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Detective Inspector John Rebus has been thrown off the case of the murder of an Edinburgh art dealer. He heaved a cup of tea at his boss, DCS Gill Templer, and was sent for retraining to the police college in Central Scotland, where he is placed in a class with other maverick police officers. After the first week, the group is assigned a old case that is still open, and told to solve it. It's a case that more than one of them had worked on when it was fresh, several years before. It's also a different case from the one that previous retrainees had been handed. Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, DS Siobhan Clarke, Rebus erstwhile partner, is in charge of the case of the murdered art dealer. She's working with a young newly promoted detective, and is trying to train him. The clues lead her toward Rebus' nemesis, Big Ger Cafferty, released from jail because he is supposedly dying of cancer. Meanwhile, the Scottish Crime Squad asks Rebus to get some information on Cafferty for them by using some of his other underworld contacts, and Siobhan and John start trading notes on their respective cases. Needless to say, Rebus is not being retrained but is scoping out the others on his course who are suspected of being bent. This is a very rich book. Clarke is becoming more like her mentor...she's working alone and using somewhat unorthodox methods and she's gradually cutting herself off from colleagues. Meanwhile, Rebus is trying to mend his isolationist ways by becoming closer to Jean and thinking about retirement. It doesn't seem possible, but this series keeps getting better. Rankin explores Rebus' mortality and indicates his successor in Clarke. Whatever you do, don't watch the very forgettable UK series loosely based on this character. Keep your own image of Rebus alive. If one were to play Desert Island Books, the 13 books in this series would be good to bring along. One could reread them endlessly and always find another facet of Rebus or Edinburgh or Cafferty or Clarke to keep things fresh. For those of you in the US who will have a wait for the US edition of this book, if you have some extra cash, email Crime in Store (CrimeBks@aol.com) and buy a copy. If your budget does not allow you to by $25.00 hardcovers, go to your library and insist that they import a copy.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, February 2002
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