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Inspector Rebus #23
A Song for the Dark Times
Centred on the disappearance of his daughter’s husband and a set of family secrets that the maverick detective isn’t sure that he wants to uncover, A Song for the Dark Times is an intensely personal case for John Rebus.
This special edition will feature an introduction by Ian Rankin and the original script of John Rebus: Lockdown Blues � a monologue written by Ian Rankin and performed by Brian Cox (Succession, Adaptation, The Bourne Identity, Manhunter) as part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes for Survival project, in association with BBC Scotland.
‘He’s gone…�
When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.
Rebus fears the worst � and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.
He wasn’t the best father � the job always came first � but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?
As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast � and a small town with big secrets � he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find�
This special edition will feature an introduction by Ian Rankin and the original script of John Rebus: Lockdown Blues � a monologue written by Ian Rankin and performed by Brian Cox (Succession, Adaptation, The Bourne Identity, Manhunter) as part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes for Survival project, in association with BBC Scotland.
‘He’s gone…�
When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.
Rebus fears the worst � and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.
He wasn’t the best father � the job always came first � but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?
As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast � and a small town with big secrets � he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find�
325 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2020
2649 people are currently reading
6133 people want to read
About the author
Ian Rankin
389books6,378followersAKA Jack Harvey.
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; the Rebus books are now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents.
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.
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.
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; the Rebus books are now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents.
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,328 reviews
August 16, 2020
It's always a joy to read the latest in Ian Rankin's Edinburgh based now retired John Rebus series, even as his health declines, he is suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), meaning he struggles to climb the stairs to his flat, which has him and Brillo, the dog, moving to a smaller place, helped by DI Siobhan Clarke. Clarke is on a new murder investigation, run by her work colleague and lover, DCI Graham Sutherland, with a team that includes DS Tess Leighton and DC Christine Esson, with the surprising addition of Major Crimes DI Malcolm Fox. The victim is wealthy 23 year old Saudi student, Salman Bin Mahmoud, a James Bond obsessive with a love of horseracing, with a home in London as well as Edinburgh, with two close, well off, university friends, Lady Isabella 'Issy' Meiklejohn and Italian Giovanni Morelli. He was stabbed at night in the car park of a carpet warehouse..
Rebus receives a call in the middle of the night from his daughter, Samantha, living in the village of Nawar, close to Tongue, on the wild north coast. Her partner, Keith Grant, has disappeared, and she is seriously worried with the police being called in. There is nothing that Rebus will not do for Sammy, despite their rocky relationship and her young daughter, Carrie, setting off in his rickety old Saab, listening to a CD music compilation put together for him by Siobhan, under the title of 'Songs for the Dark Times'. DS Robin Creasey is the local police officer in charge of the missing person case, and it is Rebus who finds Keith's dead body at an old internment Camp 1033, a place that Keith and a local group had been interested in the history of, and wanted to preserve. Sammy's relationship with Keith had become strained and troubled, making her the prime suspect of his murder, which ensures that Rebus investigates as he oscillates between the role of cop and father with Sammy.
Odd connections emerge between Rebus's case in the north and Clarke and Fox's Edinburgh murder inquiry with the involvement of some of the same characters. Rebus is his usual sardonic self, a determined maverick, unwilling to let go of any leads, worried that the police will focus solely on Sammy without looking into Keith's obsession with Camp 1033 and its history, particularly given his notes and laptop were taken. Rankin has developed a successful formula in which he incorporates Clarke, Rebus and Fox in ongoing cases, and Big Ger, Morris Gerald Cafferty, getting older too, still there, still standing, unwilling to relinquish his prime position, continuing to try and pull the police into his own machinations and agenda. This is a great crime read, intricate, dark, engaging and compelling, and I can't wait for the next in the series. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
Rebus receives a call in the middle of the night from his daughter, Samantha, living in the village of Nawar, close to Tongue, on the wild north coast. Her partner, Keith Grant, has disappeared, and she is seriously worried with the police being called in. There is nothing that Rebus will not do for Sammy, despite their rocky relationship and her young daughter, Carrie, setting off in his rickety old Saab, listening to a CD music compilation put together for him by Siobhan, under the title of 'Songs for the Dark Times'. DS Robin Creasey is the local police officer in charge of the missing person case, and it is Rebus who finds Keith's dead body at an old internment Camp 1033, a place that Keith and a local group had been interested in the history of, and wanted to preserve. Sammy's relationship with Keith had become strained and troubled, making her the prime suspect of his murder, which ensures that Rebus investigates as he oscillates between the role of cop and father with Sammy.
Odd connections emerge between Rebus's case in the north and Clarke and Fox's Edinburgh murder inquiry with the involvement of some of the same characters. Rebus is his usual sardonic self, a determined maverick, unwilling to let go of any leads, worried that the police will focus solely on Sammy without looking into Keith's obsession with Camp 1033 and its history, particularly given his notes and laptop were taken. Rankin has developed a successful formula in which he incorporates Clarke, Rebus and Fox in ongoing cases, and Big Ger, Morris Gerald Cafferty, getting older too, still there, still standing, unwilling to relinquish his prime position, continuing to try and pull the police into his own machinations and agenda. This is a great crime read, intricate, dark, engaging and compelling, and I can't wait for the next in the series. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
May 17, 2025
As this twenty-third book in the series opens, Rebus is moving house. Well, strictly speaking he’s still in the same building but moving down from his upper floor flat to the ground floor. He’s suffering from COPD, a chronic disease that obstructs the flow of air to his lungs. That means no ciggies and no booze. Oh dear, this isn’t going to be quite the same. John Rebus regular readers (like me) have grown to know and love. He’s retired now from his role as a senior Edinburgh detective, but he stays close to DI Siobhan Clarke � who is actually at this point helping him with the logistics of the move. However, Rebus is distracted by an urgent call from his daughter. Her partner Keith has gone missing, and she’s fraught with worry. Nothing to do but leave things in Siobhan’s capable hands and skedaddle up to the far north coast of Scotland where she lives. Retired, he may be, but here’s a ‘case� he can get teeth into.
In a secondary plotline, Siobhan eventually finds herself teaming up with another of Rankin’s lead men DI Malcolm Fox (he of the Major Crimes Division and, maybe, one time stealer of a job Siobhan rather fancied for herself) in a murder investigation. The victim is a young Saudi student from a wealthy family, stabbed one night in a disreputable part of the city. As Clarke, Fox, and others interview friends and associates of the deceased, it appears that one possible avenue of interest leads north to the very spot Rebus is ensconced at this moment. Suddenly, Rebus has half a foot in this investigation, too.
Call me old fashioned if you like, but I still believe Rebus was at his best when he was a badge carrying, in-your-face cop knocking on doors, tapping up informants and generally causing hell as he fragrantly ignored most established protocol and did things his way. This new, older Rebus is a shadow of himself, and to add insult to injury, he has to give up too many pages to the uptight Clarke and the dull (VERY dull) Fox. And the dubious linkage of the two cases here leaves me crying ‘foul� as it really does beggar belief that this kind of coincidence should occur.
As Clarke and Fox continue their investigation, another classic Rankin character is rolled out in Morris ‘Big Ger� Cafferty. Now here’s a man to brighten any page. It’s just that here he’s only employed in a cameo role, and in all of his scenes he’s partnered with Fox, not Rebus. No!! It’s a real pity. The two old foes (and sometimes collaborators) aren’t pitted together one more time. I’m not decrying everything Rankin has done here, in my view even his latest books remain amongst the best crime fiction produced in the UK, it just that he hasn’t found a way of overcoming the huge drawback created by benefit of having aged Rebus as the series progressed - his retirement became an inevitability a few books back. It’s not an easy problem to crack, as Michael Connelly has found with his own front man, Harry Bosch.
I liked the book, but I didn’t love it. The patter is good, just not as good as it’s been in the best books in this series and I can’t walk past the fact that DI’s Clarke and Fox just aren’t as interesting as Rebus. Long standing fans of the series will, I think, still enjoy this one but if you’re new to Rankin’s work then do yourself a favour and go back to the start of the series and work through, you’re in for a real treat.
In a secondary plotline, Siobhan eventually finds herself teaming up with another of Rankin’s lead men DI Malcolm Fox (he of the Major Crimes Division and, maybe, one time stealer of a job Siobhan rather fancied for herself) in a murder investigation. The victim is a young Saudi student from a wealthy family, stabbed one night in a disreputable part of the city. As Clarke, Fox, and others interview friends and associates of the deceased, it appears that one possible avenue of interest leads north to the very spot Rebus is ensconced at this moment. Suddenly, Rebus has half a foot in this investigation, too.
Call me old fashioned if you like, but I still believe Rebus was at his best when he was a badge carrying, in-your-face cop knocking on doors, tapping up informants and generally causing hell as he fragrantly ignored most established protocol and did things his way. This new, older Rebus is a shadow of himself, and to add insult to injury, he has to give up too many pages to the uptight Clarke and the dull (VERY dull) Fox. And the dubious linkage of the two cases here leaves me crying ‘foul� as it really does beggar belief that this kind of coincidence should occur.
