The Naming of the Dead (Inspector Rebus #16) by Ian Rankin

The leaders of the free world descend on Scotland for an international conference, and every cop in the country is needed for front-line duty...except one. John Rebus's reputation precedes him, and his bosses don't want him anywhere near Presidents Bush and Putin, which explains why he's manning an abandoned police station when a call comes in. During a preconference dinner at Edinburgh Castle, a delegate has fallen to his death. Accident, suicide, or something altogether more sinister? And is it linked to a grisly find close to the site of the gathering? Are the world's most powerful men at risk from a killer? While the government and secret services attempt to hush the whole thing up, Rebus knows he has only seventy-two hours to find the answers. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly At the start of Rankin's overly complex 18th book to feature Edinburgh's Insp. John Rebus (after 2005's Fleshmarket Alley), Ben Webster, a Scottish delegate to the Group of Eight summit, dies suspiciously a couple of days before the world's leaders gather in Scotland in 2005. While his colleagues are preoccupied by ensuring security at the conference, Rebus is devoting his energy to the murder of Cyril Colliar, a recently released violent sex offender. No one really cares about the case except for Rebus, and that's mainly because Colliar was muscle for Edinburgh's crime boss Big Ger Cafferty, with whom Rebus has tangled in earlier novels. Rebus is more than willing to flout authority in his dogged pursuit of Colliar's killer, who may be a vigilante intent on punishing rapists. Webster's death, never wholly resolved, does connect with Rebus's investigation, but the link is tenuous at best. Rankin deftly captures the mad circus--the media, the security, the demonstrators--of the G8 summit, but this background muddies the narrative waters. He's at his best when he focuses on Rebus and the city of Edinburgh itself. 6-city author tour. (Apr.) Copyright ® Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From AudioFile James Gales Scottish brogue and intensity of emotion combine for a strong portrayal of Detective Inspector John Rebus, who is trying to solve the serial murders of recently released sex offenders and resolve his brothers death, all against the backdrop of the G8 summit being held outside Edinburgh. As if thats not bad enough, the G8 has the powers-that-be pulling rank and declaring that the death of the Assistant Minister of International Development is a suicide. Rebus doesnt agree and adds one more murder to his already full plate. Gale easily swings into a number of accents, leads listeners through the mlange of politics and suspense, and keeps the many characters sorted out, but listeners new to the series may struggle to keep up. S.W. ® AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Ian Rankin is a #1 International best selling author. Winner of an Edgar Award and the recipient of a Gold Dagger for fiction and the Chandler-Fulbright Award, he lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife and their two sons. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review The fifty-something Rebus is surely one of the most rounded, warts-and-all characters in modern crime fiction. . . . Those who want to plunge deep into a world of convincing characters and brilliantly rendered atmospherics can't do much better than this. (Washington Post Patrick Anderson) For Rankin's fans all over the world, Rebus is the ideal sleuth. (The New Yorker Clive James) There is a reason this guy is a #1 bestseller all over the world. Pick up The Naming of the Dead, read the first few pages, and then thank me later. (Harlan Coben) The best living British crime writer. (Lee Child) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Booklist Rankin's U.S. publishers have been cashing in on the author's celebrity lately by reissuing his early work, originally published in the UK under a pseudonym, but now Rankin fans can get back to the really good stuff: a new John Rebus novel. Coming off what is arguably the best Rebus of all, Fleshmarket Alley (2005), Rankin faces a stern challenge, and while the new offering isn't quite among the series' elite, it's still a damn good book. It's July 2005, and Bush, Blair, and other international leaders are coming to Scotland for the G8 conference to be held outside Edinburgh. Anything but a company man, Detective Inspector Rebus finds himself relegated to the sidelines until he takes a call that lands him smack where he's not supposed to be: butting heads with conference organizers in an attempt to make sense of the apparent suicide of an attendee at a preconference dinner. The plot mushrooms out from there, of course, encompassing an ongoing serial-killer investigation and personal crises in the lives of both Rebus and his partner and protege, Siobhan Clarke. The focus on international events (including the London subway bombing) adds thematic heft to the novel but takes away a bit from the always-fascinating exploration of Rebus' melancholic heart of darkness. Still, Rankin continues to juggle his plot strains superbly and to add depth to the characterization of Clarke, whose multidimensionality nearly equals that of Rebus himself. Required reading for crime-fiction followers. Bill Ott Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.