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''Traces'' is a series of novels written by author Malcolm Rose, about the adventures of Forensic Investigator Luke Harding and his Mobile Aid To Law And Crime, Malc. The first book, ''Framed!'', has been selected by the United States Board on Books for Young People and the Children's Book Council as an Outstanding International Book for 2006. Six books of the series were published between 2005 and 2007 by Kingfisher Books in the UK and by Turtleback Books in the US. All six books, plus a seventh, ''Murder Club'' (2013), have since been published by the author on Amazon Kindle. ==Alternate England== The ''Traces'' universe is explicitly located in a future England, where the decayed and semi-abandoned South is supported and feared by the vibrant, successful North. England is somewhat a benevolent dictatorship, but the dictator is a computer system. The country is run by the unnamed and generally benign Authorities, who remove children permanently from their parents at the age of five, to be raised in residential schools until they graduate. At this time they will take up the employment they have been training for. Adults are paired for life at the direction of the Authorities: partners are selected by local Pairing Committees based on age and aptitudes. The pairing is generally announced in mid-teens and Pairing takes place at the age of twenty. Most people are content to accept the direction given, but a recurring theme in the books is Luke Harding's dissatisfaction with the Pairing Committee system. As a scientist, when he reaches twenty he is to be paired with biologist Georgia Bowie despite his wish to be with musician and close friend Jade Vernon. Their struggle to be together is a central part of several of the storylines. Whether they will be paired is uncertain, but seemingly unlikely. Jade has played a significant part in multiple stories, but as a Forensic Investigator, most of Luke's work is in the Southern slums, while Jade's work is in the cultural centres of the North. The reader gradually realises that other than a few, rare, white-skinned people, most people have brown skin. Common pets such as cats and dogs are near extinction. Smoking is illegal. Transportation of almost everything is either by plane, by autobarge or by automated cab system (cabs running on freeways across the nation, similar to the Personal Rapid Transit systems proposed in many places but much more advanced). Also, children select their future jobs in year 8 of education, similar but not the same to a present-day Year One or Two student's "Options" where he or she picks his or her GCSE subjects, specializing on a more general scale. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Traces series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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