5th April 2025

In an opening not un-reminiscent of the previous book (to the extent that I had to double check I hadn’t already read this one) a retired Rebus learns that one of his regular foes has been attacked at home. This of course is only the start of the classic complex web of interconnected cases, and quite a lot goes on.

I feel a bit like the Rebus soap opera has finally taken centre stage, with the actual plot of the week taking a step back in favour of following the lives of the rich range of characters that Rankin has populated Edinburgh with.

Something about this series continues to grip me, and I do think it really is those characters, their fun interpersonal relationships, how much they are committed to their jobs, and how they continue to work and socialise together like a big family.

I’ve got a mental association now that these are travelling books - I think because they are able to keep me gripped while flying, but also possibly because a lot of flying in my past has been to Scotland, and there’s a thematic connection there.

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28th September 2024

Rebus is solidly retired, and his ex-colleagues Siobhan and Malcolm assigned to separate stations and cases, as we are thrown into new investigations when someone tries to shoot old foe Big Ger.

While there are unpleasant crimes referenced, Rankin keeps to his usual style of keeping our focus on the investigators for almost the entire story, and this provides the perfect presentation for me to sympathise with the protagonists without being off-put by the evil.

It’s a complex case, and I enjoyed following the many threads and seeing how the relationships between the characters are continuing to evolve. After so many books I’m really impressed with how Rankin keeps them flowing.

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25th June 2023

As I slowly catch up on the Rebus novels, I’ve arrived at 2014 in this book set around the referendum campaign - it’s interesting to see events that l actually feel a part of being reflected in the stories.

I really enjoy the Rebus novels - they’ve got the balance right for me of a serious, believable crime novel, but without feeling like the author wants me to sympathise with the villain, which I find detestable.

It’s full of humorous moments, particularly keyed around Rebus having been made a detective sergeant now, and his old sergeant being his inspector. Rankin has also seemed to have got his head around the new Malcolm Fox character now, who feels like he fits much more into the family here and makes for a readable character.

Everything I wanted.

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1st June 2022

I really like how easy it is to slip back into the Rebus novels. Rankin has definitely got the right balance of realistic crime novel down for me - we are always aligned with the investigator, so there’s no sense of glorifying the crime, and there’s no sensationalist over emphasis on gore or graphic description.

It feels clear that this is a reactionary return after previously ending the Rebus series. Malcolm Fox, who had his own two novels before this, appears too but seems to have been deliberately turned into an antagonist, generally unlikable and unwanted, compared to Rebus who we as readers are glad to have back in the saddle.

The story is a good one, marred only maybe by the number of car journeys that need to be described. The characters are enjoyable to return to, and there is almost a soap operatic element to how the lives of the various long running characters fit together that I really like.

I’m glad Rankin returned to Rebus, and look forward to continuing to read about his adventures.

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5th October 2021

This is the second Malcolm Fox novel, following the story of a police inspector tasked with investigating other police officers. The previous novel was the first Ian Rankin that I read, and I’ve now caught up through his Rebus novels to the point where this pair fit into the timeline.

Initially created to be a new replacement series, meta knowledge now means I know the two merge, so despite some reluctance I picked this one off my shelf to read.

I can barely remember what happened in the first book - but this time out Fox and his colleagues are off to investigate some officers from a neighbouring force after one of their colleagues is arrested.

While Fox is clearly deliberately not Rebus, I found this makes him just too bland to be an inspiring lead character, and his set of colleagues felt a bit too uncomfortable to class as likeable.

It was a slow story that I felt like I had to put effort into reading, rather than flowing smoothly like I’d expect from Ian Rankin. The plot felt a bit too convoluted, and I found myself missing what I’ve been enjoying in the Rebus novels.

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1st May 2020

Originally marketed as the final Rebus novel, Exit Music covers the final two weeks of Rebus’ career as he approaches retirement, with a collection of unsolved cases hanging over his conscience, and a fresh murder to investigate.

I’ve been off reading crime novels recently, because they became a bit too violent for my liking, but this was much more what I look for - there’s crime, but its not crime that’s celebrated or glorified or too graphic, and the focus is on the investigation - interviewing witnesses and suspects, hunting for clues, and so on.

I’ve grown quite fond of the varying characters over the years reading this series, and would certainly have been sad reading this at the point of publication, although now of course I’m aware that there are more books to come.

Reading this has certainly reinvigorated me to think more about crime and mystery novels. I think there’s a fine line in finding exactly the right tone to pitch at, and Rankin’s totally found it in this novel.

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23rd January 2019

Book sixteen of Rebus, and this time he’s investigating a crime that nobody else seems to care about, because the victim was a criminal himself.

I found the setting of this book really interesting - it’s set around the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005, and so the plot of the novel is weaved around real-life events taking place there, with guest appearances by world leaders and the characters lives being shown to be influenced by the events happening both there and elsewhere in the country that week.

The way that Rankin manages to add touches like this to his stories that make each one unique in some way adds to the whole experience for me, and I often feel compelled to pick up his novels when I’m wondering what to read next.

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