As Clarke and Fox continue their investigation, another classic Rankin character is rolled out in Morris ‘Big Ger� Cafferty. Now here’s a man to brighten any page. It’s just that here he’s only employed in a cameo role, and in all of his scenes he’s partnered with Fox, not Rebus. No!! It’s a real pity. The two old foes (and sometimes collaborators) aren’t pitted together one more time. I’m not decrying everything Rankin has done here, in my view even his latest books remain amongst the best crime fiction produced in the UK, it just that he hasn’t found a way of overcoming the huge drawback created by benefit of having aged Rebus as the series progressed - his retirement became an inevitability a few books back. It’s not an easy problem to crack, as Michael Connelly has found with his own front man, Harry Bosch.
I liked the book, but I didn’t love it. The patter is good, just not as good as it’s been in the best books in this series and I can’t walk past the fact that DI’s Clarke and Fox just aren’t as interesting as Rebus. Long standing fans of the series will, I think, still enjoy this one but if you’re new to Rankin’s work then do yourself a favour and go back to the start of the series and work through, you’re in for a real treat.
September 14, 2020
Following a diagnosis of COPD Rebus and Brillo the dog are moving ..... into a smaller garden flat downstairs from where he’s lived for years! DI Siobhan Clarke has a new lover, DCI Graham Sutherland. Clarke, Sutherland and DI Malcolm Fox from Major Crimes investigate the apparently motiveless murder of Saudi Salman bin Mahmoud, 23 years old, rich and killed in the unlikely venue of a carpark of a carpet warehouse. As Rebus is settling in on his first night, he gets a call from his daughter Samantha’s who lives near Tongue on the far north west coast of Scotland. Her partner and father of daughter Carrie, is missing and she is deeply worried especially since they are going through a rough patch and she asks for his help. So, two cases for the price of one - Edinburgh and Tongue .. what a bargain.
First of all I love the title as reading this was indeed like a song for dark times. Ian Rankin is such a brilliant writer that the two investigations (there are links but my lips are sealed) unfold as smoothly as a knife through soft butter! Rebus et al are my absolute favourite police team characters, they feel like old friends with whom you fit as comfortably as a pair of slippers! I love this novel just as much as the previous ones, maybe even more as the Tongue area setting takes me back to several marvellous holidays in this wild and stunning part of Scotland. The Tongue investigation takes Rebus into some fascinating areas involving World War Two internees and prison camps and he meets some interesting characters too who are so easy to imagine. I admit to a liking for DS Robin Creasey from Inverness who certainly gives Rebus some latitude as fans of JR know he always strays from his supposed limits. I wouldn’t have him any other way because as usual he is using all his wits and tenacity and putting himself in some danger too in this excellently plotted storyline. The Edinburgh case is very twisty, involving politics, reputations, business ventures and yes, Big Ger Cafferty. Would any book be complete without him stirring the pot or attempting to pull strings? Of course not, though he may just have met his match.
Overall, this is an engrossing and compelling read which is impossible to put down. Ian Rankin, in my opinion, is the master of this genre, the quality remains high throughout this long series and I can’t wait to read what happens next! Long live Rebus!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion and Ian Rankin for this much appreciated ARC and a terrific read.
First of all I love the title as reading this was indeed like a song for dark times. Ian Rankin is such a brilliant writer that the two investigations (there are links but my lips are sealed) unfold as smoothly as a knife through soft butter! Rebus et al are my absolute favourite police team characters, they feel like old friends with whom you fit as comfortably as a pair of slippers! I love this novel just as much as the previous ones, maybe even more as the Tongue area setting takes me back to several marvellous holidays in this wild and stunning part of Scotland. The Tongue investigation takes Rebus into some fascinating areas involving World War Two internees and prison camps and he meets some interesting characters too who are so easy to imagine. I admit to a liking for DS Robin Creasey from Inverness who certainly gives Rebus some latitude as fans of JR know he always strays from his supposed limits. I wouldn’t have him any other way because as usual he is using all his wits and tenacity and putting himself in some danger too in this excellently plotted storyline. The Edinburgh case is very twisty, involving politics, reputations, business ventures and yes, Big Ger Cafferty. Would any book be complete without him stirring the pot or attempting to pull strings? Of course not, though he may just have met his match.
Overall, this is an engrossing and compelling read which is impossible to put down. Ian Rankin, in my opinion, is the master of this genre, the quality remains high throughout this long series and I can’t wait to read what happens next! Long live Rebus!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion and Ian Rankin for this much appreciated ARC and a terrific read.
June 26, 2022
I have been reading this series so long now that each new book gets an automatic five stars. I like all the characters, cannot fault the writing style, and always enjoy the humour and the police work. When I sit down with Inspector Rebus and Siobhan Clarke I know I am in for a good time.
was an excellent read. Rebus is really showing his age and poor health now but he is as determined to stir things up as he ever was. This time his interest is doubled because the missing man is his daughter's husband and, although she is as rude to him as she ever was, he is desperate to help her.
I keep expecting each Rebus book to be the last but I am happy to see there is another one in preparation for later this year.
was an excellent read. Rebus is really showing his age and poor health now but he is as determined to stir things up as he ever was. This time his interest is doubled because the missing man is his daughter's husband and, although she is as rude to him as she ever was, he is desperate to help her.
I keep expecting each Rebus book to be the last but I am happy to see there is another one in preparation for later this year.
April 1, 2023
" 'All the years I was a cop, I learned that coincidences are as rare as unicorns.' "
The opening paragraphs had my heart in my mouth. John Rebus' flat in Marchmont, an area he’d lived in for most of his adult life (and also this entire series), was being emptied out. A life being carted away in storage boxes. Books, albums, and old case files. Could it be?? I quickly slammed the book shut and looked away.
"The window in the main bedroom had been opened to air the place. It looked bigger of course, without the furniture and the restless figure of John Rebus."
Thankfully it wasn't what I thought.
It turns out that ill health has caught up with our gritty Scotsman, and COPD* means “he was finding the stairs too much of a chore� getting to and from his tenement flat. Necessitating a move to nearby premises located on the ground floor. Retirement - and the march of time - is tightening its fingers around Rebus� neck.
"Rebus thought again of the books he decided he couldn’t live without, even if he would never read them; the albums he played maybe once or twice a decade but still clung to; the boxes of case files that seemed a veritable part of him, like an extra limb. Why would he part with them when he had a spare bedroom no overnight ever graced?"
Oh, to see your life summed up in packing crates and movers boxes. It’s sobering.
"John says he wants it put on his gravestone he listened to the B-sides."
At least Rebus� faithful companion, his wee dog Brillo, is there, keeping him company. He’s smuggled his way even further into Rebus� heart, and now sleeps in his bed. A fact which Rebus vigorously denies. It still warms my heart that this mite is playing on Rebus� “human� side, as while a fulltime copper, he didn’t have time to love another, whether family, lover, or other. It was all about the case load. He lived and breathed his work. Total commitment.
An early morning call at 5.00am means Rebus doesn’t have time to dwell on feeling unsettled in his new lodgings. His daughter, Sam, is distraught. Her partner, the father of her child, is missing.
”He’s gone.�
Vanished. Disappeared. Without a trace.
And so begins Rebus� journey halfway across Scotland to be with his daughter, and granddaughter. Keeping him company on the drive, is a CD of songs put together for him by Siobhan Clarke. His former colleague, for whom he was an erstwhile mentor, who is now proving to be a lifelong friend. The CD is titled A Song for The Dark Times which is fitting. As is usual with Rankin’s novels, what starts off as a “simple� crime morphs into several stories which weave in and out of each other.
Each chapter is dedicated to a day in this unfolding story. One week in total. During which not only are old crimes unearthed, and new ones needing to be solved, but Rebus has to dig deep to get to know his daughter again. An absent father while she was growing up, to say their relationship is strained is putting it mildly. He now reflects on who he is as a person, and who he was a father.
� ‘My wife used to say it was like I was having an affair - staying out too late, not home most weekends. And even when I did go home, the cases would still be in here.� He tapped his forehead.�
Rebus� daughter Sam begins to understand the reality of her Dad’s working life from her dealings with the police relating to her partner’s disappearance. It’s as if both father and daughter are starting to realise the missed opportunities to get to know each other as she grew up. How hard it would be to make amends.
� ‘And they got my fingerprints. And all the time it was happening, I was thinking: this is what my Dad used to do; this is how he spent his working life. No emotion, no warmth, just a job to be got on with.'�
And it wouldn’t be a Rebus novel without everyone’s favourite crim - Big Ger Cafferty - making an appearance. Rebus� nemesis. Two sides of the same coin. Both old school. On opposing sides of the law. Time standing still for neither of them.
Still with his finger on the pulse of Edinburgh’s underbelly, Big Ger isn’t quite ready to hang up his hat yet. But with technology and the changing face of crime, he’s slowly losing his grasp on the criminal fraternity. Finding it harder to guard his patch. It may just be a matter of time to consider taking the “proceeds of� and retiring to the Costa del Crime. But pride will not allow this. As with Rebus, he is dogged and stubborn. Refusing to believe he has aged.
