There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

Adam Roberts has a reputation for clever, ideas-dense speculative fiction. His latest novel is The Real-Town Murders (review copy from Gollancz). The novel is a near-future murder mystery and thriller that opens with a classic locked room mystery: a body is found in the boot of a car fresh off a manufacturing line that is covered by CCTV from start to finish. A private detective called Alma is retained to investigate. The investigation leads Alma to become involved in a much wider conspiracy.

Roberts's setting is a near-future Reading, but one where those who can, and can afford to, live and work in the Shine: virtual worlds that are limited only by a person's imagination. Rather than being seduced by the technology, Roberts focused on its implications, particularly for current models of governance based on geography and the nation-state. What does it mean when the population have no need to travel for work, and can escape the constraints of physical geography into spaces limited only by their imaginations and processing power? Current pillars of society begin to slowly erode, compete with one another and eat themselves.

Alma is one of the few who doesn't live in the Shine. She is at the other extreme - tied to one physical spot with only a limited ability to roam. Her partner is house-bound and the victim of a virus that is gene-bound to Alma. Every four hours Alma must be at home to treat her, or her partner will die. It's a punishing schedule at the best of times, but one that becomes even more difficult when one is on the run from the law.

As if all of this wasn't quite enough, Roberts adds a layer of Alfred Hitchcock film references on the top, all updated for his near-future setting. And no Hitchcock film would be complete without a cameo appearance from the great man himself.

The Real-Town Murders is a great thriller, but it suffers slightly from almost being almost too clever for its own good at times.

Goodreads rating: 4*

Set in world where people are addicted to the Shine, a virtual reality way more interesting than the real world, The Real-Towns Murders follows Alma, a private detective trying to solve a locked room mystery.

The situation? A body was found in a car booth of a car factory. The problem? Video footages show the car being built to scratch by robots and no humans entered the factory during this span of time. You could blame the AIs taking those footages but infortunately, they are incapable of lying, which means that a body magically appeared in the car while it was built by robots. So how the hell did it manage to appear in this place and why?

It is the mystery our dear detective Alma has to solve. However, soon after she’s engaged on this particular mission, she found herself in a lot more than she bargained for: it appears that the government doesn’t really want her to find who did it or why and if she really want to solve it, she’ll have to do it with government agents trying to stop her.

The thing is, Alma’s situation is a bit peculiar, she has to attend her sick partner Maguerite every four hours (not a minute less or more) or she’ll die. Indeed her partner was attacked a while back by a gene hacker who linked Alma and Marguerite’s DNA together. This means that Alma is the only one able to attend her partner and she can only use the expensive treatments provided by the hacker: welcome to the new bioransomware…

Of course, in a daily normal life, having to prevent someone from dying horribly every four hours isn’t exactly stress-free but, when you are being pursued by governments agents who clearly want to kill you, it’s even more complicated, especially when the partner in question is so big that it can’t leave your home.

This book is utterly crazy but the kind of crazy I love: it is crazy in a very clever way. It’s quite funny and quirky but at the same time, it really managed to deal with serious issues.

In this world where everyone escape in the Shine all the time, the Real Towns or R!Towns are left empty and the only ones roaming the streets are robots or people immersed in another world entirely. No one interacts directly anymore prefering the confort of conversations through screens and Roberts really managed to show how it affected the society and the way it was reshaped by this fact.

The whole book was an extreme example of how the future could turn out to be if we continue to bury ouselves into our smartphones and computers. It really made me think about how social media change the way we interact. Yes, it allows us to communicate way more easily but at the same time, it creates a barrier between people. In the Real Town Murders, people are so used to dealing with each other through screens that they are almost incapable to have a normal conersation face to face anymore (it made most of the dialogues in this book pretty hilarious!).

If you are looking for a fun read with important themes and discussions, I would highly recommend this book, I haven’t read many things by Roberts (even if I own most of his works) but I really need to fly through his backlist because he has really interesting things to say and I really like how he says them.

Highly recommended.

