Set In Darkness - Ian Rankin

Very enjoyable read.

Having been a bit disappointed with the last couple of Ian Rankin books I have read but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I sometimes wish there were not so many story lines in one book but this one was reasonable easy to follow and with a good ending. John rebus is a good creation.

More Edinburgh Criminals

"Set in Darkness" is another impressive Rebus novel. Set once again in Edinburgh against a backdrop of the impending opening of the Scottish devolved assembly this novel features a typically labyrinthine Rankin plot. A long dead body is found behind a fireplace and a prominent politician is found murdered, both in the vicinity of the prospective new Scottish parliament.A homeless man also commits suicide and somehow all three deaths are linked. Rebus unties these intertwining strands and discovers criminal workings high up in the world of land speculation which ultimately involve his deadliest foe and nemesis the gangster Big Ger Cafferty. "Set in Darkness" is well written and tautly constructed and this series of Rebus novels are good examples of crime fiction , much superior to several dodgy novels in this genre that I have read recently.

Dark, Brooding, Forbidding and Very Alive

Hard-drinking, hard-smoking, divorced Edinburgh cop DI John Rebus is a man who does things his way as he moves through the brooding city of Edinburgh, searching for both his own lost soul and the criminals who lurk in its dark places. DI Derek Linford, in contrast, does things the boss's way, much to Rebus's chagrin.

Both are seconded to the police liaison team for the new Scottish Parliament at Queensberry House when a corpse is found hidden behind a fireplace in one of the parliament buildings. From the condition of the body, it appears that it's been there a long time, years, decades.

A few days later the body of Roddy Grieve, a Labor Party candidate for a seat in the new parliament, is found on the grounds. Grieve comes from a well-known Scottish family. His mother is a famous artist, his brother is a Tory MP, his sister is an ex-supermodel married to an ageing rock star and there is another brother who went missing 20 years ago. Sniffing about for clues as only he can, Rebus comes to suspect the body in the fireplace may be connected to Grieve's murder.

Meanwhile, Rebus's former partner, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, is driving home one evening when she happens to see a homeless man leap to his death from a bridge. Following up, she discovers that the supposedly poor and destitute man had over £400,000 in a building society account. He also had the same name as the man whose remains were found behind that fireplace.

Add to the above the escalating violence of a serial rapist who targets women in singles clubs and, as if that isn't enough, Rebus must face the unexpected prison release of his old nemesis, Edinburgh crime boss Big Ger Cafferty, whose interest in Rebus isn't exactly friendly. And through all this, Rebus has to work alongside Linford, a paper pusher on the fast track to promotion.

Little of modern Edinburgh has escaped Rankin's attention here. In fact, one might mistake this excellent novel as a travel guide about where not to go when visiting there. However, there is hope in this book, too. It's just that sometimes it's just a little hard to find, especially when Rankin writes about, corruption, homelessness and despair as if he's been there and seen it all. Yes, this is a dark book. It's also a book that stands apart from others in the genre. It's the kind of book the others aspire to.