A heart full of headstones by Ian Rankin

John Rebus has a history of straddling the line between right and wrong, justice and injustice,  and now that he has retired as a police officer, he still seems to be using the connections he made on both sides of the law to mete out rough justice… only now that may mean he will suffer the consequences. A criminally bent policeman is murdered, his colleagues are put under the spotlight and crime bosses and thugs are variously hiding their past, but are putting Rebus into the spotlight in the process. Rebus’ former police colleague is involved in the murder investigation and is working alongside a former police standards investigator, and Rebus becomes informer and target in the process. Will this be the end of Rebus? Will his health hold out long enough for him to right past wrongs? Can corruption and lies be beaten by those in the force who aim for right to be done? 

Ian Rankin is a master of Crime fiction and his lead character, John Rebus, is both a loveable rogue and an unforgettable ‘tightrope’ walker as he negotiates the dark and murky world of crime and corruption with the aim of pursuing rough justice. Some of the grime of the crime world seems to stick to him, but it is his clever approach to finding information that makes him valuable to police and criminal alike. For those who love Rebus, or have a heart for crime fiction in general, this will be a treasured read … but how many more stories can Rebus inhabit before Rankin gives him his own headstone?

Themes: Crime drama, Corruption, Police investigation, Organised crime.

Carolyn Hull