It's still fun watching Rebus doggedly at work, but it was a lot more fun when he was still carrying a badge and working at the center of legitimate criminal investigations. Also, trust Rebus and Siobhan to get their killer, trust Rebus to put his life at risk by stubbornly sticking his nose into dangerous territory—fragile health notwithstanding—and trust that there will be linkages between these two random killings at distant ends of Scotland. By my reckoning, this is the 24th outing for John Rebus, Scotland’s best known retired police officer. It still warms my heart that this mite is playing on Rebus’ “human” side, as while a fulltime copper, he didn’t have time to love another, whether family, lover, or other. What follows is alternating chapters between the organized and fully resourced investigation in Edinburgh and the rather country-bumpkin style one in the Highlands.

It may have been a while since John Rebus retired, but the aging ex-detective still finds trouble follows him whereever he goes. He now runs an exclusive club where he films the guests to obtain blackmail material, and he involves Fox in one of his blackmail projects. A Song For The Dark Times is a very good novel, but the inevitable seems ever closer for John Rebus.In Edinburgh, Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are part of the Murder Inquiry Team looking into the mysterious killing of a Saudi student.

This is Rankin at his best, Rebus at his best, storytelling that meets the moment and transcends all genres and expectations. The best bonus is the short monologue, John Rebus: Lockdown Blues, which was performed by actort Brian Cox. Rebus is really showing his age and poor health now but he is as determined to stir things up as he ever was. One key point is a cheeky sort of in-joke: Chekhov famously said “if in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in following one it should be fired. While their relationship is still strained, Rebus, in the midst of moving down to a ground floor dwelling due to his COPD, then travels to her town to assist in locating the missing man.Rebus et al are my absolute favourite police team characters, they feel like old friends with whom you fit as comfortably as a pair of slippers! The private lives of cops are non-existent, relationships are cursory, whatever progeny they have is damaged, vacations are boring, and work is their defining activity.