This is my first Ian Rankin mystery, and I have ended up enjoying it. I've been a fan of British crime fiction for a while, but admittedly women writers like Jacqueline Winspeare, Dorothy L Sayers and Louise Penny (OK, Canadian). I just happened to end up with a second hand copy of Dead Souls first, following a friend expert in the genre recommended Rankin - afterwards discovering that a few readers think this one doesn't meet his usual standards. I will have to try other earlier ones to compare for myself on that. I was surprised and touched to read in the intro that the title is a reference to a Joy Division song - I had assumed that it referred in some way to Gogol. In a world of divisive politics and national discord, does the law still have meaning, or is everyone reverting to an older set of rules? And if so, why shouldn’t Rebus do so too?” [3] Cast [ edit ] Detective Chief Inspector Bill Pryde is the Chief Inspector at St Leonard's CID before its closure. He is introduced as a Detective Inspector and is promoted prior to Resurrection Men.

Rebus investigates a mass shooting at a local sports college, which has claimed the lives of two students and a teacher, but when one of the victims turns out to be his cousin's son, he decides that bending the rules is the best way to get a result.

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Arthur's Seat crouches behind him, humped and silent as though offended by his presence, coiled to pounce. He tells himself it is papier-mâché. He smooths his hands over strips of newsprint, not reading the stories, then realises he is stroking the air and withdraws his hands, laughing guiltily. Somewhere behind him, he hears a voice. In addition, a convicted murderer who spent 25 years in an American prison has been released and deported to Edinburgh, where he grows up. He is seeking to settle old scores but not until he spends some time with a local reporter talking about his life for a series of articles. In Set in Darkness (2000) Rebus recalls how strongly Rhona supported Scottish independence in the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum, and he maps the failure of their relationship against the transition from arguing actively about it to silent provocation and finally his own failure to vote at all.

In this there were significant plot differences from the novel. These concern the fate of the missing person, the nature of the relationship between Rebus and his ex-girlfriend, and the character of her husband. Fast paced thriller, with some slap the forehead moments as you realise that you have been misdirected time and again. I enjoyed reading this, and I will read more Rebus and Rankin. Maybe that's just because, eight books in, I'm used to a certain rhythm to a Rebus story, one which can't really be achieved with this word count. A Rebus book is always playful with how it tells the story - there's always a number of different plot lines - often conflicting, calling out for our protagonist's attention and pushing him into impossible corners. And Rankin teases out these plot lines giving you a little at a time, never giving you the full picture until he has to. These sub plots work in solidarity to enhance the overall story, and their absence was the most striking thing to me about 'Death is Not the End' - leaving it feeling a little simplistic and ultimately unfulfilling. Detective Constable Grant Hood is a police officer who was based at St Leonards. He is a big fan of new technology and gadgets. During The Falls he is attracted to Siobhan Clarke, and attempts to kiss her. During the same novel he takes on a media liaison role, a position he takes up in a number of subsequent investigations.Basically, this is one of the subplots of Dead Souls -- Rebus' looking for the missing son of a people he knew in school -- in its original form. It'd be modified, expanded, and given a different ending in the novel. There's a subplot, mildly related, involving organized crime and gambling -- in much the same way that other crimes were associated with the missing person's case in Dead Souls.