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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Multiple deaths; political corruption and high-level cover-ups; Rebus in direct danger
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Some
Rebus drinks heavily; the novel is partly about whether he can function
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The specific difficulty of investigating the powerful when the powerful control the investigation; Rebus's career-long battle against institutional self-protection
What this book is about
The G8 summit is being held at Gleneagles, and Edinburgh's streets are full of protesters and police. DI John Rebus — on suspension for his own misconduct — discovers that several politicians attending summit-related events have died in circumstances that look like accidents. Nobody wants a security scandal during the world's biggest political gathering. Rankin's sixteenth Rebus novel is his most politically engaged, using the real 2005 G8 protests as a backdrop for a thriller about the people with enough access to make murder look like accident. Rebus's marginalization from the official investigation is a recurring frustration he addresses in characteristically stubborn ways.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
sixteenth of the Rebus series; set during the 2005 G8 summit
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