stars for a thorough, engrossing writing that always has me scratching my head at how Rankin can weave a magic carpet out of so many loose threads. John Rebus, long retired from the force, is enjoying a quiet pint at his local, with faithful dog Brillo asleep at his feet. I love that this is the third book this little buddy has appeared in. The world has just reopened after the Covid pandemic, and Rebus is avoiding going to the doctor about his deteriorating health, prefering to pretend it’s just heartburn. A ping on his mobile is an invitation of sorts, from Big Ger, to drop by his flat after taking Brillo home. Rebus can't refuse even if he wanted to, as the two have been part of each other’s lives for longer than they care to remember. Curiosity has definitely gotten hold of Rebus. Sums up the pair of us, wouldn’t you say? On the other hand, you probably feel it as much as I do.’ Ian Rankin σε αυτή την τελευταία περιπέτεια του Ρέμπους - του επιθεωρητή που κανείς δεν μπορεί να καταλάβει πως δουλεύει το μυαλό του και πως παρόλες τις αντισυμβατικές μεθόδους του, πάντα βρίσκει τη λύση. Emad Akhtar, publisher at Orion, told The Scotsman: “A new novel from the iconic Ian Rankin and his much-beloved creation John Rebus is a reading highlight in every book lover’s year.

By the end, we know what crime Rebus is accused of committing, but we don’t know the outcome of the trial, and there are still some miscreants who have not been charged. So this is part one of a two-part story—a fact that has some readers unhappy. Not me. I can’t wait for the next instalment. Will Rebus escape once again, or will he finally end his career? He is physically unwell—if not jail, is his death in the future? As the plot unfolds there are several strands going on but as usual Ian Rankin handles this with aplomb. It’s a complex but highly entertaining novel, how could it be anything else if John Rebus is involved. As for Brillo the dog, Brillo by nature! Through the novel, Rankin brings in previously introduced characters and continues to prove he is not afraid to "age" his characters.

Fmr. Officer Haggard has been threatening to bring all those hidden sins out in the open if charges against him for domestic abuse are not dropped. Then he is found murdered in an apartment he could ill afford. How did Haggard afford that apartment and who rented it to him? More important is who killed him and why? At the same time, police detective and long-time ally Siobhan Clarke is tasked with a domestic violence case involving a police detective. The case soon becomes a sprawling investigation involving decades of police corruption and misconduct based out of a historically notorious police station that certainly will involve much larger implications and possibly even John Rebus. Since finishing the last Rebus book, Rankin has worked on The Dark Remains, an unfinished story by the late William McIlvanney, which was published in the autumn, as well as taking part in a murder mystery TV series for Channel 4.

As a self-taught detective, Freddy makes some ludicrous missteps, but it’s part of his charm that he can laugh at himself. In the book’s climactic scene, a trial in the barn with the rooster as judge, Freddy gets the cat off a murder rap with some impressive deductions, and crucial evidence that the mice help gather. In the 24th installment of Ian Rankin's John Rebus series, Rankin again delivers a reliably good novel in the series. William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw’s first case. Ian Rankin has finished what McIlvanney started. Here, in The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw’s relentless quest for truth. Walter R Brooks, who created Mister Ed, the talking horse, wrote 26 books about Freddy and the other animals on the Bean family farm. Humans own the farm, but the animals help with both farmwork and housework. Imagine fluffy bunnies as dustcloths.Fearless and honest, Cassie is as tough as any classic hardboiled detective, yet remains insightful and kind without veering into sentimentality. When there’s a standoff at gunpoint, she wants the antagonist to keep the gun pointed at her because she knows there are innocents in the room. Her hand on her own weapon never wavers. And yet, afterwards, she feels grief and guilt. She is strong not despite her emotional vulnerability, but because of it. The novel starts with Rebus on trial but given his long association in various forms with Big Ger Cafferty maybe not a huge surprise! Siobhan meanwhile is working on a case that involves officers at Tynecastle police station long known to be rotten to the core but as yet unproven. However, as Malcolm Fox is also on the case and knowing his dogged nature then maybe certain officers should be hot under the collar.

Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. Like all pandemics, there are those that succumb, those that struggle through, and those that seek to profit, in this case by “Furlough Fraud”. No shortage of slippery characters here: a well-connected land developer, a lettings agency once owned by “Big Ger” and tenuous links from there to a man “Big Ger” reputedly had eliminated. His new henchman, Andrew, was at one time employed by underworld figure Darryl Christie, currently serving a 25 year sentence. Aside from the edgy humour, the author drops in descriptions of the city itself. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. I have loved Tana French’s Cassie Maddox from the moment I met her, as seen through the eyes of her partner, the narrator of In the Woods: “Barely medium height, with a cap of dark curls and a boyish, slim, square-shouldered build … There was something about her: maybe the way she stood, weight on one hip, straight and easy as a gymnast; maybe just the mystery.”Rebus’ future? In the 1990s I was a fan of two British television shows, The Bill and The Minder. However, I was not saddened when they were wound up as they had run their course and I thought it was best that they finish on a high rather than fading into insignificance. Hopefully that will happen with Rebus. But after reading A Heart full of Headstones he’s not there yet. Recent novels in the series have seen Rebus increasingly struggle as he battled the impacts of an incurable lung disease. Rankin has used a common literary device where he starts the story near what is probably the end of the story. In the opening paragraphs John Rebus is in court on trial for an unknown offence. It whets the appetite of the reader to continue to read to discover why this antihero has finally being prosecuted. We know he bends the rules but, this time has he broken the rules? I am not sure if this hook is necessary in a Rebus’ novel. There is subtly in the title and in some scenes where Rebus is listening to music. The reader might find it interesting to research the singer Jamie Leven the Scottish singer and his relationship with Rankin and Rankin’s use of Leven’s lyrics. This is definitely a great book for long time fans, as the repeat characters show the paths they’ve chosen. And where their loyalties lie.

This was one that I couldn’t stop reading. As soon as my eyes were rested, I’d start another chapter. Yet it wasn’t a fast thriller. With its large cast of characters, I probably would have been lost except that I had been reading the Rebus novels for more than two decades, so many of the recurring players and their past interactions were well fixed in my memory. Rebus, now retired, has been summoned by crime lord Big Ger Cafferty in his request to find a man long disappeared and one many thought killed by Cafferty. Cafferty explains to Rebus he would like to make amends with the missing man and while Rebus agrees to do so, he is greatly suspicious of Cafferty's stated purpose. I was delighted to hear Cassie speak for herself as the narrator of The Likeness, which takes place after the dramatic events of In the Woods. In this suspenseful thriller, she goes undercover to pose as a murder victim who looked exactly like her. There is one scene where Rebus leaves Siobhan Clarke and as he walks away, she observes a weathered stooped, old man. She reflects on how once he was a figure of strength, feared by many. It was a sad poignant point in the story.

A couple of my recent fiction reads have included the effect of COVID at the time. Rebus has a lanyard that excuses him from wearing a mask. I wonder how long it will be before a writer centres a crime around the conditions that COVID created? Rankin said: “I'm very happy to be working with Orion, my publisher for the past 30 years, on a pair of new books. Time to roll up my sleeves and sharpen my keyboard.” Read More Related Articles It is a complex character filled story; however, the reader can follow the participants and their roles the story never gets too complicated. William McIlvanney is widely credited as the founder of the Tartan Noir movement that includes authors such as Denise Mina, Ian Banks, and Val McDermid, all of whom cite him as an influence and inspiration. McIlvanney’s Laidlaw trilogy “changed the face of Scottish fiction” ( The Times of London), his Docherty won the Whitbread Award for Fiction, and his Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch both gained Silver Daggers from the Crime Writers’ Association. Strange Loyalties won the Glasgow Herald’s People’s Prize. William passed away in December 2015.