" 'You know who I am?' he asked.
'You're that cunt that used to be somebody.' "
Lately whenever I finish a Rebus novel, I always feel I've just said goodbye to a friend I may never see again. Book 23! And Book 24 has just hit the shelves. I will be devastated when this series ends, as end it must.
3.5 � stars for solid, realistic writing. You know what you’re getting when you pick up an Ian Rankin novel. Always enjoyable.
Which begs the question. Which songs would be on your playlist?
* COPD is the abbreviation for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The symptoms of this condition may include shortness of breath, persistent cough, wheezing, chest pain, etc. Rebus has each of them.
The opening paragraphs had my heart in my mouth. John Rebus' flat in Marchmont, an area he’d lived in for most of his adult life (and also this entire series), was being emptied out. A life being carted away in storage boxes. Books, albums, and old case files. Could it be?? I quickly slammed the book shut and looked away.
"The window in the main bedroom had been opened to air the place. It looked bigger of course, without the furniture and the restless figure of John Rebus."
Thankfully it wasn't what I thought.
It turns out that ill health has caught up with our gritty Scotsman, and COPD* means “he was finding the stairs too much of a chore� getting to and from his tenement flat. Necessitating a move to nearby premises located on the ground floor. Retirement - and the march of time - is tightening its fingers around Rebus� neck.
"Rebus thought again of the books he decided he couldn’t live without, even if he would never read them; the albums he played maybe once or twice a decade but still clung to; the boxes of case files that seemed a veritable part of him, like an extra limb. Why would he part with them when he had a spare bedroom no overnight ever graced?"
Oh, to see your life summed up in packing crates and movers boxes. It’s sobering.
"John says he wants it put on his gravestone he listened to the B-sides."
At least Rebus� faithful companion, his wee dog Brillo, is there, keeping him company. He’s smuggled his way even further into Rebus� heart, and now sleeps in his bed. A fact which Rebus vigorously denies. It still warms my heart that this mite is playing on Rebus� “human� side, as while a fulltime copper, he didn’t have time to love another, whether family, lover, or other. It was all about the case load. He lived and breathed his work. Total commitment.
An early morning call at 5.00am means Rebus doesn’t have time to dwell on feeling unsettled in his new lodgings. His daughter, Sam, is distraught. Her partner, the father of her child, is missing.
”He’s gone.�
Vanished. Disappeared. Without a trace.
And so begins Rebus� journey halfway across Scotland to be with his daughter, and granddaughter. Keeping him company on the drive, is a CD of songs put together for him by Siobhan Clarke. His former colleague, for whom he was an erstwhile mentor, who is now proving to be a lifelong friend. The CD is titled A Song for The Dark Times which is fitting. As is usual with Rankin’s novels, what starts off as a “simple� crime morphs into several stories which weave in and out of each other.
Each chapter is dedicated to a day in this unfolding story. One week in total. During which not only are old crimes unearthed, and new ones needing to be solved, but Rebus has to dig deep to get to know his daughter again. An absent father while she was growing up, to say their relationship is strained is putting it mildly. He now reflects on who he is as a person, and who he was a father.
� ‘My wife used to say it was like I was having an affair - staying out too late, not home most weekends. And even when I did go home, the cases would still be in here.� He tapped his forehead.�
Rebus� daughter Sam begins to understand the reality of her Dad’s working life from her dealings with the police relating to her partner’s disappearance. It’s as if both father and daughter are starting to realise the missed opportunities to get to know each other as she grew up. How hard it would be to make amends.
� ‘And they got my fingerprints. And all the time it was happening, I was thinking: this is what my Dad used to do; this is how he spent his working life. No emotion, no warmth, just a job to be got on with.'�
And it wouldn’t be a Rebus novel without everyone’s favourite crim - Big Ger Cafferty - making an appearance. Rebus� nemesis. Two sides of the same coin. Both old school. On opposing sides of the law. Time standing still for neither of them.
Still with his finger on the pulse of Edinburgh’s underbelly, Big Ger isn’t quite ready to hang up his hat yet. But with technology and the changing face of crime, he’s slowly losing his grasp on the criminal fraternity. Finding it harder to guard his patch. It may just be a matter of time to consider taking the “proceeds of� and retiring to the Costa del Crime. But pride will not allow this. As with Rebus, he is dogged and stubborn. Refusing to believe he has aged.
" 'You know who I am?' he asked.
'You're that cunt that used to be somebody.' "
Lately whenever I finish a Rebus novel, I always feel I've just said goodbye to a friend I may never see again. Book 23! And Book 24 has just hit the shelves. I will be devastated when this series ends, as end it must.
3.5 � stars for solid, realistic writing. You know what you’re getting when you pick up an Ian Rankin novel. Always enjoyable.
Which begs the question. Which songs would be on your playlist?
* COPD is the abbreviation for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The symptoms of this condition may include shortness of breath, persistent cough, wheezing, chest pain, etc. Rebus has each of them.
April 12, 2022
Ian Rankin's novels featuring Scottish Detective Inspector John Rebus have long been one of the best crime series going. Sadly, at least to my mind, Rankin decided early on to let the character age in real time, which means that, after over thirty years, Rebus is now retired and not aging well. After a long lifetime of drinking and smoking, Rebus has COPD and can no longer climb the stairs to the second-floor home where he has lived for years. As the book opens, Rebus is in the process of moving to a new home on the first floor of the same building, assisted by his longtime friend and associate Siobhan Clarke.
Clarke is taking a few personal days from work to assist Rebus and in the middle of all this, her team catches a potentially significant case when a wealthy student from an important Saudi family is brutally stabbed to death. In addition to being a mystery with few clues, the murder has potentially sensitive diplomatic implications and Clarke is anxious to get back on the job to assist in the investigation, even though she is supposed to be on leave.
As a practical matter, there's no way for Rebus to horn in on the investigation, but he is, after all, the protagonist of the series and the author has to invent something for him to do. The problem is resolved when Rebus's estranged daughter, Samantha, calls him in a panic in the middle of the night to tell him that her partner, Keith, the father of her daughter, has gone missing. Samantha lives in a remote area of northern Scotland and Rebus piles into his aging Saab and heads off to help her.
The relationship between father and daughter is a rocky one. By his own admission, Rebus was not a very good husband or father and he always let his job take precedence over his family responsibilities. He'd like to make up for that now, but Samantha is not particularly the forgiving sort, and she vacillates back and forth between wanting her father's assistance and insisting that he should go home and leave her alone.
What follows, then, is a bifurcated novel that bounces back and forth between Clarke's investigation in Edinburgh and Rebus's investigation in the tiny village of Naver on the north coast. Ultimately, and unbelievably, there may be a remote connection between the two investigations which, frankly, beggars the imagination.
In a review of a Peter Robinson novel a few weeks ago, I complained about the fact that, deep into the series, Robinson had created such a wide cast of characters that his main protagonist was getting lost in the shuffle. To some extent, the same is true here and in this case the problem is further compounded by the fact that Rebus is retired and cannot actively participate in criminal investigations any longer. Thus Rebus disappears on a regular basis throughout the novel as the story focuses on the investigation into the murder of the Saudi student.
It's still fun watching Rebus doggedly at work, but it was a lot more fun when he was still carrying a badge and working at the center of legitimate criminal investigations. I'm not sure where the character can go from here, given the physical and other limits that Rankin has now imposed upon him. Thankfully, though, I have a shelf full of earlier Rebus novels that I can always turn to when I want to read the character in his glory days. 3.5 stars for this one, rounded up to four in appreciation for what has been, overall, an outstanding series.
Clarke is taking a few personal days from work to assist Rebus and in the middle of all this, her team catches a potentially significant case when a wealthy student from an important Saudi family is brutally stabbed to death. In addition to being a mystery with few clues, the murder has potentially sensitive diplomatic implications and Clarke is anxious to get back on the job to assist in the investigation, even though she is supposed to be on leave.
As a practical matter, there's no way for Rebus to horn in on the investigation, but he is, after all, the protagonist of the series and the author has to invent something for him to do. The problem is resolved when Rebus's estranged daughter, Samantha, calls him in a panic in the middle of the night to tell him that her partner, Keith, the father of her daughter, has gone missing. Samantha lives in a remote area of northern Scotland and Rebus piles into his aging Saab and heads off to help her.
The relationship between father and daughter is a rocky one. By his own admission, Rebus was not a very good husband or father and he always let his job take precedence over his family responsibilities. He'd like to make up for that now, but Samantha is not particularly the forgiving sort, and she vacillates back and forth between wanting her father's assistance and insisting that he should go home and leave her alone.
What follows, then, is a bifurcated novel that bounces back and forth between Clarke's investigation in Edinburgh and Rebus's investigation in the tiny village of Naver on the north coast. Ultimately, and unbelievably, there may be a remote connection between the two investigations which, frankly, beggars the imagination.
In a review of a Peter Robinson novel a few weeks ago, I complained about the fact that, deep into the series, Robinson had created such a wide cast of characters that his main protagonist was getting lost in the shuffle. To some extent, the same is true here and in this case the problem is further compounded by the fact that Rebus is retired and cannot actively participate in criminal investigations any longer. Thus Rebus disappears on a regular basis throughout the novel as the story focuses on the investigation into the murder of the Saudi student.
