A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice
investigator to question what she’s learned about the
foundation of her population-controlled society.
Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys
much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road
region isn’t just surviving but thriving by some accounts,
building something new on the ruins of what came before. A
culture of population control has developed in which people,
organized into households, must earn the children they bear
by proving they can take care of them and are awarded
symbolic banners to demonstrate this privilege. In the
meantime, birth control is mandatory.
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. Now, though, a suspicious death requires her
attention. The victim was an outcast, but might someone have
taken dislike a step further and murdered him?
In a world defined by the disasters that happened a century
before, the past is always present. But this investigation
may reveal the cracks in Enid’s world and make her question
what she really stands for.