Undeterred by pressure from above to drop a sensitive case, Rebus unearths dirty dealings and conspiracy within many official departments. Along the way we find a tender side to our spiky cop in a novel that eventually brings him a little closer to his estranged daughter. Although his drinking problem is on the increase, this complicated, unhappy fellow, who is not doing too well, demands our sympathy, or at least mine. The blending of political corruption and the development of Scotland’s economy is fascinating. A really good one. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
Struggling through another Edinburgh winter Rebus finds himself sucked into a web of intrigue that throws up more questions than answers.
Was the Lord Provost's daughter kidnapped or just another runaway? Why is a city councillor shredding documents that should have been waste paper years ago? And why on earth is Rebus invited to a clay pigeon shoot at the home of the Scottish Office's Permanent Secretary?
Sucked into the machine that is modern Scotland, Rebus confronts the fact that some of his enemies may be beyond justice...
'Masterfully plotted, clear and succinct' The Scotsman
'A complex mystery novel, as you would expect from Rankin, one of a handful of truly outstanding British mystery writers ... Terrific' Observer
'First rate crime fiction with a fierce realism' Sunday Telegraph
'A master in his field' Scotland on Sunday
Author
About Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America's celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for the Anthony Award in the USA, won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Hull and the Open University.A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts. Rankin is a number one bestseller in the UK and has received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.
