When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17-year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye. Army investigators show up to snoop around the scene of the crime, and links between the killer and a local group of "Goths" (a morbid clique of black-clad teens who listen to heavy metal music) begin to surface. But just as Rebus finds himself in the thick of the murder inquiry, he's threatened with suspension from the police force: a man who had been menacing his partner and friend, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, dies in the same house fire that has left Rebus with horrible, painful burns. Rebus is immediately suspected of foul play. Now Rebus is faced with two harrowing missions: He must get to the root of the boarding school killing even as he tries to clear his own name.
In this most recent of Rankin's popular Scottish series about Detective Inspector John Rebus, two cases are being investigated, one a triple murder. As usual, Rebus is in trouble with his superiors. He also manages to bother two army officers investigating the triple murders, which may have been committed by an ex-commando. There are lots of villains in this involving plot and few white hats. Rebus may have the only one, although it's a bit grubby. Michael Page is particularly adept at conveying characters' emotions--from anger, fear, and ebullience to the studied disinterest of teenagers--without ruining the flow of the narration. His Scottish characters sound authentically Scottish; the English ones sound rather American. But that shouldn't bother American listeners. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Ian Rankin is an Edgar Award nominee and the recipient of the Gold Dagger Award for Fiction and the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons.
