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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
A historical murder and contemporary criminal activity; procedural violence
Language
Some
Strong language in Rankin's Edinburgh register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
A lot
Very heavy drinking; Rebus has been told to stop and is largely ignoring it
Emotional Intensity
Some
What a detective does when he can no longer fully be a detective; a cold case as a substitute for the cases he's not allowed to work
What this book is about
Rebus, now officially retired and dealing with serious health issues, is drawn back into an old case — a woman murdered in a hotel in 1978, with a confession that never quite made sense. The cold case connects to present-day Edinburgh crime; Siobhan Clarke is working the present-day angle while Rebus works the past. Ian Rankin's twenty-first Rebus novel is the most meditative of the later entries — slower, more interior, concerned with what a man does when his body is starting to fail and his identity is still entirely built around the work. The cold case mystery is elegantly constructed.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
twenty-first of the Rebus series
Rebus's health is a major element
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