Detective John Rebus has been retired for a couple of years, but is finding it difficult to let go.
A case from the 1970s, in which socialite Maria Turquand was strangled in one of Edinburgh’s upmarket hotels, is still preying on his mind.
No one was ever found guilty of her murder, but an assault on a local gangster, a money laundering scam and a missing banker get Rebus thinking.
Could they somehow be linked? And is his nemesis ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty involved?
The fact that he’s no longer a police officer doesn’t stop Rebus reopening the case and, with the help of his former colleagues, DI Siobhan Clark and Malcolm Fox, he’s back in his element bending the rules and sticking two fingers up at the establishment.
This may be Rebus’s 21st outing, but this is a cleverly crafted tale and Ian Rankin’s storytelling is as fresh as ever.
