Hide and Seek

 

Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin  288 pp.

This is an early book in the Inspector Rebus series. John Rebus is called to the scene of a dead body in a squat in a derelict part of Edinburgh. The young man is laid out on the floor with candles around him. Witchcraft symbols are painted on one of the walls. Death was by an overdose of heroin, or was it? Rebus believes there is more to it and begins an investigation, trying to find the "Hyde" that seems to be at the heart of the mystery. While this is happening, Rebus is tagged by his boss to be the face of a new anti-drug campaign to be funded by some of Edinburgh's movers and shakers. He doesn't want the job but after being forced to socialize with the elite, he finds much to be suspicious of. Soon Rebus finds connections between the dead boy and the same elites he is supposed to work with and their illegal and violent activities. Lots of twists and turns in this one but Rankin got a little cutesy with character names - Rebus's boss is Watson, his assistant is Holmes, and the criminal they are looking for is named Hyde.   

A Song for the Dark Times

 

A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin  328 pp,

Retired Police Inspector John Rebus just moved into his new apartment but before he can settle in a phone call sends him out trying to find his daughter's missing partner. Soon it turns into a murder investigation when the man's body is found at an abandoned WWII prisoner of war camp in the Scottish wilderness. Rebus butts heads with the local constabulary while doing his own, unofficial investigation. Then  evidence connects this murder to that of a Saudi college student who lived in London with business connections in Scotland. After many twists and turns, and the involvement of a local crime boss and blackmailer, the crimes are solved, both together and separately. The audiobook narrator does a good job but occasionally the Scottish accent is a bit thick and the odd word was lost to a non-native speaker.

Dead Souls

Dead Souls by Ian Rankin  406 pp.

I haven't read many of the books in the Inspector Rebus series but I generally enjoy them because Rebus is far from the perfect cop. This episode, however, was hard to get through. There are so many story lines going on it was hard to keep track of all the characters. A police colleague of Rebus's committed suicide with no explanation, a known pedophile has come under Rebus's suspicions, a released convicted murderer deported from the U.S. is targeting Rebus and his friends and family, the son of old friends has gone missing, and Rebus's love life becomes convoluted. To add to my confusion the pedophile is named Darren and the missing man is named Damon. Everything is resolved satisfactorily at the end but it was a slog to get there. 

Knots and Crosses

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin  256 pp.

Inspector John Rebus of the Edinburgh Police suffers from what we now call PTSD from his time in Britain's elite SAS. He has never talked of his experiences to anyone. Now the policeman is receiving mysterious crank letters that he is ignoring. He is also part of the investigation into a series of murders of young girls. He soon discovers that the next target is his own daughter, Samantha. Eventually a connection between a horrific episode in his SAS career and the serial killings is made and he must race the clock to find his daughter before she too is killed. There is a side plot involving Rebus' stage hypnotist brother and a relentless new reporter who wants to bring down the Rebus brothers. This is a police procedural with interesting twists and a satisfying mystery.