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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
A cold case investigation; police corruption from the 1970s; some present-day violence
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Some
Rebus drinks heavily; this is a running battle throughout the series
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The question of whether a man can be good at his job while doing it badly; the specific weight of being the person who knows what really happened forty years ago
What this book is about
John Rebus has been reinstated to CID following a cold case review — he can be useful again, despite and because of what he knows about how policing was done in the 1970s. A case from 1978 connects to current events and to colleagues who were 'saints of the shadow bible' — officers who operated outside the law in the name of results. Ian Rankin's nineteenth Rebus novel deals directly with the history of Scottish policing and the specific way that the 1970s and 1980s produced a culture of institutional lawbreaking that still has consequences.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
nineteenth Rebus novel; Rebus returns from suspension
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