The Real-Town Murders by Adam Roberts

Alma is a private detective trying to make ends meet. She doesn’t have many cases to pick from and the few she has are hardly promising – a mother who thinks her son is getting thinner with every meal he eats and then there’s the case of the body found in the boot of a car. This could be one of those interesting lucrative cases until Alma learns that this is a brand new manufactured car, still in its factory and untouched by human hands. That it should have a dead body in it is an impossibility but the company want her to find out why, who and, most especially, how.

But as soon as Alma starts digging into the mysterious murder of civil servant Adam Kem, she realises that she’s out of her depth. Important people keep warning her off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. Some of them want her dead as well. But why? All she wants to do is drop the case but instead Alma finds herself on the run. It doesn’t help that she has to return to her home every four hours and four minutes to medicate her love Marguerite. If she misses that deadline, Marguerite will die. Quickly.

The Real-Town Murders is a brilliant detective thriller but that description only scratches the surface. This is Adam Roberts, after all, who yet again shows us what a wizard he is with words and ideas. He has created here a near future Britain and it is an almost empty place. That’s because 90% of the population is buried away in their apartments, some the size of coffins, to immerse themselves in the Shine – our internet’s future. The only time these people venture out is in their mesh suits – an automated robotic case which exercises these unconscious bodies. And if you’re unfortunate enough to find yourself in either prison or hospital, there you’ll be forced into the Shine – you’re so much easier to handle that way.

But the Shine has almost shut Britain down. The appeal of the real world has gone. There is a drive by some to get it back and that means giving the place a boost! The UK is now UK!-OK!, Reading is R!-Town (or Real-Town), and then there’s Basingstoked! and sWINdon. Staines is still Staines, though… The White Cliffs of Dover have been sculpted to draw in the crowds and make the British feel good about themselves – what could be better than having the monumental face of Shakespeare carved into the white cliffs to usher in tourists? But you only have to look around the streets and bars to see how ineffective this is.

This is worldbuilding at its very best. It’s complex, multi-layered, absolutely fascinating and so witty. This is very clever writing but it’s not difficult to read or get into, it’s a delight. And we see all of this crazy, really rather horrible world through Alma as she tries to work out what on earth is going on while always keeping an eye on that ticking clock. There are joys along the way – the argumentative talking door is a highlight – but there is also great tension and topnotch adventure as Alma runs from scrape to scrape.

This is also a novel full of fabulous women. The majority of the characters, both goodies and baddies, are female but this doesn’t feel forced. It’s just how it is. And Adam Roberts writes women so well. Alma is wonderful and so too is Marguerite, who sees herself as the Mycroft to Alma’s Sherlock. These two women have got themselves into a pitiable situation and the world around them is only making it worse.

There are some brilliant touches of science fiction that pay homage to such lovely things as Star Trek. There are extraordinary flying cars. There are hints of impossible things, all becoming real in the familiar mystery of the body in the locked room, which here gets such a fantastic twist.

The Real-Town Murders is a joy to read. Adam Roberts’ imagination is incredible, backed up by some truly beautiful writing. I think that it is more accessible than The Thing Itself, a book that I adored, and so I hope it gains the huge audience it deserves. Whatever will be next?!

I must also mention that all of Adam Roberts’ hardbacks have the most stunning covers. The Real-Town Murders is no different – gorgeous.

Other reviews
The Thing Itself

I'll admit that this was a strange one.
The early parts of the book hooked me in - our 'hero' Alma is set the task of solving an impossible murder when a body is found in the boot of a car in a fully automated car making factory. Add to this a near future setting where the majority of the population is constantly online, addicted to Shine (basically a full online existence) and you have a gripping tale to keep your brain busy.

