Book Review: The Bone Yard

Reviewed By: Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM

The Bone Yard     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Paul Johnston
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Mystery   Futuristic
Series: Quintilain Dalrymple # 2
St. Martin's Minotaur Press; 1998

The Bone Yard is the second book in this series from Paul Johnston. The first was titled The Body Politic. The series is set in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the 2020's. The general run down is, the world has gone to hell, and the city has closed itself off. The allow tourism, which is the source of income. The city is ruled by a group of people known as The Council. There is also a police group known as The Guardsmen. Our hero, Quintilian Dalrymple, is a former guardsman who now operates as a detective for hire.

Quint is approached by a citizen who is being followed/stalked, and Quint doesn't think much of it. He promises to look into it just to make the guy happy. Of course mysteries being what they are, the guy turns up dead. And it's then that the story kicks in. The council brings him in to find the killer. He asks for and is given the assistance of a guardsman named Davie who is also a freind of Quint's. Together they investigate the murder, which turns into murders. Along the way there are illegal drugs, strange deaths, and people hiding the truth.

The book is a great read. Social commentary mixed in by way of Quint's outlook on the future city, and who runs it. The story is tight and the investigative work believable. Quint is a hardboiled detective typical of this fiction and fun because of it. The book wraps everything up in a wonderful ending that left me wanting more. Which I will soon have, as I have ordered everything available by this author.

Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM

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