Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroyed much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn’t just surviving, but thriving – built on a culture of population control where people are organized into households that must earn the right to bear and raise children by proving they can care for them. Those who are deemed worthy proudly display the symbolic banners that demonstrate this privilege, while those who are not are outcast, living alone and branded as “bannerless.”
Enid of Haven is an investigator, called on to mediate disputes and examine transgressions against the community. She’s young for the job and hasn't yet handled a serious case. But now she’s summoned to investigate the suspicious death of a man rumored to be bannerless. Was it murder dr an accident? Was he truly bannerless or simply a loner? As Enid races to answer these questions while confronting unhelpful townsfolk and her own past, the secrets she reveals could expose the cracks in the entire foundation of the Coast Road society.
The world collapsed many decades ago. But the inhabitants of the USA’s East Coast region haven’t descended into post-apocalyptic grim chaos. Instead, they have created a new society that is designed to avoid the errors of the past. More pastoral, with careful rules to manage resources and restrict population growth, it has managed to survive peacefully, for the most part. But there are still issues that need Investigators to sort out. Enid is one such Investigator, and responds when a call comes in about a suspicious death. But when she arrives at the site, no-one wants to answer questions, and an old flame makes her work even harder. Who is hiding what, and why? It’s up to Enid to find out.
This is a nicely paced whodunnit in a different, gentler, constrained world, but still one with some people pushing against the limits imposed by their society. We see Enid’s earlier life in flashback, as she works to sort out the issues here. And once she has figured out who is to blame, and for what, she then has to decide what the repercussions will be in this new world.
Interesting enough that I’m off the buy the next in the series.