Another vacation and I’m back to Inspector Rebus. Reading the novels in haphazard order I landed on the 9th this time. As enjoyable as ever.
This time Rebus officially is assigned a cold case, of a suspected Nazi criminal living in Edinburgh. After months of digging, and odd conversations with his suspect he is fed up. So he asks to become a liaison to the crime squad, where Sobhan Clarke is now working. This way he gets involved in the investigation of Telford, a gang boss, who wants to fill in the space that Caffery left when Rebus locked him up.
Only things are not that simple, especially as Cafferty still runs his empire from behind bars. Then Rebus’ daughter is a victim of a hit and run, and the whole hell breaks loose. There is nothing that Rebus would not do, to catch the man responsible, no deal he would not make. As he struggles with his personal problems the gang war is imminent. Also, there seem to be strands of Yakuza showing up in the city.
As always Rebus makes more enemies than friends. He struggles with his ghosts. His meetings with Cafferty still have a weird ‘look in the mirror’ quality. Despite Rebuses best efforts he is not that far from Cafferty, a lot of the things that drive them is based on the same motivation. The shock comes when Cafferty’s employee find the person responsible for Sammy’s accident.
Very enjoyable. Raising a lot of questions, about whether time can redeem a crime. Should people be prosecuted for crimes they committed 50 years earlier. Where can revenge take us? Is there any redemption in revenge? How much would we sacrifice for it?
This is book #17 of my 20 Books of Summer hosted by Cathy at 746books.
See my list as it grows here.
Photo by Violetta Kaszubowska @vkphotospace.com
bookskeptic.com 
I have enjoyed Ian Rankin’s Rebus books, but haven’t returned to the series in awhile. For a time, many of the mystery series protagonists in my book pile seemed to have the same characteristics: prickly loners who drank too much and were often in trouble with their superiors and avoided by their peers. I include Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Carl Mørck, Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander, Colin Dexter’s Endeavor Morse in that group.
Needing a change, I was lucky to find Colin Cotterill’s series featuring the national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun. I recommend the series, beginning with “The Coroner’s Lunch”. The series features a droll protagonist, oddball characters, and a bit of 20th century history told from a different perspective. It’s a series that needs to be read in order, though.
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I’ll definitely check it out! Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
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