Continuing along my current sci-fi kick and SapphicAThon, The Real-Town Murders was yet another book I picked up thanks to a review in a lit mag. The story introduces us to a near future Britain where technology as developed to give people an in-built Feed, most people live out their days in an evolved virtual reality internet known as The Shine, and hackers are working on a gene-based level. Alma’s partner has found this out the hard way; having been infected with a gene-hacked lipid cancer that needs treatment every four hours or else she will die. Alma is the only person who can give treatment, which puts some limitations on her job as a Private Detective. When she tries to solve a seemingly impossible murder, she’s drawn in to a political coup and must fight to get back to Marguerite.
The Real-Town Murders feels a bit like a cross between 70s sci-fi and a cheesy cop show, but in a good way. Some of the plot becomes downright ridiculous towards the end, but with the way this version of Britain is set up it isn’t jarring. You feel for Alma, who just wants to be left alone to care for her beloved, while also wanting to know how the bloody body got in the boot.
My one resounding criticism is I was uncomfortable with the way Marguerite’s size was described. It wasn’t negative, as such, and her character is never treated with any less respect… it was just very male. It’s implied that her increasing size is as a result in of her condition and the lipids invading her brain but when he laugh was described as ‘Huttlaugh’ that, to me, indicates a writer who has prioritised immersing themselves in the genre over writing sensitively.
Overall The Real-Town Murders is a fun, quirky take on a crime noir, with a sci-fi twist. It’s worth a read of either of those genres are you thing!
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