Ian Rankin, The Naming of the Dead

The Naming of the Dead

Ian Rankin

Little, Brown, Mar 2007, $24.99

ISBN 0316057576

In 2005, as the world awaits the Group of Eight summit in Edinburgh in a few days, Scottish law enforcement is in overdrive to protect world leaders and to insure the city and country are not embarrassed as the G8 meetings can have some active protestors. Two days before the session begins, security is already tight when Scottish delegate Ben Webster is found dead, leading to an already wary police questioning whether he was murdered, but keeping the attendees safe is the prime objective so a thorough investigation will be delayed.

Meanwhile, Inspector John Rebus investigates the murder of violent sex offender Cyril Colliar, just freed from prison over the objection of his superiors who cannot spare a cop for the homicide of a nasty mob muscle. However, Rebus refuses to ignore the murder and his inquiries connect to Webster's death. While Colliar's boss, crime kingpin Cafferty, watches Rebus as he has danced with the Inspector before, the sleuth believes a vigilante is on a BLOOD HUNT, meting out justice by killing rapists.

Rebus is at his obstinate, flaunting-supervision best as he investigates the murder of a person he agrees with the vigilante deserved death to the backdrop of the 2005 G8 summit in Edinburgh. The fast-paced storyline contains two fine subplots. The conference and its impact on the city and the services especially police provided by the city and country is a classic maniacal freak show; Rebus' sole act, investigation into the mob enforcer's homicide, is cleverly done. However, these themes and their link, Webster's death, never clearly tie together, except for time and place. Still, fans of Rebus will enjoy his latest police procedural as he is in full form causing havoc for the preoccupied brass.

Harriet Klausner