Genetic typing has allowed the British government to identify men with a predisposition to serial killing. Gene typing allowing the government to identify potential serial killers could be used for nefarious purposes by an over zealous government. Homosexuals now use a new, thicker condom less likely to break. None of these tidbits are at all central to the story, but along with other small insights, build up a believable future environment. Readers will recognize many of the developments in 2013 London, both technologically and socially.
Women continue to advance in social equality.
Cynically Kerr depicts governmental organizations, such as police forces, as being forced to accept women equally. One British Minister is a black female but a former Olympic sprinter with good looks, which no doubt immensely helped her raise to this position. Again a pessimistic, although realistic, depiction of the social advancement of women. While the women may not always be looked upon as equals by their male colleagues, they continue to prove themselves the equal of men in most cases, and in some tasks they are deemed even better. Kerr could have done much more to add to the suspense of the novel.