"How do you solve a murder when you only remember yesterday?"
In this world that is very much like our own, classes are divided by how much each group can remember. Monos, the majority, have only one day's worth of memory. Elite Duos have two days' worth of memory. Monos are excluded from holding high office and demanding jobs, and Claire, a Mono, and Mark, a Duo, have a rare mixed marriage. However, they are a shining example of a vision of tolerance and equality. However, then a beautiful woman is found dead in England's River Cam. Her diary reveals that Mark is her lover, and he's a prime suspect in her murder. The detective investigating the case has secrets of his own, which just serve to complicate the case. And, when everyone's memories are constantly erased, how can anyone tell fact from fiction?
This story is told from four perspectives: Claire, Mark, the investigator and the dead woman. You get both their perspectives and some of their diary entries, which adds an interesting element to the book. Everyone in society is required to keep a diary, but when you have people writing things as they see them, and perhaps even leaving out details, it's next to impossible to tell if any of these people are reliable narrators. The investigator, for reasons of his own, is determined to solve the case in a day, so there is a relentless pace that drives this whole story.
I found this to be a really inventive scenario for a society, and definitely a real twist on the idea of a reliable narrator. The story is a combination of mystery and suspense, keeping you unsure until the end about who murdered Mark's lover. Definitely an interesting read.
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