It's still fun watching Rebus doggedly at work, but it was a lot more fun when he was still carrying a badge and working at the center of legitimate criminal investigations. I'm not sure where the character can go from here, given the physical and other limits that Rankin has now imposed upon him. Thankfully, though, I have a shelf full of earlier Rebus novels that I can always turn to when I want to read the character in his glory days. 3.5 stars for this one, rounded up to four in appreciation for what has been, overall, an outstanding series.
October 28, 2020
This doesn't need another review so I'll just say time with Rebus is time well spent. He may be slowing down but some things haven't changed. If you were up against him, he'd drive you to drink. But as a victim, he's the guy you'd want to have your back. Bring on #24!
July 10, 2023
My second Rebus in his retirement with COPD. But I didn’t find it as good as the last or certainly as good as Rebus when he was in his prime. The Author mentions at the end that the book was written during lockdown. I suspect that the authors inability to frequent the Oxford Bar in Edinburgh may have impacted his writing. A mate in Scotland took me to the Rebus pub on a visit to Edinburgh some years back…but I digress.
The story is really two in one. Siobhan Clarke a protege of Rebus investigates a murder. Whilst Rebus goes north to support his daughter whose partner has been murdered. Rebus leaves his dog Brillo with Siobhan during this period.
A mate (the Oxford Bar companion) commented in an earlier review that it felt like the ending was compressed or at least wound down quickly. I have to agree.
I miss the more youthful Rebus. Everything has aged including big Ger Cafferty. I suppose that is life. I sense that Siobhan Clarke will ultimately take the Rebus mantle when he passes. But hopefully not for a long time.
Ps I noted Lee Child had commented ‘Rebus is a genius� on the back cover. Lee Child is mentioned twice in the book😉
The story is really two in one. Siobhan Clarke a protege of Rebus investigates a murder. Whilst Rebus goes north to support his daughter whose partner has been murdered. Rebus leaves his dog Brillo with Siobhan during this period.
A mate (the Oxford Bar companion) commented in an earlier review that it felt like the ending was compressed or at least wound down quickly. I have to agree.
I miss the more youthful Rebus. Everything has aged including big Ger Cafferty. I suppose that is life. I sense that Siobhan Clarke will ultimately take the Rebus mantle when he passes. But hopefully not for a long time.
Ps I noted Lee Child had commented ‘Rebus is a genius� on the back cover. Lee Child is mentioned twice in the book😉
September 14, 2024
This is the least successful Rebus for a long time. The highlight is the superbly crafted prologue. The writing throughout is crisp and the story rattles along. The dialogue and the interplay between Rebus, Shiv and Fox are as good as ever. The real problem is the plot which peters out about three quarters in. The Brexit backdrop and the parallel with the 30s are clumsy and never really amount to much. Rankin is usually so deft at handling big themes and aligning them to the drama. The ending is very unsatisfactory, though there is one potential twist.
October 26, 2020
Much like Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, Ian Rankin allows John Rebus to age from book to book. Both detectives are retired but they can’t let go of their life’s work and know they still have valuable and unique skills. In “A Song for The Dark Times� Rebus has moved to a ground floor flat because the effects of COPD are making stairs much harder for him. When his daughter calls in a panic because her partner has gone missing Rebus travels to Northern Scotland to help her. He acknowledges that he often let work come before family, but this time he resolves to put his daughter first. Yet he can’t keep his desire to investigate sidelined, even though it alienates his daughter, and is soon looking into what happened. That investigation ultimately ties into a case Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are pursuing. One of the many things I appreciate about Rankin’s Rebus series is how he manages to throw in what appear to be random digressions which ultimately turn out to be essential to the plot.
There’s also Rankin’s wit as seen in this exchange with a journalist.
‘Pity we don’t have the note itself.�
Rebus lifted a paper napkin. ‘I could re-create it for you.�
‘That might qualify as fake news.�
‘You think your readers would mind?
’‘These days , probably not.’�
“A Song for The Dark Times� is another winner from Rankin.
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
There’s also Rankin’s wit as seen in this exchange with a journalist.
‘Pity we don’t have the note itself.�
Rebus lifted a paper napkin. ‘I could re-create it for you.�
‘That might qualify as fake news.�
‘You think your readers would mind?
’‘These days , probably not.’�
“A Song for The Dark Times� is another winner from Rankin.
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
October 23, 2020
I have been craving a really good read with a great plot and strong characters and certainly got it with this book. Rebus may be retired but he still delivers. Apparently once a policeman always a policeman. Age may be catching up with him but the mind is still sharp. COPD has forced him to move to a ground floor apartment but he takes his cold case files with him for a little light reading.
Then he gets a call from his daughter. Her partner has disappeared and begs him to come to the rural Highlands to be with her and her daughter. He takes off in his ancient car held together with baling wire and band aids. He discovers things are not as rosy as he thought. His daughter has a relationship with the leader of the local cult. His son-in-law has been involved in a project in trying to get a local WWII internment site converted into a tourist site.
Meanwhile in Edinburgh his former partner is looking into the murder of a rich, young Arab and the two different cases start overlapping. Meanwhile there is a local gangster trying to blackmail police officials, a young hoodlum who likes to mug people for their cell phones and the cutest dog ever.
This is one fine mystery that kept me turning the pages until 3 am. It was so worth the read and you can't beat Scotland for atmosphere. I highly recommend this read. Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this in exchange for a fair review.
Then he gets a call from his daughter. Her partner has disappeared and begs him to come to the rural Highlands to be with her and her daughter. He takes off in his ancient car held together with baling wire and band aids. He discovers things are not as rosy as he thought. His daughter has a relationship with the leader of the local cult. His son-in-law has been involved in a project in trying to get a local WWII internment site converted into a tourist site.
Meanwhile in Edinburgh his former partner is looking into the murder of a rich, young Arab and the two different cases start overlapping. Meanwhile there is a local gangster trying to blackmail police officials, a young hoodlum who likes to mug people for their cell phones and the cutest dog ever.
This is one fine mystery that kept me turning the pages until 3 am. It was so worth the read and you can't beat Scotland for atmosphere. I highly recommend this read. Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this in exchange for a fair review.
October 11, 2020
It may have been a while since John Rebus retired, but the aging ex-detective still finds trouble follows him whereever he goes.
Ian Rankin's Rebus novels have always been thoroughly entertaining. However, the recent entries in the series show that the author is having trouble squeezing his legendary creation into the crimes he is investigating. This latest story is more personal, so Rebus becoming involved is more natural.
I've been reading the Rebus novels for many years & it's great to see this legend in print again, ably supported by Rankin's other creations of Siobhan Clarke & Big Ger Cafferty. I'm really torn though. On the one hand I want Rebus to keep going, but on the other hand I think it's time to end the series while it's still got some guts to it. I would hate to find a character I've loved for a long time appears in a series of mediocre novels. Better to end on a high note while there's still time.
On the subject of a good ending this edition is an exclusive Waterstones one, which is signed by Ian Rankin & includes an afterward where he discusses his writing. The best bonus is the short monologue, John Rebus: Lockdown Blues, which was performed by actort Brian Cox. Check it out-it's a real treat.
Ian Rankin's Rebus novels have always been thoroughly entertaining. However, the recent entries in the series show that the author is having trouble squeezing his legendary creation into the crimes he is investigating. This latest story is more personal, so Rebus becoming involved is more natural.
I've been reading the Rebus novels for many years & it's great to see this legend in print again, ably supported by Rankin's other creations of Siobhan Clarke & Big Ger Cafferty. I'm really torn though. On the one hand I want Rebus to keep going, but on the other hand I think it's time to end the series while it's still got some guts to it. I would hate to find a character I've loved for a long time appears in a series of mediocre novels. Better to end on a high note while there's still time.
On the subject of a good ending this edition is an exclusive Waterstones one, which is signed by Ian Rankin & includes an afterward where he discusses his writing. The best bonus is the short monologue, John Rebus: Lockdown Blues, which was performed by actort Brian Cox. Check it out-it's a real treat.
March 28, 2021
Η 23 περιπέτεια του Ρέμπους τον βρίσκει πιο προσγειωμένο και ανθρώπινο από ποτέ. Δύο υποθέσεις που φαινομενικά συνδέονται,μια συνεργασία για τον Φοξ και την Σιβόν που είναι γεμάτη μυστικά και ένας Ρέμπους πεισματάρης όπως πάντα,μας εξασφαλίζουν μια ακόμα ωραία ιστορία.
5�
5�
September 9, 2020
Rebus is retired from the police, and is moving into a new apartment with Siobhan's help. He gets a call from his semi-estranged daughter Samantha saying her partner, Keith, is missing. He drives up to the north of Scotland, where he learns that Keith was a history buff who who been researching some Scottish WWII prisoner detention camps. Could this hobby have had fatal consequences for Keith? What is Samantha's role in his disappearance? And does this case relate in any way to the one Siobhan's working on in the city? Rankin's a wonderful writer, and it's always a treat to revisit these characters. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this ARC.
