Winner of Crime Thriller of the Year at the British Book Awards 2005. 

Very much the thinking man’s mystery, this novel is dominated by racial issues, the thugs and the refugees just outside Edinburgh.  It is peppered with a variety of nasty crimes, has Rebus desk-less, further proof of his superiors edging him out, and his side-kick Siobhan becoming that little bit more important to him … but when will they become lovers?  This is not his best, but second-best is still great.  This title is also available as an Audiobook in CD format.

Click here to listen to an interview with Ian Rankin about this award winning novel. (This will take about one minute if you have a broadband connection - longer if your connection speed is slower)

Comparison: Peter Robinson, Reginald Hill, Colin Dexter.

Similar this month: Minette Walters, Andrew Taylor.

Synopsis

The 15th Inspector Rebus novel.
An illegal immigrant is found murdered in an Edinburgh housing scheme: a racist attack, or something else entirely? Rebus is drawn into the case, but has other problems: his old police station has closed for business, and his masters would rather he retire than stick around.
 

Siobhan meanwhile has problems of her own. A teenager has disappeared from home and Siobhan is drawn into helping the family, which will mean travelling closer than is healthy towards the web of a convicted rapist. Then there's the small matter of the two skeletons - a woman and an infant - found buried beneath a concrete cellar floor in Fleshmarket Close. The scene begins to look like an elaborate stunt - but whose, and for what purpose...?

Reviews

'No one writes more gripping stories then Rankin; his imagination peoples Edinburgh the way Balzac's fantasy did Paris' TLS

'Crimemaster Rankin is back...a powerful book brimming with genuine social comment' Sunday Express

About the Author

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh and has since been employed as grape-picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist and punk musician. His first Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses, was published in 1987 and the Rebus books have now been translated into 22 languages and are increasingly popular in the USA. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is a past winner of the prestigious Chandler-Fulbright Award, as well two CWA short-story 'Daggers' and the 1997 CWA Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction for Black & Blue, which was also shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America 'Edgar' award for best novel. Dead Souls, the tenth novel in the series, was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger in 1999. Black & Blue, The Hanging Garden, Dead Souls and Mortal Causes have been televised on ITV, starring John Hannah as Inspector Rebus. His 3-part documentary series on the subject of evil was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2002. An Alumnus of the Year at Edinburgh University, he has also been awarded two honorary doctorates, one from the University of Abertay Dundee and one, more recently, from the University of St Andrews. He was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Golden Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2002 and is now the UK's number one best-selling crime writer. Ian Rankin lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two sons. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation