the end, and it feels messy at times, like it’s not quite sure where it wants to go. It’s by no means bad, but it’s got a slight, this happens, then that happens vibe to it. Like it’s just missing a compelling thread running through it.

Decent, but no more than that.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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. In this, the fifth book in the series, a visiting dignitary from Oxford is shot at, and Quint & his sidekicks travel to Oxford to try to solve the attempted murder.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining futuristic who dumnnit set in Edinburgh and Oxford in 2028. Trying to be a bit Orwellesque (if there is such a word) though lacking in subtlety but it kept me reading

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*