Standing in Another Man's Grave--Inspector Rebus, Book 18

February 4, 2013
Rankin's iconic Edinburgh copper, John Rebus, who retired in 2007's Exit Music, is now a civilian reviewing old police files in this satisfying crime thriller, which also includes Rankin's new series lead, Malcolm Fox (The Impossible Dead). Rebus butts heads with Fox, an investigator in Complaints, who loathes "old style" cops like Rebus who may have bent the rules to get results. When Nina Hazlitt shows up at Rebus's office, she tells him about her missing daughter, Sally, who disappeared on the A9 roadway in 1999. Though Rebus is initially skeptical, Hazlitt's persistence slowly pays off. Rebus starts taking seriously her theories that the subsequent disappearances of other young women along the A9 are connected, and a task force is formed, including Det. Insp. Siobhan Clarke, Rebus's protégée. The police comb through old case files, and Rebus logs many a mile in his battered Saab, driving the length of the A9 through Scotland, on the hunt for the killer. Rankin's ear for dialogue and sense of place is as keen as ever, complementing his twisted plot. Rebus fans will be pleased to find him as cantankerous as ever, smoking and drinking as if time in the policing world has stood still.

There may be no way of passing the time that is more pleasurable than listening to James MacPherson's lovely Scots brogue relate the activities of John Rebus, retired Edinburgh cop now working cold cases as a civilian. Several women have disappeared along Scotland's A9 road over a twelve-year period, and Rebus's cold cases may relate to his former partner Siobhan Clarke's current case. So the two of them drive back and forth from Edinburgh through the Highlands, and MacPherson rolls easily through all those multisyllabic Scottish place names, reminding the listener of the poetic background of the country. He also rolls a few "r's" for a couple of growling Edinburgh mobsters and employs a slightly gruff but bantering tone to remind the listener that Rebus is still a mischievous and alcoholic throwback of a cop. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine