Mortal Causes is the seventh outing for Inspector John Rebus, and I am pleased to report that it is a successful one. It is August in Edinburgh, and that means we are slap bang in the middle of the world famous annual "Festival" of comedy, drama and literature. Rammed with tourists, this is boom time for the local economy. So, when a body is found that has some of the hallmarks of sectarian violence, alarm bells start to ring - especially when there have been bomb threats targeting the Festival. With insight into such matters gained during his time as a soldier in Northern Ireland, Rebus is seconded to the elite Scottish Crime Squad to aid the investigation ... and needless to say, neither he, nor the members of the squad, are particularly pleased about that. Nevertheless, he starts to make headway when it turns out that the victim is the son of a notorious local gangster who is well known to Rebus. Our hero digs ever deeper and starts to suspect that not everyone who should be on the side of good can be trusted. He plays his cards very close to his chest and gets beaten up a few times for good measure. Throw into this mix a difficult relationship at home, and you have the makings of an unhappy and grumpy Rebus ... hence, the odd glass of comforting beer and whiskey chasers are never far away! As more bodies turn up, Rebus homes in on the perpetrators and tries to get ahead of the game to protect the city of Edinburgh from disaster. Ian Rankin has produced a well crafted tale, with lots and lots of threads which are slowly and skillfully untangled to reveal the final denouement. It's a good sign when I just wanted to keep on reading, despite really needing sleep, particularly towards the end! After a bit of a wobble in the previous book, I'm happy to report that Rebus is definitely back in the groove!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from husband!
Formats available: print; abridged audio download; MP3 CD; ebook.
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