October 16, 2020
I must confess that after all the waiting for this book to arrive, having pre-ordered it from Waterstone's and being that I am a huge fan of Ian Rankin and the Rebus series, I was really disappointed. The story starts out right enough, Rebus moving into a new place and then getting a call from his long-estranged daughter up north. But the two cases being investigated in the book, a murder in Edinburgh and a missing person in the north of Scotland, didn't intrigue me as much as a Rebus story usually does. What with Rebus being (officially) retired, the Edinburgh part of the tale, involving Clarke and Malcolm Fox, was uninspiring.
Since Rebus retired I like the character Siobhan Clarke less and less. She has become a right little careerist and climber. I never liked Malcolm Fox from the time he was introduced in The Complaints, and like him less here. A teetotal prig swot, is what he is. Finally, Rebus's daughter is just a boring whiner.
John Rebus, sidelined but refusing to succumb, remains standing alone of all the other characters. Hell, even Cafferty is more interesting than Clarke and Fox!
I read this in one day and cannot like it as much as the last couple, particularly Even Dogs in the Wild. Perhaps Ian has been living too long in Quartermile.
Since Rebus retired I like the character Siobhan Clarke less and less. She has become a right little careerist and climber. I never liked Malcolm Fox from the time he was introduced in The Complaints, and like him less here. A teetotal prig swot, is what he is. Finally, Rebus's daughter is just a boring whiner.
John Rebus, sidelined but refusing to succumb, remains standing alone of all the other characters. Hell, even Cafferty is more interesting than Clarke and Fox!
I read this in one day and cannot like it as much as the last couple, particularly Even Dogs in the Wild. Perhaps Ian has been living too long in Quartermile.
February 8, 2021
lots of plot lines ... lots of characters ... keeps the pages turning ... but the resolution at the end was too quick and neither clear nor satisfying
August 15, 2021
Αυτά συμβαίνουν όταν οι αστυνομικοί στη σύνταξη δεν πηγαίνουν να παίξουν πρέφα στο καφενείο, και ασχολούνται ακόμη με υποθέσεις. Ας πούμε ότι ο Αστυνόμος Ρέμπους (που έχει βγει στη σύνταξη εδώ και αρκετά βιβλία) έχει λόγο και ανακατεύεται με τη (μία) υπόθεση, ο ας τον πούμε γάμπρος του βρέθηκε νεκρός και υποτίθεται ότι υποψιάζονται και την κόρη του (μπόλοκς : ήταν ποτέ πράγματι ύποπτη η κόρη του; ). Οι ακτιουαλλυ Αστυνομικοί της υπόθεσης είναι σε φάση "φύγε από εδώ ρε άνθρωπε, πήγαινε στο καφενείο, σε μια ουρά στο ΙΚΑ να μαλώσεις σαν σωστός συνταξιούχος...φεισμπουκ δεν έχεις να στείλεις γλυκές καλημέρες όπως οι συνομήλικοι σου; Θα σε συλλάβω το κέρατο μου !". Μέχρι και κατώτεροι αστυνομικοί του κάνουν κωλοδάκτυλο, σου λέει μπάρμπα τι θα μας κάνεις ; Θα αλλάξεις τις υπηρεσίες;
Έχει δύο υποθέσεις που συνδέονται (;), γίνονται πράγματα που λέει και η Βάνα, κυρίως όμως στο backround και στα προσωπικά των αστυνομικών στις μεταξύ τους σχέσεις (και με τον τοπικό όπως πάντα μαφιόζο), αλλά η λύση (ή οι "λύσεις" ) στο τέλος είναι λίγο βιαστική (το πόσο γρήγορα βγαίνουν κάποια αποτελέσματα από τα εργαστήρια φοβερό, μπράβο εκεί στη ΔΕΕ Σκωτίας, και αυτό γιατί η Αστυνόμος που τα έχει με τον Διοικητή της δέχεται να βγει με τον αστυνομικό των εργαστηρίων και της έχει έτοιμα αποτελέσματα αμέσως, τσεκάρωντας όλες τις κάμερες του Εδιμβούργου σε 2 μέρες) , και ειδικά η κατεύθυνση στη μία υπόθεση είναι αρκούντως γελοία, ποιος Σκωτζέζος αστυνομικός θα το πίστευε ακτιουαλλυ αυτό ; Κάπου για αυτό χάνει το 4 αστεράκι.
Επίσης ο συγγραφεύς θέλει να δώσει ΚΑΙ πολιτικό περιεχόμενο στο βιβλίο (με Brexit), είναι όμως τόσο άτσαλο και από το πουθενά. Τα αστυνομικά αρκεί να είναι αστυνομικά ξερωγω (#γνωμημου), και όχι όπως άκουσα πρόσφατα αμπελοφιλοσοφίες σε ένα ελληνικό podcast για το αστυνομικό βιβλίο με δύο καλεσμένους, η δε τύπισσα που έχει γράψει από τα χειρότερα ελληνικά αστυνομικά εκτός του ότι είπε αυτές τις δηθενιές για πολιτικό περιεχόμενο στο αστυνομικό (να έχει και πολιτικό περιεχόμενο μάνα μου, αλλά ξερωγω να ασχολείται και ο αστυνομικός λίγο με την υπόθεση, έτσι για ξεκάρφωμα λέω εγώ), είπε ότι συμβουλεύται και δύο αστυνομικούς για αυτά που γράφει (λογικά κάποιον της Τροχαίας...). Καλά ο άλλος το παίζει true crime α λά ελληνικά...
Τι έλεγα; Ναι. Μια χαρά είναι. Άντε και του χρόνου.
Έχει δύο υποθέσεις που συνδέονται (;), γίνονται πράγματα που λέει και η Βάνα, κυρίως όμως στο backround και στα προσωπικά των αστυνομικών στις μεταξύ τους σχέσεις (και με τον τοπικό όπως πάντα μαφιόζο), αλλά η λύση (ή οι "λύσεις" ) στο τέλος είναι λίγο βιαστική (το πόσο γρήγορα βγαίνουν κάποια αποτελέσματα από τα εργαστήρια φοβερό, μπράβο εκεί στη ΔΕΕ Σκωτίας, και αυτό γιατί η Αστυνόμος που τα έχει με τον Διοικητή της δέχεται να βγει με τον αστυνομικό των εργαστηρίων και της έχει έτοιμα αποτελέσματα αμέσως, τσεκάρωντας όλες τις κάμερες του Εδιμβούργου σε 2 μέρες) , και ειδικά η κατεύθυνση στη μία υπόθεση είναι αρκούντως γελοία, ποιος Σκωτζέζος αστυνομικός θα το πίστευε ακτιουαλλυ αυτό ; Κάπου για αυτό χάνει το 4 αστεράκι.
Επίσης ο συγγραφεύς θέλει να δώσει ΚΑΙ πολιτικό περιεχόμενο στο βιβλίο (με Brexit), είναι όμως τόσο άτσαλο και από το πουθενά. Τα αστυνομικά αρκεί να είναι αστυνομικά ξερωγω (#γνωμημου), και όχι όπως άκουσα πρόσφατα αμπελοφιλοσοφίες σε ένα ελληνικό podcast για το αστυνομικό βιβλίο με δύο καλεσμένους, η δε τύπισσα που έχει γράψει από τα χειρότερα ελληνικά αστυνομικά εκτός του ότι είπε αυτές τις δηθενιές για πολιτικό περιεχόμενο στο αστυνομικό (να έχει και πολιτικό περιεχόμενο μάνα μου, αλλά ξερωγω να ασχολείται και ο αστυνομικός λίγο με την υπόθεση, έτσι για ξεκάρφωμα λέω εγώ), είπε ότι συμβουλεύται και δύο αστυνομικούς για αυτά που γράφει (λογικά κάποιον της Τροχαίας...). Καλά ο άλλος το παίζει true crime α λά ελληνικά...
Τι έλεγα; Ναι. Μια χαρά είναι. Άντε και του χρόνου.
June 29, 2021
Ian Rankin seems to be setting up his dated Rebus series with succession planning by giving equal billing to the retired curmudgeon’s former partner, Siobhan Clarke, in the solving of a double murder in this his 23rd book in the series.
This time, our retired detective, suffering from COPD, has moved home to a ground floor flat and has his former assistant looking after his dog while he gads about the Highlands trying to solve the murder of his estranged daughter’s partner. Siobhan has her own mystery to solve: a young Saudi found murdered in his fancy car in Edinburgh. Are the murders related? Given this is fiction, they have to be, even in some remote way, to make the plot work.
What follows is alternating chapters between the organized and fully resourced investigation in Edinburgh and the rather country-bumpkin style one in the Highlands. The contrasting styles of city vs. country cop are on display, with Rebus straddling both.
