Author(s): Ian Rankin

Thriller

Malcolm Fox returns in the stunning second novel in Ian Rankin's new series...
Malcolm Fox and his team from Internal Affairs are back. They've been sent to Fife to investigate whether fellow cops covered up for a corrupt colleague, Detective Paul Carter. Carter has been found guilty of misconduct with his own uncle, also in the force, having proved to be his nephew's nemesis. But what should be a simple job is soon complicated by intimations of conspiracy and cover-up - and a brutal murder, a murder committed with a weapon that should not even exist. The spiralling investigation takes Fox back in time to 1985, a year of turmoil in British political life. Terrorists intent on a split between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom were becoming more brazen and ruthless, sending letter-bombs and poisonous spores to government offices, plotting kidnaps and murder, and trying to stay one step ahead of the spies sent to flush them out. Fox has a duty to get at the truth, while the body count rises, the clock starts ticking, and he fights for his professional and personal life.

Review from our February Newsletter: There were seventeen Rebus novels before the near-perfect, if predictable, Exit Music that finally saw off the dour Scottish policeman. After that many books, and a television series, it felt a bit like losing an old friend. The author's attitude has always been firm; Just deal with it. It was almost as if he wanted us to meet someone else. Sure enough, meet Malcolm Fox, a younger and less complicated version of the old dog. 

Fox heads a team called Complaints; coppers who investigate other coppers. It's an interesting premise; there is the rule of law and the police who enforce it, but who decides right from wrong? There are shades of grey here. The difference between the law and justice, for instance. Fox himself is not especially fox-like. He is a big man, wears braces, and regards himself as more of a bear. It's just as well. Bears have thick skins and the other policemen just hate him. 

The theme here is: what is a real cop? Is it one who gets results from a crime committed? Or, more to the point, one who sees that the result is fair and correct? Fox is faced with this dilemma. He is a brave man at odds against the prevailing wisdom. 'Just do it' he is told. He does not 'just do it' of course and thereby calls into question those above him. They, in turn, have sins of their own and move quickly to neutralise him. I was reminded of an excellent BBC series from the mid eighties (and to which this book is a tribute) called The Edge of Darkness. If you remember that, you'll love this.

Michael