Alma has a problem though, her partner is I'll and has to be treated every 4hrs or she will die - and only Alma can administer the treatment. This is where things nearly came unstuck for me as it seemed every 4 hours Alma would administer the treatment then get in a 'scrape' that meant she would not be able to save her partner but, thanks to epic derring-do gets back by the skin of her teeth. I nearly gave up at this point but thankfully didn't as the second half of the book really cranked things up a gear and made for a thrilling end.
The story felt both futuristic and black and white era cinema-ish with a strong Hitchcock vibe.
Recommended

A review in spanish: https://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-real-town-murders-adam-roberts.html

Pocos autores tienen la capacidad de engancharme con las primeras páginas de sus historias como Adam Roberts. He leído tres de sus novelas: Jack Glass, Béte (todavía tengo pendiente la reseña) y la que hoy nos ocupa, The Real-Town Murders, y en todas me ha pasado lo mismo. Admiro la habilidad que tiene de enganchar al lector con pocas frases. Lástima que también me ha pasado en las tres novelas que hay un punto en que el interés de la historia decae, y nunca acabo de valorarlas con un excelente, aunque estén llenas de buenas ideas.
No sé si valorar a The Real-Town Murders como una novela negra con un telón de fondo de ciencia ficción, o como una historia especulativa sobre una posible evolución de nuestra sociedad, con estructura de novela de detectives. Las dos vertientes tienen aproximadamente el mismo peso dentro de la historia.

La protagonista de la novela es Alma, una investigadora privada que recibe el encargo de averiguar cómo ha podido aparecer un cadáver humano en el maletero de un coche recién salido de la cadena de montaje, en una fábrica totalmente automatizada. Antes de que tenga tiempo de poder profundizar en el caso, las autoridades le pedirán amablemente que deje de investigar. Sin quererlo, se ve envuelta en una red de conspiraciones, en la lucha por el poder entre diversas facciones del gobierno.
Uno de los puntos más destacables de la novela es la ambientación. La historia está situada en un futuro cercano en el que la mayor parte de la población pasa el tiempo conectada en The Shine, una plataforma de inmersión virtual que representa una evolución de internet. La sociedad que presenta Roberts es muy deprimente: la mayor parte de la vida laboral y social se realiza en la plataforma, todo está automatizado, no hay interacción real entre las personas y las calles están vacías, a excepción de las pocas personas que no utilizan la plataforma ( y los que sí la utilizan y, aún conectados, su traje de inmersión los lleva de paseo cual zombies para evitar problemas de atrofia muscular).
La historia está llena de detalles que ayudan a la ambientación, de muy buenas ideas, y de un sentido del humor característico del autor y que a mi me gusta mucho. Tanto la parte especulativa como la parte del misterio y su resolución están muy bien trabajados y me han dejado satisfecho.
¿Porque no la he valorado como excelente si hasta ahora todo lo que he dicho son virtudes? Debido al uso de las escenas de acción. Una parte importante de la trama se basa en que Alma debe regresar a su piso cada cuatro horas para poder tratar a su compañera, afectada por un virus diseñado específicamente para ella, y Alma es la única que puede tratarla. Esto genera una serie de idas y venidas, de persecuciones, fugas y escenas de acción que en conjunto encuentro un poco exageradas, en algún momento repetitivas, y que en momentos me han sacado de la historia.
En definitiva, una historia muy imaginativa, una mezcla muy interesante de novela de detectives y especulación social que hubiese calificado de excelente si presentase más mesura en las escenas de acción. Continuaré pendiente de lo que escribe Adam Roberts.

I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via NetGalley - it's always good to be approved for an advance copy, but particularly here as I always look forward to a new book from Adam Roberts.

And The Real Town Murders - which is both a science fiction and a crime story - didn't disappoint. It has that recognisably Robertsian tone - that is, serious in theme if slightly silly on the surface, packed with allusions so sly that you have to go back and check if you really read what you thought you did and glorying in puns and cheeky plays on words. So we have gems like "You're not the Mycroft. You're the Yourcroft"; phrases like "Man-hating transfer" or "gutter perches" shamelessly put into a character's mouth "for some reason" puns without the punning, pure puns with no object or reference.

