Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin

Retirement doesn’t sit well with John Rebus.  It serves as a reminder of how poorly he’s lived his personal life to support his professional career as a detective in Edinburgh’s police department.  But his career is over and he is left to sit in his drab, dated apartment with regrets for the family that left him, the alcohol and cigarettes in which he overindulged and the cases he left unsolved.  Dr. Deborah Quant, the local forensic pathologist has taken an interest in Rebus and his health, most recently a shadow on his chest x-ray and his uncontrollable cough.  It is at dinner with Deborah at the Caledonian Hotel that Rebus remembers an unsolved cold case, the murder of Marie Turquand forty years earlier in this very hotel.  Marie was married to a successful local businessman but was a bit of a groupie for a rock and roll band who were staying at the Caledonian.  She was found strangled in her bed in the room she had taken for the night.

Rebus asks his former protégé, DI Siobhan Clarke to supply the cold case files and dives right in.  He interviews ex-cop Robert Chatham who had originally investigated the Turquand murder years back.  Chatham turns up dead the next day.  DI Malcolm Fox is assigned to Chatham’s murder investigation.  Clarke is busy with her own investigation of the assault of local crime boss, Darryl Christie who had taken over for Big Ger Cafferty, Rebus’ longtime nemesis.  Rebus becomes suspicious after the three investigators share information from their current cases.  Could they all be connected?  With no official standing, Rebus inserts himself into solving the most notorious crimes in Edinburgh.


Rankin can’t let go of his most prevalent protagonist, John Rebus.  His fans won’t let him.  Rankin remains true to the timeline for mandatory retirement in the UK police force and resurrects Rebus to the job in retirement.  With little character development necessary, this being the twenty first John Rebus novel, Rankin delves into a complex plot that leaves us guessing all the while enjoying the tenacity and audacity that is John Rebus.  Another good read.  Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.