FLESHMARKET CLOSE

Ian Rankin

Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 0752851128
2004

Ian Rankin biography by Chris High

The character of John Rebus is arguably the best in British crime fiction and Ian Rankin, here, serves up his hero warts and all.

Middle age is catching up with irascible detective, but he and his friend and protégé Siobhan Clarke, who is still not his lover, still race around investigating a variety of seemingly unconnected cases.

Reviewed:
Fleshmarket Close
by Ian Rankin

The sister of a dead rape victim is missing, stolen medical skeletons turn up embedded in a concrete floor, a Kurdish journalist is brutally killed and the son of a Glasgow Gang-lord has moved in to the Edinburgh vice scene.

Just another few days in the world of John Rebus then?

Not quite.

Rebus never uses conventional methods and, in Fleshmarket Close, this is no exception as the story rips along at a blinding pace. Fleshmarket Close is the fifteenth novel in this series and concentrates less on the personal life of Rebus and more on the several sub-plots being played out simultaneously. It also gives an indication that future novels of the series might be markedly different from what we're used to seeing, as Siobhan gains strength with each appearance. This novel also raises the question as to exactly how the relationship between Rebus and Siobhan will continue.

Overall this as a gripping as anything the multi-award winning Scot has written and further underlines his incredible ability to tell a story clearly and without ever being dull.

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