by Ian Rankin
Part of Inspector Rebus, book 19.5
First published 2014
A dying man's confession in Edinburgh sets veteran detective John Rebus on an unexpected path south to Brighton. The case reaches back to Rebus's teenage years in the 1960s, when violent clashes between Mods and Rockers gangs terrorized the seaside town. Now Rebus must work alongside Roy Grace, a younger detective who knows Brighton's streets like his own backyard. The two men come from different worlds. Rebus carries decades of hard-won experience, while Grace brings modern methods to bear on old crimes. Five hundred miles separate their usual beats, and their approaches to police work couldn't be more different. Yet this cold case demands both their skills. What began as gang violence in the swinging sixties has left loose ends that someone desperately wants to keep buried. As Rebus and Grace dig deeper into the past, they discover that some secrets refuse to stay dead. The partnership forces both men to confront how much the job has changed and how much it has stayed the same.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, odd-couple
Setting: Edinburgh, Brighton
Period: 1960s
24 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: violence