Water of Death

Quint Dalrymple #3

by Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston New English Library

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery Thriller

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 1999

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

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: Water of Death by Paul Johnston. 3.5★'s

This is an older novel but I found it kept me interested until the very end. It was well-written and I enjoyed the characters. The author created a somewhat humorous mystery in a near future setting in Edinburgh, 2025. It was a who-done-it plot with clever dialogue as a diversion that makes the story more interesting and not so political.

When following the main character Quint Dalrymple, a former cop and chief investigator for the selected Council needs to pay attention when he investigates a series of murders during an exceptional hot summer (global warming) that doesn’t help his behavior or attitude. The people of Edinburgh are suffering through a sever water shortage while the city’s reservoirs flows generously for the foreign tourist who support the local economy. Water has been rationed to the citizens and now whiskey has been banned because someone poisoned the whiskey and people were dying. The first victim was a winner of a lottery that was designed to take residents minds off of how poorly the independence movement explained and clarified the drug wars and economic disaster that weakened in the early 2000’s. The lottery Grand Prize is a five minute shower per week for a month…

Quint, the modern revolutionary investigator becomes more conflicted than usual because a former lover is suspected to be the poison culprit. As the body count raises investigator Quint Dalrmple faces a ruthless conspiracy that threatens the city. As the rest of the story unfolds and the body count goes higher as they find bodies in the water of the Leith the city Council is in a panic, a city in fear, and a pressured Quint trying to solve and stop whomever was behind the disaster….

[Patricia Urban]

Another of Johnston's evocative future Edinburgh mysteries

[BeesReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Published in 1999 and set in the dystopian and far distant future of 2025 (!!!) in Edinburgh, a place baking in The Big Heat where citizens are allowed only 3 minutes in the shower once a week, where water is rationed and citizens live in Supply Department homes with Supply Department crappy furniture & clothes.
The Guardians run the place supported by Auxiliaries. Our hero, Dalrymple, is a Demoted Auxiliary turned private detective.
A series of murders involving doctored whisky take place. The Guardians ban the sale of whisky causing civilian unrest and there is a threat to the lives of the tourists who come to Edinburgh for the permanent festival and who provide a substantial amount of the income for the city via sex clubs, etc.

This is the first book of his I have read and seems to be the third in an Edinburgh-based dystopian future. Shall certainly read more!

[Stefania Schiavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again liked it.

Some of the connections seemed pretty easy to work out, but surely I did not see Agnes and Allie’s turn of events coming.

P.S. I actually like Sophia more than Katharine.

[Rich B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the Quint Dalrymple series. It’s worth reading the previous two books to get the characters and context. Overall, it’s a decent read, though it didn’t quite spark as much as the previous ones.

An alternative reality Edinburgh has split off into a separatist state ruled by a council of Guardians. Investigator Quint Dalrymple gets called in to investigate when a lottery winner goes missing and things kick off from there.

It mainly focuses on an extortion threat to poison the city’s whisky / water supply, though there are also a few subplots involving antique books, various relationships among the ruling guardian and auxiliary classes and the return of Quint’s on-off love interest Katherine Kirkwood.

It rattles along at a decent pace and I like the setting and characters. However, two things niggled with this book.

The identity of the extortionist relies on a very shaky premise that the main characters would fail to recognise someone disguised / acting in several scenes.

And the climax is a very rushed download of the finer details of the plot rather than a suspenseful big reveal - like the author couldn’t quite work out how to end it so had the villain reveal all. Didn’t hate it. But it just made the plot on this one feel a bit so-so.

Worth a read if you enjoyed the first two and want to follow how Quint’s character develops.

[Normalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a post-disaster, globally-over-warmed, water-rationing, Edinburg of 2025, but written in 1999, there are some funny disconnects in technology that make you laugh. I loved the characters and the various mysteries were very well plotted with lots of quirky distractions and side-plots that kept me guessing. There are a lot of books in the series but my library system doesn't have them so it will probably be hit or miss as to when I get to the rest of the series. It will help with some of the locations if you are familiar with current day Edinburgh, but it isn't critical as the descriptions are the perfect amount of detail without being so much it throws you out of the story. Johnston won a CWA John Creasey Award for best first crime novel with "Body Politic" which also features some of the same characters as this one, so this isn't exactly a sequel but more of a lateral story in the same world.

[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. The third book occurs during a summer heatwave, and Quint has to solve a series of murders involving whiskey and water.

[David Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this before I somewhat spoiled it for myself by remembering the twist (which I suppose shows how good it was the first time round). Still an enjoyable tale, based around water shortages, poisoning, damaged children and a more complex love life for our hero

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining not a big crime fiction fan but the futuristic edinurgh setting was most enjoyable, will make a point of reading more of quints adventures

[Hedrives · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much to recommend in sci-fi procedural save for the situations caused by global warming and how Scottish society tries to adapt. The actual plot is not very compelling.

[Miki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crusty investigator, a pair of aggressive dames, burlies, psychos: some of it is painted by the numbers, but it keeps up interest well.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Asis Adit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of books really show how stupid some authors think readers are. Hero of the story though an investigator runs into events by pure chance. Villain as usual is smart and illusive through out the story only to act dumb in the end.