Police procedurals are full of mundane office politics, idle chit-chat which sometimes give away clues, dull plodding, CCTV footage, after-work drinking, lots of take-out food eaten on the job, and pots and pots of tea. The life of a cop is pretty empty, is what these books always convey. The private lives of cops are non-existent, relationships are cursory, whatever progeny they have is damaged, vacations are boring, and work is their defining activity. And even cops, and the children of cops, cheat on their spouses. Unlike in P.I murder mysteries where the loop of suspicion is circumscribed to a remembered list of suspects, these cop stories have many more characters, with names, even for just throwaway scenes. Therefore, there are more possible villains and outcomes to choose from, making it nigh impossible for the reader to guess whodunit.
Throw in a blackmailing nightclub owner, a wellness centre with offbeat types, an old WWII POW camp with secrets, and a philandering husband of a senior cop, just to add flavour to the story. And the constant emotional neediness of Rebus’s cranky daughter Samantha, to add a millstone to our hero’s neck while he pursues his investigation in a car that refuses to start.
Also, trust Rebus and Siobhan to get their killer, trust Rebus to put his life at risk by stubbornly sticking his nose into dangerous territory—fragile health notwithstanding—and trust that there will be linkages between these two random killings at distant ends of Scotland. Predictable. I just wish I didn’t have to sit through all that idle talk and cups of tea until they got there.
I think Siobhan Clarke is ready to be promoted, and Rebus should take up golf.
This time, our retired detective, suffering from COPD, has moved home to a ground floor flat and has his former assistant looking after his dog while he gads about the Highlands trying to solve the murder of his estranged daughter’s partner. Siobhan has her own mystery to solve: a young Saudi found murdered in his fancy car in Edinburgh. Are the murders related? Given this is fiction, they have to be, even in some remote way, to make the plot work.
What follows is alternating chapters between the organized and fully resourced investigation in Edinburgh and the rather country-bumpkin style one in the Highlands. The contrasting styles of city vs. country cop are on display, with Rebus straddling both.
Police procedurals are full of mundane office politics, idle chit-chat which sometimes give away clues, dull plodding, CCTV footage, after-work drinking, lots of take-out food eaten on the job, and pots and pots of tea. The life of a cop is pretty empty, is what these books always convey. The private lives of cops are non-existent, relationships are cursory, whatever progeny they have is damaged, vacations are boring, and work is their defining activity. And even cops, and the children of cops, cheat on their spouses. Unlike in P.I murder mysteries where the loop of suspicion is circumscribed to a remembered list of suspects, these cop stories have many more characters, with names, even for just throwaway scenes. Therefore, there are more possible villains and outcomes to choose from, making it nigh impossible for the reader to guess whodunit.
Throw in a blackmailing nightclub owner, a wellness centre with offbeat types, an old WWII POW camp with secrets, and a philandering husband of a senior cop, just to add flavour to the story. And the constant emotional neediness of Rebus’s cranky daughter Samantha, to add a millstone to our hero’s neck while he pursues his investigation in a car that refuses to start.
Also, trust Rebus and Siobhan to get their killer, trust Rebus to put his life at risk by stubbornly sticking his nose into dangerous territory—fragile health notwithstanding—and trust that there will be linkages between these two random killings at distant ends of Scotland. Predictable. I just wish I didn’t have to sit through all that idle talk and cups of tea until they got there.
I think Siobhan Clarke is ready to be promoted, and Rebus should take up golf.
September 15, 2020
It’s a shock to me to realize that I’ve been reading Ian Rankin’s books for over 30 years now. With writers like P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Reginald Hill gone, Ian Rankin is one of the few remaining of my favorite traditional British police procedural writers.
Rankin has allowed John Rebus to age, and he’s done it in a realistic way. Rebus used to be a heavy drinker and smoker. Now he’s cut way back on his drinking and he no longer smokes, but his old ways have caught up with him and he has COPD. As the book begins, he’s having to move from the Edinburgh walk-up flat he’s lived in for decades to a ground-floor place.
Rebus has been retired for awhile, but he still has boxes of old and cold cases and plans to work on them. But before he has any of those boxes unpacked, he gets a call from his daughter, Samantha, who lives way up north, asking him to help her. Her partner, Keith, father of her young daughter, has gone missing.
The book has two threads, playing out over the course of a week. One involves Rebus’s investigation of Keith’s disappearance. Rebus being Rebus, even when the actual police become involved, he refuses to step back. As you would expect, he doesn’t endear himself to them or many of the locals—or even his own daughter at times.
The other thread takes place back in Edinburgh, as Rebus’s old partner, Siobhan Clarke, and Malcolm Fox investigate the murder of a university student originally from Saudi Arabia. Was it a hate crime, a robbery gone wrong, or to do with his increasingly shady-looking connections to some rich locals? Could it even have a connection to Rebus’s investigation?
Any fan of police procedurals should enjoy this book. The storylines are tight, and enough bread crumbs are dropped that a careful reader will have a good shortlist of suspects for the crimes. The relationships among the characters fill out the story. It gave me a little thrill that Siobhan and Malcolm are working together. It’s a good way to expand Siobhan’s role, with Rebus edging off the stage.
One of the other things that I appreciate about this series is that while it’s gritty and realistic, it’s not gruesome and it doesn’t hammer you over the head with the social issue du jour. This series will age well and will likely be read and enjoyed for many years after it ends.
Rankin has allowed John Rebus to age, and he’s done it in a realistic way. Rebus used to be a heavy drinker and smoker. Now he’s cut way back on his drinking and he no longer smokes, but his old ways have caught up with him and he has COPD. As the book begins, he’s having to move from the Edinburgh walk-up flat he’s lived in for decades to a ground-floor place.
Rebus has been retired for awhile, but he still has boxes of old and cold cases and plans to work on them. But before he has any of those boxes unpacked, he gets a call from his daughter, Samantha, who lives way up north, asking him to help her. Her partner, Keith, father of her young daughter, has gone missing.
The book has two threads, playing out over the course of a week. One involves Rebus’s investigation of Keith’s disappearance. Rebus being Rebus, even when the actual police become involved, he refuses to step back. As you would expect, he doesn’t endear himself to them or many of the locals—or even his own daughter at times.
The other thread takes place back in Edinburgh, as Rebus’s old partner, Siobhan Clarke, and Malcolm Fox investigate the murder of a university student originally from Saudi Arabia. Was it a hate crime, a robbery gone wrong, or to do with his increasingly shady-looking connections to some rich locals? Could it even have a connection to Rebus’s investigation?
Any fan of police procedurals should enjoy this book. The storylines are tight, and enough bread crumbs are dropped that a careful reader will have a good shortlist of suspects for the crimes. The relationships among the characters fill out the story. It gave me a little thrill that Siobhan and Malcolm are working together. It’s a good way to expand Siobhan’s role, with Rebus edging off the stage.
One of the other things that I appreciate about this series is that while it’s gritty and realistic, it’s not gruesome and it doesn’t hammer you over the head with the social issue du jour. This series will age well and will likely be read and enjoyed for many years after it ends.
October 18, 2020
I can’t believe this is the first book I have read by prolific writer, Ian Rankin. It won’t be the last!
The twenty third novel featuring now retired Edinburgh police Inspector John Rebus finds him trying to help out his somewhat estranged daughter, Samantha, when her partner disappears. Meanwhile, former colleague DI Siobhan Clarke is caught up in the investigation of the murder of a wealthy Saudi student. At some point, some of the people in both cases intersect…could the cases be related? Or not?
In two complex plots, with quite a few red herrings, Rankin moves easily between the storylines. It is an engaging, fast read.
Rankin does such a good job in his character development that I did not have any difficulty reading this as a standalone novel, not having read the prior twenty two in the series! Of late, it seems I have read quite a few police procedurals set in Scotland and do enjoy them. I certainly will be adding Rankin to my list of goto authors.
The twenty third novel featuring now retired Edinburgh police Inspector John Rebus finds him trying to help out his somewhat estranged daughter, Samantha, when her partner disappears. Meanwhile, former colleague DI Siobhan Clarke is caught up in the investigation of the murder of a wealthy Saudi student. At some point, some of the people in both cases intersect…could the cases be related? Or not?
In two complex plots, with quite a few red herrings, Rankin moves easily between the storylines. It is an engaging, fast read.
Rankin does such a good job in his character development that I did not have any difficulty reading this as a standalone novel, not having read the prior twenty two in the series! Of late, it seems I have read quite a few police procedurals set in Scotland and do enjoy them. I certainly will be adding Rankin to my list of goto authors.
October 18, 2020
Rankin's cast of characters continues to age well and realistically, making the ongoing adventures of Rebus and crew still a joy to read (I had to look it up) 25 books later. Every book now, I worry could be the last, but Rankin continues to seamlessly stitch real world events and new (or in this case old) developments and the passage of time in the real world together with his established Edinburgh to make books that are satisfying and worth the time to read. In this one, Rebus has had to move flats, and the partnership between Clarke and Fox develops while Rebus deals with a crisis of health and family. I never tire of these, though wish that Rankin would post playlists somewhere.
June 1, 2022
Ο αγαπημένος μας αστυνομικός Ρέμπους θα λύσει μια υπόθεση στο Εδιμβούργο, Σκωτία. Μόνο που αυτή την φορά, αφορά την κόρη του Σαμανθα. Μια φαινομενικά πολύπλοκη ιστορία όμως ο Ρέμπους θα φθάσει ως το τέρμα για να βοηθήσει την κόρη του. Επίσης, ο πατέρας και κόρη θα παραμερίσουν τισ διαφορές τους και θα είναι πολύ δεμένοι πια. Διαβάστε το!!!!
