PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
It is 2026 and Edinburgh is an armed city state after the destruction of the United Kingdom in the early years of the new millennium. In the grim urban jungle that remains, where tourists mingle with hardened criminals, the birth rate has dropped disastrously, much to the dismay of the guardians of the city, and disaffected children roam the streets looking for trouble. Quintilian Dalrymple, an investigator with the city authorities, hears about a break-in at the old Scottish Parliament building, and he is thrown deep into the maelstrom, when shortly after there are a pair of gruesome murders close to the same location. Strangely mirroring Rankin's latest Inspector Rebus novel, where a body is discovered behind the walls of the parliament building, we are catapulted into a possible future for Scotland, as Johnston uses all his skill to project an all too plausible account of what might just happen if we're not too careful. This is a chilling novel with a political edge. (Kirkus UK)
