by Ian Rankin
Part of Inspector Rebus, book 13
First published 2008
Inspector Rebus loses his temper during a murder investigation involving an Edinburgh art dealer. His outburst at a colleague gets him shipped off to the Scottish Police College for mandatory retraining. This is his final opportunity to salvage his career. At the college, Rebus gets assigned to work an old unsolved case alongside other officers who harbor dangerous secrets they will kill to protect. Meanwhile, gangster Big Ger Cafferty recruits Rebus as a middleman for his schemes. Back in Edinburgh, newly promoted DS Siobhan Clarke takes over the art dealer murder case. Her investigation pulls her into Cafferty's orbit in ways she never expected. Rebus must navigate the treacherous politics of his retraining program while his protégé Clarke faces threats from the criminal underworld. The thirteenth Inspector Rebus novel finds the veteran detective fighting battles on multiple fronts as his past and present collide.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, mentor-protege
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland, Scottish Police College
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
512 pages · Paperback · Orion
Content warnings: violence