All that, and the book is also recklessly, relentlessly inventive and beautifully written. Really, really well written: in places the language almost sparkles and glitters (especially when it's describing sparkling and glittering things). For example: "Sunlight sparkled grey off the dust coating every one of the building's hundreds of windows" or "A solitary bot moved very slowly over the weedy concrete". There is a whole series of descriptions of sky and water that caught my fancy, both original ("The sky was a lake of unlit petrol", "Sky the colour of an old man's hair", "Textured like hammered pewter. Grey like the steel from which Excalibur was forged", "...the Thames, all of its surface teeming eels of pure light and pure brightness in the afternoon sun") and nods elsewhere ("light fizzing off ten thousand wave peaks like a screen tuned to a dead channel").

The half quote from Neuromancer is particularly apposite because this book's background assumes a world where virtual reality is overtaking the real Real. The Shine is the place where all the fun is to be had, which is why Reading (or R!-Town as it's been renamed, in a lame marketing effort) is so empty (twelve people or so constitutes a crowd). Those who can, choose to spend their time indoors, dormant, plugged into the Shine: those who have no choice - prisoners, patients in hospital - are made to: it's easier to handle them that way.

Horrible, perhaps, but not a dystopia, not exactly. There hasn't been an apocalyptic event, the world is still complete, it's just that several decades of consequences and technological evolution have taken us in a troubling direction. The outcome is that familiar streets - I've walked along some of the road Roberts describes - have become strange and eerie, beautiful at times in their emptiness, observed only by the few who can't or won't go where the fun is.

The main character is one of these misfits. Alma is a private detective who at the start of the book has been retained to investigate a classic locked-room mystery - a murdered corpse in the boot of a new car, assembled before our eyes (or rather, before omnipresent CCTV) in a factory. A factory, which, incidentally, makes high end, "artisanally produced" cars - that is, they are lovingly assembled in the traditional manner by robots rather than merely being printed. That gives them a certain cachet in this world of the virtual Shine, of AIs, of empty streets and canteens - and a key role in the ideological struggle between the real and the virtual realms.

Alma has no religious objection or medical reason for resisting the Shine, a fact she finds hard to explain to her prospective clients. Rather, she is bound to stay in the Real in order to tend to her beloved, her pearl Marguerite. Marguerite has been infected by a modded virus, which cases a crisis every four hours and four minutes. The malady is keyed to Alma's DNA so that only she can diagnose and treat it.

Ridiculous as this premise may sound put so baldly, Roberts makes it work. In his it becomes a touching vulnerability for Alma, the successive needs to get out of whatever scrape she's in and return home really piling on the tension. It also adds an intriguing question which is never answered - how did this happen to Marguerite, and why? I very quickly lost any doubt about this setup, so well is Alma's need conveyed. And Marguerite is a wonderful character, the Mycroft to Alma's Holmes, as hinted in the quote above. She's a full part of this investigation and spots not only the immediate solution to the crime, but the wider dangers, long before Alma catches on.

And there are dangers. In essence this book is one long chase. Alma is engaged for a case, warned off, threatened, contacted by a mysterious inside source, arrested, escapes, is pursued, shot at, and so on - for all the world like the hero of a Hitchcock film (and, in one mysterious scene, there is even an appearance by a mysterious fat man...) Even without the need to care for Marguerite, her chances of survival look small. But she's resourceful and won't give up so we have the setup for a classic action thriller. Yet if it's Adam Roberts does Alfred Hitchcock it could as easily be Adam Roberts does Julius Caesar (I think - given the politics, and some of the speeches) or several other genres (did the scenes with the argumentative lift AI echo Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Of course they did.)

In other words, it's clever, well thought out, many layered, allusive and tricksy, something else I've come to expect from Roberts' books. With some authors that might seem a little show-offy, a bit look-at-me, but I never get that feeling from Roberts' books. If you get these references they add to the enjoyment, but understanding the book doesn't depend on getting them, and there's lots of fun to be had here anyway.

The book ends with many open questions for both Alma and the reader, and I'm really hoping that Roberts will return to R!-town again, with some answers (and more questions).

Wow, this was certainly different, how on earth do you describe it. Other reviewers have done a very good job I am struggling I must admit, I want to do the book justice but have never read anything like it before, and my review will probably reflect that.I have started deliberately to read book outside my usual comfort zone to make my reading a bit more interesting, and this book fulfills that criteria and then some...It is a locked room mystery, that is the easy part to describe .Ok, here goes, the main character is Alma and the book is set in the near future with some pretty wacky goings on, one of them being the fact that Alma has a time limit to everything she does as she has to go and help her partner Marquerita who relies on her for medical assistance, that is putting it very simply.The story was great the pace was really good and it kept me page turning and puzzling .It must be wonderful to have an imagination like this author does,and he transcribes it to paper really well.I don't want to do any spoilers all I can say is if you have an open mind and are prepared to have your mind boggled, step this way you won't be disappointed I thought it was great and would hope others enjoy it as much as I did.Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was convinced initially that this was going to be the classic closed-room mystery – until the action suddenly kicked off, the plot jinked sideways and it all turned into something quite different… I love it when that happens! There are only a handful of writers that can pull off these flourishes with such panache, but Roberts happens to be one of them. The story surged forward, as the worldmaking redefined this thriller into something quite different.

Alma is stuck in the real world, tethered by the specific needs of her lover who has been struck down by a genetically specific cancer attuned to Alma’s DNA, meaning that she is the only one who can successfully nurse and treat Marguerite. Alongside the case, Roberts rolls out this intriguing world where increasingly the majority of people live and work in the virtual paradise that is the Shine. So what happens to the increasingly lopsided power dynamic between the virtual governing body and the real-time government?

Amidst the mayhem of full-on action scenes, there are some also genuinely amusing moments – I loved the faces of famous Britons that have been carved into the chalk cliffs of Dover to try and provide some belated attraction in the real world. Rebranding the town of Reading as R! also is funny and authentic as the kind of meaningless fluff the powers-that-be indulge in to be seen to do something about the increasing inequality between the real and virtual world.

The initial murder throws up all sorts of issues and pitchforks Alma into the middle of a really scary adventure, which bring her to notice of some very dangerous people – although, worryingly, it seems she has already been on somebody’s list. She is an enjoyable, sympathetic heroine, though if I have a grizzle, it’s that the characters seem to be able to soak up an insane amount of physical damage and still stagger forth. However, that is a minor grumble – overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable near-future whodunit and I notice with joy in my heart that it is the first in a series. Yippee!

While I obtained the arc of The Real-Town Murders from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
9/10

I read this book as part of my on-going attempt to diversify my reading. I usually stick to the same old genres but this year I have been dipping my toes into more sci-fi and fantasy and, as my go to genre is crime, a sci-fi crime book seemed an ideal book to continue my mission.
We have here a traditional locked door mystery. A body is found in the book of a car made at a completely automated factory with cctv at every stage. There is absolutely no way that it could have been placed there. Alma is called in to investigate. She is a private detective with a penchant for the strange. She has a partner who is desperately ill and requires medical attention which only Alma can perform every four hours so this means that Alma is always clock-watching and has to make sure she has the required time to get back to provide the requisite care. This is also the reason that she shies away from the Shrine, an alternative, virtual reality that people plug into. But as she starts to investigate, her contract is terminated, her involvement no longer required. She has another, almost as strange, case but she has bills to pay and also, her interest has been piqued by this apparently impossible case so she keeps on with it. It very soon transpires, however, that there are powers that would rather she drops it and they make their wishes blatantly obvious. Exactly what are they hiding? And who did put the body in the boot? Can Alma balance her commitment to her partner and get to the truth, and at what cost?
Wow! This book was brilliant from start to finish. I absolutely loved the sci-fi element to the story although, as a newbie, I have little little experience of whether the things contained within are good or bad but, within my limitations, I could definitely buy into them. I did get a bit cocky early on when I thought I had it sorted but, I did think that if I was right that it was a little too easy so I wasn't completely convinced and was correct in that way of thinking. It didn't put me off though, not at all, as what happened next was a thrilling ride of paranoia, intrigue, secrets, lies, duplicity and all the other wonderful things you need for a great read of the crime genre all complemented with the added sci-fi elements.
And when the truth eventually came out I was kicking myself a little as I didn't see that as a possible explanation although maybe, in hindsight, I should have.
As this is set in England in the not too distant future there are certain elements of the country that have been upgraded, re-branded if you like, some of which were quite amusing especially the white cliffs of Dover! There are also a lot of past references to be had. Most of which required no explanation for me as I must be of the right age but their use at the most appropriate times did make me giggle on occasion. They also made my connection with the book as a whole much stronger which also helped my overall opinion of what I was reading.
It's a book that can be read on many levels. There is quite a bit you can debate if you really go deep enough, all the usual things around data collection and the world we now live in with respect to what you can find on-line. But you also don't have to go that deep. The story itself is enough if you just want a good read.
All in all, a cracking read for me which left me hungry for more of the same. I am definitely going to check out the author's back catalogue.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Adam Roberts' books are definitely for those people who want extra layers in the stories they read. On the surface, The Real-Town Murders is a locked room mystery, albeit in a future setting, but it's also about how governments seek to control and manipulate their citizens. The future technology is written from the point of view of someone who clearly keeps up-to-date with technological advancements of now.

