The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin is the 16th Rebus novel and is set in July 2005 when the G8 met in Scotland, during which, terrorist bombings took place on the London transit system. Against this background of tension and unease, a murder is discovered - but the victim was a rapist, newly released from prison. No one seems in a big rush to solve this one until DI John Rebus and DS Siobhan Clarke realise that this crime seems to have links with two others ... so it looks like a serial killer is on their patch. An additional complication comes in the form of an apparent suicide at Edinburgh Castle - the victim being an MP, but Rebus is convinced all is not what it seems. Rebus is warned off the case ... no-one wants any scandal while the G8 is going on, but, in-between his bouts of drinking and smoking and general grumpiness, Rebus is like a dog with a bone and will not let it lie. In the meantime, Siobhan is trying to spend a bit of time with her parents, who have come up from London to participate in the demonstration to the G8 to cut the debt that is crippling the poorer countries of the world. But when her Mum is injured during the proceedings, Siobhan is determined to seek revenge, which leads her into the clutches of well-known Edinburgh gangster, Big Ger Cafferty ... an old adversary of Rebus. Just as they start to make progress in the investigation, they are suspended ... but does that stop them ... not on your nelly! Rebus is used to going his own way and getting into all sorts of trouble with his bosses, but now Siobhan seems to be following in his footsteps - which will do nothing for her career. Despite the odds and indeed colleagues who seem against them, they endeavour to find answers - including why the serial killer seems to have stopped killing. As always, Ian Rankin pulls together a tangled web of characters and situations, taking the reader (and his characters) on a merry dance involving dead ends, red herrings and decidedly obstructive colleagues. Even though Rebus would be a hard person to live with, there are few better to spend time with between the covers of a crime novel. Whilst anyone who has been reading the series will be very familiar with Rebus, Siobhan and Cafferty, they are joined by a large cast of characters, not all of whom you can take at face value, which, with the involved plot, helps to keep you guessing all the way to the end. A very satisfying page turner and such a joy to know there are still many books in the series to come!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 515 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.
