The Impossible Dead

Ian Rankin Press Reviews

'After the wonderfully gloomy Rebus novels, we now have Ian Rankin's second great sleuth: DI Malcolm Fox, who investigates bent coppers. Here, he's in Fife checking out a possible police cover-up when he unearths an extraordinary story of terrorism in the Kirkcaldy of the 1980s. This is vintage Rankin, a five-star crime novel by an author at the height of his powers. After reading it, you'll never look at the SNP in the same light again' A N Wilson, READER 'S DIGEST

'This is the second outing for Rankin's Inspector Malcolm Fox, who has the seemingly impossible job of rooting out corrupt colleagues' Henry Sutton DAILY MIRROR

'Proving there's life - and murder - after gloomy Rebus, Rankin pops up with a new cop here, DI Fox' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'LIVE' 'confirms Fox as an intriguing character full of depth - and consolidates Rankin's position at the forefront of the crime writing pack' Doug Johnstone, WE LOVE THIS BOOK

'Criminally good' Fanny Blake WOMAN AND HOME

'The plot, pacing and characterisation are all handled with impeccable skill, while Rankin infuses his story with subtle social commentary into the bargain. Fans may still mourn Rebus, but Fox is a worthy replacement' BIG ISSUE

'No one writes dialogue that seethes with conflict as well as him' Mark Sanderson, EVENING STANDARD

'This is Rankin, so it's only to be expected that the plotting should be tight, the dialogue quick-fire, the crimes disturbingly believable, taking place as they do in a world that is so thoroughly and obviously our own, today. What the creator of Rebus also gives us in Fox - initially in the inspector's first outing, The Complaints, and again here is another complex, driven policeman: difficult, largely miserable and lonely, but utterly real' Alison Flood, THE OBSERVER

'What is the most memorable here is the storyline about the deterioration of Fox's father, handled so sensitively as to make Henning Mankell's depiction of the decline of Wallander's father seem histrionic' Jake Kerridge, FINANCIAL TIMES

'Fox remains a worthy successor to Rebus, retaining his outsider status and incorruptibility but operating in a much more modern context' Joan Smith, SUNDAY TIMES

'Post-Rebus Rankin has lost none of his mastery of excitingly gripping storystelling' Marcel Berlins, THE TIMES

'masterful thriller that will have you gripped to the very last page' CANDIS

'taut, compulsive and hugely satisfying, with plenty to say about the limits of memory and the dangers of historical idealism. If this is where Rankin is now, I'm not sure I'd want him to be anywhere else' John O'Connell, GUARDIAN

'Rankin remains the crime writer's crime writer - a clear-headed moralist in a grimy world' VOYAGER

'He offers an account of personal and political alienation, the tactics needed to contain terrorism, and the desirability or otherwise of deceit' Natasha Cooper TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

'Rebus is one of British crime fictions great creations. With Malcolm Fox, Rankin has the potential to trump even that towering achievement' IRISH EXAMINER