Alma is called in to investigate a murder at a wholly automated car factory, where humans aren't allowed on the shop floor, well not in person. The body was found inside a newly made car, with no evidence to how the killer got in or out.

It's not an unusual thought to wonder how VR could transform our work lives. Imagine not having to commute, just logging in from home and interacting with your colleagues as if you were there. Think how liberating it would be not to be restrained by proximity to work when choosing where to live. This future does not have a housing crisis.

It's taken a bit further than that, a lot of people now live in cupboards because they rarely leave the Shine. They get their exercise in mesh suits whilst their mind is elsewhere. Towns in the real world have re-branded in attempt to lure people back Real-Town was once Reading, Basingstoke is now BasingStoked! Even the White Cliffs of Dover have had a face lift.

Of course, in this kind of world there's a lot to say about surveillance and data privacy. What exactly do you sacrifice in exchange for the life you have in the Shine? And what are the disadvantages if you're one of the few not connected?

Alma is a carer, as well as a private investigator, one who has no chance to pass her duties on. Her partner Marguerite is living with genehacked malware, which requires treatment every four hours and four minutes. Alma's DNA has been coded into the cure so only she can administer it. As you can imagine, this is problematic when you're wanted by the authorities and it doesn't help that Marguerite is too large to leave their home. It really adds an element of urgency to the story.


Women are not sidelined in this science fiction nor are they stereotypes. Alma is tough but she is also capable of crying, of caring deeply for the woman she loves despite hardship. It definitely passes the Bechdel test with most the key characters being women, even the baddies.

Some really interesting and imaginative ideas make this a thoroughly enjoyable read. The story starts with a "locked room" murder which had such an amazing reveal at the end.
Some great word play, although I'm sure that some of it was over my head and a sense of humour throughout.
This actually reminds me a lot of Jasper Fforde, which is a big compliment from me.

A sci-fi noir thriller, and a very quick read, I enjoyed Adam Robert's The Real-Town Murders.
Robert's Glass Jack was a disturbing and excellent sci-fi novel I highly recommend to those with strong stomachs. Real-Town Murders is a lighter foray into the future, where most people spend their time in the Shine (online utopias) leaving their bodies behind and returning to them as rarely as possible. Alma is rooted to the Real-Town as she is the caregiver for her lover who requires daily aid or she will die.
Alma is first hired, then blackmailed into investigating a murder. It is a remarkably successful mundane plot point - Who among us would not be desperate to return to the side of a child or loved one who needed medical care than only we could provide? Alma carefully investigates, but odd events and shady characters carry her away. There are some very very funny bits about the setting in future England, where the Real World has tried and spectacularly failed to market itself to humans.

Seriously though, I just read two good sci-fi noir mysteries with robots and detectives on daily deadlines (see Killing is My Business by Adam Christopher) and I have to ask if these two writers are in a secret writing club? If so, carry on!

The beginning of this book sucked me right in and the story kept me intrigued.

Alma is a private detective in the "real" world whereas most people in her time are focused on a virtual world called the Shine. Some people never leave the Shine and employ mesh suits to keep their body moving while they live out dreams in a virtual world. Safe from bedsores and muscle wasting.

Alma gets a case investigating how a dead body was found in the locked trunk of a newly manufactured car, when no humans are involved in the manufacturing save for a checker who inspects the cars at the end of the assembly line. How did a dead body end up in this car? Alma is intrigued and her story goes downhill from there.

Margeruite, Alma's partner, is stricken with a condition caused by gene hacking. Unfortunately she has to be tended to every four hours or she will die. The kicker is that only Alma can tend to Margeruite because her genes are part of this horrible condition. The condition links Alma and Margeruite for life.

As Alma is thrown down a rabbit hole after deciding to investigate the locked trunk incident, she constantly must find her way back to Margeruite every four hours to keep her partner alive.

Roberts used a little too much pop culture references for me, but overall I greatly enjoyed this story.

Additionally this is a rare case of a book having a very satisfying ending. I worried a bit that the author would not be able to wrap up the story in a satisfying way but I was proved wrong.

It would be great if this turned into a series about Alma's detective cases featuring Margeruite as her home based Watson.

Adam Roberts es un escritor muy inteligente, algo que es evidente leyendo sus libros, sus ensayos o incluso sus tuits. A veces esta inteligencia juega en su contra, porque parece que le gusta regodearse y expandirse en alguno terrenos que no aportan profundidad a la novela.

No obstante en The Real-Town Murders, juega con la ventaja de una estructura clara, el tipico misterio de asesinato imposible en una habitación cerrada. Las reglas del juego novelístico están claras y estas asunciones facilitan mucho al lector fijarse en otros detalles, de los que The Real-Town Murders está plagado.

Para empezar, es apabullante la manera con la que el autor juega con el lenguaje. Inventar la palabra myrmidrone para referirse a un robot centinela delata su formación clásica, pero no deja de ser una solución ocurrente para evitar palabras aburridas. Y Roberts ha decidido que en su novela no haya palabras ni frases aburridas.

El humor es un elemento más en la historia, desde la referencia pop más chusca (porque no me lo imaginaba yo escuchando Umbrella de Rihanna) al juego de palabras más rebuscado y oscuro. Cada pocas frases hay un reto, una trampa. Esto da mucha vitalidad a la lectura y la cuenta atrás constante a la que se enfrenta la protagonista también acelera la trama.

Hay imágenes que se te quedan clavadas en la retina, especialmente esos acantilados de Dover transmutados en Monte Rushmore literario.

Y sin embargo esta envoltura exquisita en ocasiones, burda en otras y en general llamativa es efectiva como medio de narrar una historia de futuro cercano. La crítica del autor se centra en las estructuras burocráticas y en sus luchas de poder, pero no deja títere con cabeza tampoco respecto a nuestra inusitada dependencia de las redes sociales y de otros métodos para acceder al conocimiento. En muchas ocasiones en los diálogos se pierde información si algunos de los contribuyentes no está conectado a la red para captar todas las referencias. Me he sentido especialmente reflejada en esta parte, con los juegos de palabras que no era capaz de entender a la primera y para los que tenía que recurrir a internet. También ataca certeramente a las engañosas campañas publicitarias y al marketing soterrado que todo lo envuelve, hablando de cambiar nombres de ciudad para hacerlas más atractivas.

Tengo más libros por ahí pendientes de Adam Robert, como Bete, Ejército Nuevo Modelo y algún otro. Creo que voy a volver a acercarme a ellos después de esta grata experiencia.

Netgalley provided me with a free copy to review, but this did not affect my review.

I've read some of Adam Roberts' earlier books, but nothing for a while. This wasn't like those books. This was more near-future detective, than hard sci-fi book, but I liked it a lot. Some 1984, meets Sherlock Holmes, and with a bit of Jack Bauer-against-the-clock thrown in for good measure.

It was an entertaining read, some interesting characters, a sprinkling of mystery and some twists and turns.

The ending was a little anticlimactic, but it's about the journey anyway, isn't it?