May 19, 2025
What was that quote about the past being another country? There were things in his own past (Rebus) would rather not linger on, too many skeletons for just the one closet..
Written / published during the COVID pandemic, author Ian Rankin weaves three stories into one and probably gained him the nod to a knighthood he richly deserves. First, Rebus drives his trusty Saab to the north of Scotland where his daughter Samantha’s partner Keith, is missing � his car left in a layby. A local history buff, he was researching a nearby WWII internment camp � wanting to turn it into tourist attraction (the land owned by Lord Strathy). Rebus finds Keith’s body but the notebooks and laptop missing. The couple had been going through a rough patch leaving Sam the main suspect.
Keith’s death comes within days of a murder in Edinburgh: Saudi student Salman bin Mahmoud � a high-flyer, mad on James Bond (a fantasist? Hence the Sean Connery connection) � friends with Giovanni Morelli and Lady Isabella Meikeljohn (daughter of Ramsay Meikeljohn = Lord Strathy). The investigation led by Graham Sutherland (Siobhan Clarke’s lover) with the usual team, plus Malcolm Fox seconded from Gartcosh for the international connection.
And finally our old friend, Big Ger Cafferty, owner of the Jenever Club (formerly the Devil’s Dram) � trying to cement his place as Edinburgh’s top gangster, in control of the local drug market, against interlopers from Glasgow and Manchester muscling in on his territory. His way of doing business � using exposable scumbag petty criminals for the dirty work � and extortion at the other. Has tapes of ACC Jenni Lyon’s husband Dennis Jones ‘straying� as leverage (Gartcosh’s Malcolm Fox as go-between), to find the dirt on a former MSP now developer Stewart Scoular � pitching to build a golf course up north (guess where?)
Naturally both murders are solved, and Big Ger’s stratagem misfires � big time. This was one of the books in the series I had previously missed, and neatly sets up a new chapter in Rebus� life. Well recommended.
Written / published during the COVID pandemic, author Ian Rankin weaves three stories into one and probably gained him the nod to a knighthood he richly deserves. First, Rebus drives his trusty Saab to the north of Scotland where his daughter Samantha’s partner Keith, is missing � his car left in a layby. A local history buff, he was researching a nearby WWII internment camp � wanting to turn it into tourist attraction (the land owned by Lord Strathy). Rebus finds Keith’s body but the notebooks and laptop missing. The couple had been going through a rough patch leaving Sam the main suspect.
Keith’s death comes within days of a murder in Edinburgh: Saudi student Salman bin Mahmoud � a high-flyer, mad on James Bond (a fantasist? Hence the Sean Connery connection) � friends with Giovanni Morelli and Lady Isabella Meikeljohn (daughter of Ramsay Meikeljohn = Lord Strathy). The investigation led by Graham Sutherland (Siobhan Clarke’s lover) with the usual team, plus Malcolm Fox seconded from Gartcosh for the international connection.
And finally our old friend, Big Ger Cafferty, owner of the Jenever Club (formerly the Devil’s Dram) � trying to cement his place as Edinburgh’s top gangster, in control of the local drug market, against interlopers from Glasgow and Manchester muscling in on his territory. His way of doing business � using exposable scumbag petty criminals for the dirty work � and extortion at the other. Has tapes of ACC Jenni Lyon’s husband Dennis Jones ‘straying� as leverage (Gartcosh’s Malcolm Fox as go-between), to find the dirt on a former MSP now developer Stewart Scoular � pitching to build a golf course up north (guess where?)
Naturally both murders are solved, and Big Ger’s stratagem misfires � big time. This was one of the books in the series I had previously missed, and neatly sets up a new chapter in Rebus� life. Well recommended.
January 5, 2021
I took the risk of train travel downtown to my library to pick up a special book to read on my birthday. All went well and I secured this latest Rebus episode that opens with Siobhan helping Rebus organize his new digs - same building but garden level. COPD has made stair climbing too difficult. In the midst of this work, a call for help comes from daughter Samantha. Her husband is missing, so Rebus heads out of town to help. The book is organized in seven days of action. The story is complex with many characters.
Thanks to my library for this birthday gift of a very good read.
Library Loan
Thanks to my library for this birthday gift of a very good read.
Library Loan
August 30, 2020
Ian Rankin has definitely still got it. After reading a couple of rather disappointing new books from long-established authors I approached this with a little trepidation, but I enjoyed it very much.
Rebus is ageing with the rest of us and is now suffering from COPD. He is, therefore having to make changes to his way of life, including giving up smoking and cutting down on the booze. He is retired, of course, but he is still his old, dogged, determined, contrary and sometimes bloody-minded self. When his daughter Samantha’s partner goes missing in the far north of Scotland, Rebus goes there immediately, pursuing enquiries in spite of repeated warnings from local police to stay out of it and leave it to them. Meanwhile, DIs Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are investigating a murder in Edinburgh, which may have some connection to Rebus’s case.
It’s very well done. Rankin remains a brilliant storyteller and I was hooked throughout. It’s not as dark as some Rankin classics, but Big Ger Cafferty is still a malign presence and the Clarke/Fox stories are developing very well in their own right. There is some interesting stuff about POW camps in Scotland during the war as the history of that time becomes very relevant to Rebus’s enquiries, but Rankin never overdoes it. He has clearly done a lot of research, but doesn’t overburden us with it, so it forms a very believable background without bogging down the story. (Some other authors may wish to take note of the skill of a light touch here.) Rankin’s characterisation and dialogue are, as always, excellent, the sense of place is very well done and I found this a really good read.
There are perhaps one or two coincidences too many and it may not be absolute classic Rankin, but I enjoyed it so much that I’ve rounded 4.5-stars up to 5. Warmly recommended.
(My thanks to Orion for an ARC via NetGalley.)
Rebus is ageing with the rest of us and is now suffering from COPD. He is, therefore having to make changes to his way of life, including giving up smoking and cutting down on the booze. He is retired, of course, but he is still his old, dogged, determined, contrary and sometimes bloody-minded self. When his daughter Samantha’s partner goes missing in the far north of Scotland, Rebus goes there immediately, pursuing enquiries in spite of repeated warnings from local police to stay out of it and leave it to them. Meanwhile, DIs Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are investigating a murder in Edinburgh, which may have some connection to Rebus’s case.
It’s very well done. Rankin remains a brilliant storyteller and I was hooked throughout. It’s not as dark as some Rankin classics, but Big Ger Cafferty is still a malign presence and the Clarke/Fox stories are developing very well in their own right. There is some interesting stuff about POW camps in Scotland during the war as the history of that time becomes very relevant to Rebus’s enquiries, but Rankin never overdoes it. He has clearly done a lot of research, but doesn’t overburden us with it, so it forms a very believable background without bogging down the story. (Some other authors may wish to take note of the skill of a light touch here.) Rankin’s characterisation and dialogue are, as always, excellent, the sense of place is very well done and I found this a really good read.
There are perhaps one or two coincidences too many and it may not be absolute classic Rankin, but I enjoyed it so much that I’ve rounded 4.5-stars up to 5. Warmly recommended.
(My thanks to Orion for an ARC via NetGalley.)
November 8, 2021
I thought John Rebus was dead and buried ~ metaphorically speaking, if not literally; but then I came across this "new" Rebus thriller. Interesting concurrent investigations of two murders, one in Edinburgh, the other in the far north of Scotland. Were they very interconnected, slightly interconnected, or not at all? No spoilers here, you'll have to read the book. My only real disappointment / criticism is that it was almost as if Ian Rankin suddenly realised he had just about reached his allocated word count for the book, so wrapped it all up pretty suddenly and at short notice. I didn't feel short changed; but I did feel the conclusion was a somewhat abrupt ending to what had been a pretty engrossing story (or 2 stories).
September 6, 2020
There is something very reassuring about delving back into the world of John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke. Whilst things on the home front may be all change, and Rebus' health certainly isn't getting better, you know that, as stubborn as he is, he won't let that get in the way of solving a good mystery. This is never more true than when the mystery involves his own family and when he gets that call from his daughter, Samantha, early on in the book, you know there is nothing that will stop him from making the long drive north to help her. It's his instinct as a ather, but more so as the Detective who cannot take a step back, the reason we all love hims as a character in the first place.
The story is actually divided between his daughter's new adopted home of Naver, a remote village in the far north of Scotland, and Edinburgh where Clarke, Fox and the folks in CID are investigating the murder of. Saudi student that may, or may not, be racially, or perhaps politically, motivated. It takes the Detectives into a murky world of property development, wealthy investors, battles over land ownership and development and within the sights of a certain Big Ger Cafferty. Rebus may be out of town but that won't stop Big Ger toying with the police, especially when it is to his financial benefit. The way in which Big Ger is brought into the story is very carefully and cleverly done, the potential from what happens certainly makes for an intriguing opening for the next book in the series.
