Giles Scott

Hindsight Giles Scott

"Hindsight" is a detective novel with all the elements of that popular genre. However what makes this story unique and compelling is that it is set two years in the future, in a world which is entirely familiar except for one thing: the development of a fascinating new technology. This technology makes it possible to view events which occurred in the recent past. By 2012 the London Metropolitan Police Force is using Retro-Viewing with great success. However, ironically, this powerful new tool cannot solve a murder in their own offices. D. C. I. Derek van Vuuren is brought in to head up the investigation. Van Vuuren and the officers assisting him struggle to overcome a marked lack of hard evidence and credible suspects. Their use of Retro-Viewing is frustratingly inconclusive. They have to travel out of London and gain an understanding of the events of some years earlier before the case is solved. The unexpected solution to the case brings together, in a credible and satisfying way, the people and the technology that are central to the unfolding tale. Van Vuuren's attitude to Retro-Viewing is decidedly ambivalent: he knows it is extremely valuable to the police, yet he has personal experience of how it can result in considerable social and psychological distress. His wife has become addicted to Retro-Viewing, in an effort to resolve her guilt over her daughter's death some years earlier. The couple's efforts to deal with her addiction put a very human face on the otherwise totally professional detective. "Hindsight" therefore tells, in parallel over the course of one week, two compelling stories: resolving both a seemingly insoluble murder and - as far as it is possible - an agonizing situation in the private life of the leading character.