Tooth and nail

What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

What this book is about

Inspector John Rebus travels to London to assist with a serial murder investigation — the 'Wolfman' case, a series of killings connected by a distinctive bite mark. Rebus is a fish out of water in England, uncomfortable with the Metropolitan Police's methods and culture, and increasingly certain that something about the case doesn't add up. Ian Rankin's third Rebus novel was written quickly and has the energy of a writer still learning what the character could do; it's the first Rebus to step outside Edinburgh, and the contrast — Rebus's specifically Scottish worldview encountering London's specifically English institutional rhythms — is one of its pleasures.