Rebus investigates the case of a young woman found unconscious in a car at an accident site. Seemingly simple, this case quickly becomes anything but - especially when it turns out her boyfriend's father is a highly placed public figure and her father is a successful businessman with unscrupulous leanings.
At the same time, Rebus is paired with Malcolm Fox, now an investigating officer but most recently a member of the internal affairs division. Fox is investigating the "Saints of the Shadow Bible", the division that Rebus was assigned to thirty years ago at the beginning of his career. Fox believes the team was involved in unethical and perhaps illegal activities and is determined to uncover the truth - with or without help from Rebus.
Grudgingly Rebus and his friend and former colleague Siobhan Clarke come to respect Fox and his approach. Rebus begins to trust him and comes to like him? Well maybe not quite.
Even though he might be displaying a softer side, Rebus is still Rebus. Which means he only knows one way to solve cases - by bulldozing his way through clues, witnesses, and theories and by aggravating his bosses and higher ups. Especially that. And at a time when reorganization is at hand and Rebus can't imagine any life outside the police force, aggravating his superiors is the last thing he should be doing.
Rebus seems to me to be the classic definition of an anti-hero. He drinks (a lot), smokes almost as much, and seems not to have any scruples. But I like him in spite of his flaws. Which seems to be the case with many of the people he knows! He seemed more human in this novel than in any of the others I've read and at times I missed the old, drunken, sarcastic Rebus. And just when I thought he had changed, that old persona appeared.
Reading a Rankin mystery is like visiting Scotland. Edinburgh is as much a character in Rankin's mysteries as any of the people. In this outing the upcoming vote for Scottish independence was almost as important as the people in the story. The vote is scheduled for later this year and I'll be watching the news and newspapers to see what the outcome is.
In the meantime, I know that John Rebus will still be there solving crimes as only he can.
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