Rebus' half of the story is intriguing. I loved the way in which Ian Rankin has explored the internal conflict of Rebus the father verses Rebus the Detective. The man who is driven largely by his gut knows that sometimes the simplest explanation is actually the truth, but seeing his struggles when it comes to suspecting his daughter really felt authentic, and knowing the way in which duty always came before his commitment to his family, the whole investigation really played to this part of his character. And yet ... he was never ready to give up on Samantha, even if he couldn't always voice his feelings in the way she needed. In that way the book stayed very true to the Rebus we know and love. Well, that and his innate ability to rub up the investigating Detective, the local police and some of the townsfolk the wrong way without breaking a sweat. He's lost none of his charm with age.
There is a part of the story rooted in fact, even if the village of Naver, where most of Rebus's story takes place, is entirely fictional. Ian Rankin gives us a kind of history lesson, with part of the story leading him to a disused Internment Camp from World War II , many of which were dotted across Scotland, and which held prisoners of war up until the end of the conflict. Samantha's partner, Keith, was researching one such camp at the time of his disappearance and hearing Rebus go back over the interviews that Keith had with some of the people who worked, or even lived, in the camp serves as a perfectly timed reminder of our history, both the good and bad, especially in the 75th anniversary year of the Victory in Europe. Much like in Europe, not every prisoner housed in these camps was a true enemy, and whilst Camp 1033 may not exist, there were many camps just like it that did and the stories of the survivors of that time are fascinating, even as fiction, something that would certainly appeal to history buffs.
Now there may not be as much action in this book as in earlier books in the series, but it doesn't mean that Rebus can't find himself in a spot of bother now and again. Even his old Saab can escape the wrath of the locals as they try to prevent him finding the truth. Things are perhaps a touch more sedate in Edinburgh, if you discount the regular Brillo walks that Clarke is subjected to in Rebus' absence. There is no less of the tension though, especially as Big Ger insinuates himself into the action and Clarke and Fox chase down the clues to find a killer. There is certainly no end of suspects in the murder as they dig further into the victim's past and with a very clever entwining of their case with Rebus' investigation, you are faced with another potential motive for what happens at either end of the A9.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the historical angle and the brilliant way in which the author pulled the two stories together. With the usual banter between the characters, Rebus' legendary charm (?) in play and such perfect description of setting that whether in the heart of the city or the wilds of the Northern Scottish coastline, you could really feel as though you were there. The author managed to keep killers hidden in plain sight and keep the tension building right to the end, whilst still pulling in some perfectly pitched tender moments between Rebus and Samantha. Well, as tender as Rebus gets anyway. And then that ending, leaving a huge question mark hanging over everything. But by 'eck. I'm looking forward to the next book now.
The story is actually divided between his daughter's new adopted home of Naver, a remote village in the far north of Scotland, and Edinburgh where Clarke, Fox and the folks in CID are investigating the murder of. Saudi student that may, or may not, be racially, or perhaps politically, motivated. It takes the Detectives into a murky world of property development, wealthy investors, battles over land ownership and development and within the sights of a certain Big Ger Cafferty. Rebus may be out of town but that won't stop Big Ger toying with the police, especially when it is to his financial benefit. The way in which Big Ger is brought into the story is very carefully and cleverly done, the potential from what happens certainly makes for an intriguing opening for the next book in the series.
Rebus' half of the story is intriguing. I loved the way in which Ian Rankin has explored the internal conflict of Rebus the father verses Rebus the Detective. The man who is driven largely by his gut knows that sometimes the simplest explanation is actually the truth, but seeing his struggles when it comes to suspecting his daughter really felt authentic, and knowing the way in which duty always came before his commitment to his family, the whole investigation really played to this part of his character. And yet ... he was never ready to give up on Samantha, even if he couldn't always voice his feelings in the way she needed. In that way the book stayed very true to the Rebus we know and love. Well, that and his innate ability to rub up the investigating Detective, the local police and some of the townsfolk the wrong way without breaking a sweat. He's lost none of his charm with age.
There is a part of the story rooted in fact, even if the village of Naver, where most of Rebus's story takes place, is entirely fictional. Ian Rankin gives us a kind of history lesson, with part of the story leading him to a disused Internment Camp from World War II , many of which were dotted across Scotland, and which held prisoners of war up until the end of the conflict. Samantha's partner, Keith, was researching one such camp at the time of his disappearance and hearing Rebus go back over the interviews that Keith had with some of the people who worked, or even lived, in the camp serves as a perfectly timed reminder of our history, both the good and bad, especially in the 75th anniversary year of the Victory in Europe. Much like in Europe, not every prisoner housed in these camps was a true enemy, and whilst Camp 1033 may not exist, there were many camps just like it that did and the stories of the survivors of that time are fascinating, even as fiction, something that would certainly appeal to history buffs.
Now there may not be as much action in this book as in earlier books in the series, but it doesn't mean that Rebus can't find himself in a spot of bother now and again. Even his old Saab can escape the wrath of the locals as they try to prevent him finding the truth. Things are perhaps a touch more sedate in Edinburgh, if you discount the regular Brillo walks that Clarke is subjected to in Rebus' absence. There is no less of the tension though, especially as Big Ger insinuates himself into the action and Clarke and Fox chase down the clues to find a killer. There is certainly no end of suspects in the murder as they dig further into the victim's past and with a very clever entwining of their case with Rebus' investigation, you are faced with another potential motive for what happens at either end of the A9.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the historical angle and the brilliant way in which the author pulled the two stories together. With the usual banter between the characters, Rebus' legendary charm (?) in play and such perfect description of setting that whether in the heart of the city or the wilds of the Northern Scottish coastline, you could really feel as though you were there. The author managed to keep killers hidden in plain sight and keep the tension building right to the end, whilst still pulling in some perfectly pitched tender moments between Rebus and Samantha. Well, as tender as Rebus gets anyway. And then that ending, leaving a huge question mark hanging over everything. But by 'eck. I'm looking forward to the next book now.
October 13, 2020
A Song For The Dark Times by Ian Rankin is number twenty-three in the now-retired Inspector John Rebus series.
Rebus has received a late night telephone call from his daughter Samantha telling him her partner and father of their daughter is missing. While their relationship is still strained, Rebus, in the midst of moving down to a ground floor dwelling due to his COPD, then travels to her town to assist in locating the missing man. While doing so, local coppers make it clear to Rebus they require no help, nor want it even though he may have once been a detective of note.
Meanwhile, Siobhan Clarke and her team of investigators, along with a loaned Malcom Fox, is tasked with the investigation of a Saudi national found stabbed to death in his parked car in an empty parking lot.
Soon, it is learned periphery threads to each case may exist leading investigators to wonder if the two are linked together.
In A Song for the Dark Times, Rankin not only introduces many supporting characters where one may need a scorecard to keep them straight, he also continues to utilize previously introduced characters, including reliable villain Big Ger Cafferty, who shows no signs of slowing down and remains as crafty and dangerous as usual.
Rankin hits all the familiar notes and while no new ground is really covered, those that enjoy the Rebus series will be able to read another installment that maintains the consistency to the series.
Rebus has received a late night telephone call from his daughter Samantha telling him her partner and father of their daughter is missing. While their relationship is still strained, Rebus, in the midst of moving down to a ground floor dwelling due to his COPD, then travels to her town to assist in locating the missing man. While doing so, local coppers make it clear to Rebus they require no help, nor want it even though he may have once been a detective of note.
Meanwhile, Siobhan Clarke and her team of investigators, along with a loaned Malcom Fox, is tasked with the investigation of a Saudi national found stabbed to death in his parked car in an empty parking lot.
Soon, it is learned periphery threads to each case may exist leading investigators to wonder if the two are linked together.
In A Song for the Dark Times, Rankin not only introduces many supporting characters where one may need a scorecard to keep them straight, he also continues to utilize previously introduced characters, including reliable villain Big Ger Cafferty, who shows no signs of slowing down and remains as crafty and dangerous as usual.
Rankin hits all the familiar notes and while no new ground is really covered, those that enjoy the Rebus series will be able to read another installment that maintains the consistency to the series.
December 11, 2020
Our Rebus sees to not only retired but also to have slightly mellowed with age. He’s no longer drinking as heavily, he’s settling into a new apartment and he has the company of a dog…Brillo. He’s also getting the chance to mend some badly damaged fences with his daughter. The story actually consists of two mysteries…the murder of a wealthy Saudi student and the disappearance of Rebus’s son-in-law . As Rubus takes off for the Scottish Highlands to do what he does best…catch the bad guys and make them pay…we do have to wonder if John Rebus might be headed for a more permanent retirement than we readers are ready for. I hope Ian Rankin can make this new life that he has Rebus walking into work.
December 11, 2020
John Rebus is retired and suffering from COPD, but his detective skills kick in again when his son-in- law disappears, and his daughter becomes a person of interest for the local police. When Rebus's aggressive involvement criss-crosses over a case in Edinburgh that his protege, Siobhan Clarke, is working, it's off to the races in a worthy addition to Ian Rankin's series. Rebus may be slower, but he doesn't miss a step.
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