Ian Rankin

Inspector Rebus Is Back

STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN’S GRAVE.  £3.90

It’s twenty-five years since John Rebus appeared on the scene, and five years since he retired. But 2012 sees his return in STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN’S GRAVE. Not only is Rebus as stubborn and anarchic as ever, but he finds himself in trouble with Malcolm Fox of Edinburgh’s internal affairs unit. Added to which, Rebus may be about to derail the career of his ex-colleague Siobhan Clarke, while himself being permanently derailed by mob boss and old adversary Big Ger Cafferty. But all Rebus wants to do is discover the truth about a series of seemingly unconnected disappearances stretching back to the millennium. The problem being, no one else wants to go there – and that includes Rebus’s fellow officers. Not that any of that is going to stop Rebus. Not even when his own life and the careers of those around him are on the line

 Other book to feature Inspector Rebus

1. Knots and Crosses (1987)
2. Hide and Seek (1990)
3. Tooth and Nail (1992)
4. Strip Jack (1992)
5. The Black Book (1993)
6. Mortal Causes (1994)
7. Let It Bleed (1995)
8. Black and Blue (1997)
9. The Hanging Garden (1998)
10. Dead Souls (1999)
11. Set in Darkness (2000)
12. The Falls (2001)
13. Resurrection Men (2002)
14. A Question of Blood (2003)
15. Fleshmarket Close (2004)
16. The Naming Of The Dead (2006)
17. Exit Music (2007)

 Knots and Crosses  

The first Inspector Rebus novel finds John Rebus as an Edinburgh policeman who spends time evading his memories, missing promotion opportunities, and right now ignoring a series of crank letters. But as the murders go on happening right under his nose, Rebus cannot ignore the presence of a serial killer stalking the city streets any longer. He isn't the only detective working the case, but he is the only one with all the pieces to the puzzle and those letters keep on coming.

 The Hanging Garden

Rebus is buried under a pile of paperwork generated by his investigations into a possible war criminal resident in Edinburgh. His immediate superiors are more than happy to have him tucked away in a quiet backwater for several months looking into ancient history. But the Crime Squad are forced to bring him back to the present day when a young upstart gangster, Tommy Telford, muscles in on Big Ger Cafferty's turf and Rebus's local knowledge becomes essential to the efforts to shut down Telford's business as a drug dealer, pimp and extortionist. Before he can act the waters are muddied further when the war criminal is found hanging in Warriston Cemetery

Exit Music

It's late autumn in Edinburgh and late autumn in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. As he tries to tie up some loose ends before retirement, a murder case intrudes. A dissident Russian poet has been found dead in what looks like a mugging gone wrong. By apparent coincidence a high-level delegation of Russian businessmen is in town, keen to bring business to Scotland. The politicians and bankers who run Edinburgh are determined that the case should be closed quickly and clinically. But the further they dig, the more Rebus and his colleague DS Siobhan Clarke become convinced that they are dealing with something more than a random attack - especially after a particularly nasty second killing. Meantime, a brutal and premeditated assault on local gangster 'Big Ger' Cafferty sees Rebus in the frame. Has the Inspector taken a step too far in tying up those loose ends? Only a few days shy of the end to his long, inglorious career, will Rebus even make it that far?